Monday 28 July 2014

THE TRUTH

I feel that it takes a real wheel chair user to truly evaluate a handy capped door, ramp or parking stall, not some person with a measuring tape and I am not alone, on this.

Friday 18 July 2014

The squeaky wheel get the grease

Timothy Maxwell is re-defining the old phrase “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” — and is making a wonderful difference for people who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices.
Maxwell sustained a brain injury 23 years ago and uses a wheelchair. He loves to enjoy the city whenever he can, but has run into challenges with roads and sidewalks.
And you thought Edmonton had a pot-hole problem for motored vehicles.
The story goes Maxwell was having trouble going over several bumps in a parking lot when a lady noticed him.
She suggested he needed Mighty Mouse to help him navigate.
“I said I just use my Mightywheels,” says Maxwell.
And so the name stuck.
Mightywheels began in 2009 by a small group of wheelchair-users. Their mission: to bring the attention of city intersections, sidewalks and sidewalk ramps, or non-accessible places of business, roads and sidewalks that need to be re-surfaced for smooth rides.
“It began when I first started using my wheelchair and found many poor surfaced areas,” says Maxwell, who wasn’t just thinking of his friends in wheelchairs.
Take, for example, mothers wheeling their young children in strollers. Or, senior citizens using their walkers or other mobility devices.
Maxwell wasn’t afraid to speak up to the staff of the Spruce Grove’s Tim Horton’s location.
He went in and offered some helpful tips.
“Mightywheels has improved access getting into Tim Horton’s,” says Maxwell, always mindful of the group — not himself.
He was also asked to inspect the Tim Horton’s store in West Edmonton Mall for accessibility.
His next stop: the Tri-Leisure Centre in Spruce Grove to inspect how accessible the family change rooms are.
Mightywheels began small but now there’s great room to expand their free consulting service.
Maxwell has plans to start doing some work with the Alberta Committee of Citizens with Disabilities.
He is hoping to create some relationships with the City of Edmonton to help re-surface sidewalks and curb cuts in older neighborhoods of the city.
“If there are any sidewalks that need repainting, I say let’s fix the sidewalks before we paint them,” says Maxwell.
Mightywheels holds regular meetings of about 10 members.
Maxwell writes a blog mightywheels.blogspot.com with up to date information.
For more information email tldmaxwell@gmail.com.
And he is certainly thinking of the future.
With the aging population more and more people will be using mobility devices to get around.
They have a fundamental right to get around Edmonton with ease and dignity.
“We all want equal accessibility, so we all can access our great city,” says Maxwell.
• • •
Congratulations to Liz O’Neill, Maureen Collins and Susan Green for being named Distinguished Citizens by MacEwan University.
All three women have made tremendous contributions to the local charitable sector.
Liz is executive director for Big Sisters and Big Brothers for the Edmonton Area; Maureen is executive director of the John Howard Society, and Susan was the first University of Alberta vice-president of external relations.
I have had the pleasure of seeing all three ladies in action and have heard them speak of their compassion for others countless times.
They certainly deserve their recognition — and our city is so much richer with them as citizens.
Congratulations, ladies!
(Cam Tait is a special project advisor at Challenge Insurance)

Thursday 17 July 2014

Help is needed

Come help us, help others

We focus on people with personal powered wheeled machines like baby strollers, the elderly with their walking devices, people like me in wheel chairs or handy capped power scooters that travel the city's intersection, sidewalks and sidewalk ramps.

We need to be more known in the city, so Mightywheels would really like your help sharing this message around, because who knows you may need us to help out a friend with a baby, your grandma  with arthritis or even maybe helping yourself after a football injury.

Wednesday 16 July 2014

Handout

Come join the winning team, get safely from point A to point B with Mightywheels. We are a free service that helps people who use wheels on day to day basis bring attention to the poor surface areas so that everyone can equally navigate though the city.  This can be everyone from parents pushing baby strollers, the elderly with their walking devices or people like me in wheel chairs. Our mission is to bring attention to issues people who use wheels face every day, such as poor surface areas, poor city intersections, poor sidewalks, sidewalk ramps, and non-accessible places of business.

We want equal accessibility, so we can all access our great city.
                                                

Tuesday 15 July 2014

Thank you CallingWood cares

I want to thank all Callingwood and area people for believing in me,
my missions is to make Edmonton a equal accessible for all who use wheels.

Thursday 10 July 2014

New idea

Mightywheels is working on a guide book of accessible places of business in the calling wood area. We already have done some restaurants in the calling wood area.

Wednesday 2 July 2014