Sunday Focus: Misconceptions persist about those with disabilities

GALESBURG —

Stone-Hayes Center for Independent Living was established in Galesburg 15 years ago. While the name is known in the community, many people still have no idea what the center is and does. Even some people now receiving those services at one point did not know what Stone-Hayes is.

Stone-Hayes serves people in Knox, Warren and Henderson counties. No fee is charged for those services. While it is best known for the work it does to help disabled individuals live independently and speak for themselves, anyone can receive help from the agency. A good example is this summer’s fan drive. Fans were donated to the center or bought by Stone-Hayes and were available to anyone who needed one.

What would the community be like if there were no Stone-Hayes?

Assistant Director Vanya Peterson said there would be a gap.

“If there was no Stone-Hayes, there would be no empowerment for disabled individuals,” Peterson said. “We are an empowering agency. People come here because they want to, not because they have to. It’s the consumer that makes it happen.”

Consumers making it happen

The members of this year’s 16-week Legislative Internship Program developed a disabilities simulator, a demonstration available to area organizations to help their members better understand people with disabilities.

“It bridges the gap between people in society who may not be familiar with disabilities,” Charles Allen of the Stone-Hayes staff explained June 22 when the members of the internship program graduated.

Despite 21 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act, many people still have misconceptions about people with disabilities.

Felicia Owens of Galesburg, one of the graduates of this year’s Legislative Internship Program, is in a wheelchair now, but that has not always been the case. While some Stone-Hayes consumers deal with conditions they were born with, others have had to learn to cope with disabilities later in life.

Owens worked at St. Mary’s Square for eight years, was an in-home certified nurse’s aide and also was a support worker at Bridgeway. Owens most recent job was in the billing department at Galesburg Hospitals Ambulance Service. She suffers from a form of multiple sclerosis.

“That was a wonderful place to work,” she said. “It was like a family atmosphere.”

Owens, who normally is on oxygen, was able to take breathing treatments at the ambulance service, or go home, then come back later and finish her shift.

She lost her job in 2003 when billing was shifted to an outside agency. Owens has been in a wheelchair since 2009. She is waiting for a total knee replacement once the modification of her house is completed.

“Even with a new knee, I don’t think I could walk from here to The Register-Mail,” she said of a two-block distance.

Owens and Deb Williams, another Stone-Hayes client, admitted they did not know what Stone-Hayes did until they needed the agency’s services.