I had the privilege of spending the day at the Flint Farmers Market. Giffels Webster was a gold sponsor of the Disability Expo that was put on by All About Awareness LLC. This was a great way to kick off the Fourth of July weekend. Let me just share a few reflections from this day:
I met Charlene Lizotte, founder of All About Awareness, a few years ago at a Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce lunch. Since then, we have been trying to team up to put on some kind of educational event. Her company is exactly what its name says. She helps raise awareness of people with disabilities and their need to be part of the overall community. She is a dynamic person, and she makes you feel comfortable right away. Giffels Webster designs handicapped-accessible facilities, so Charlene is a great person to give us some feedback. I thought the Disability Expo would be a good opportunity to learn a little more from people who use our designs, and I was excited about finally being able to team up with Charlene.
I arrived at the Flint Farmers Market a little before it opened at 9 a.m. It was just waking up to the start of a beautiful day. It was quiet compared to how it usually is, yet it was bustling with all the vendors getting set up for the day. It reminded me of the three weeks I spent in San Francisco working as bicycle delivery person. Our garage was located near Market Street, and I would stop by the markets to get coffee and breakfast before starting my day; I loved those mornings visiting the San Francisco markets. That was 1979, and today the Flint Farmers Market had that same feel. Except the Flint Farmers Market had something extra: smiling, friendly people who had a contagious attitude. I found myself a cup of coffee. I also found some pastries for my booth, but there were not enough. So the baker went back to her kitchen and made two dozen more pastries and delivered them to my booth. They were a big hit.
At the Disability Expo I met some wonderful people who are passionate about making their communities better places to live. In this case they were passionate about making their communities more inclusive for everybody, including people with different ethnic backgrounds and people with various disabilities. These were passionate people but they were also enthusiastic and fun-loving. I had a couple of good discussions about mobility and accessibility, but more importantly I met people who have some strong opinions that Giffels Webster can tap into later.
Mayor Dayne Walling came to the market to welcome everybody attending the Disability Expo. He talked about the city’s new master plan and how it reflects the desires of the community to be inclusive of all people — people of different ethnic backgrounds, people of different ages, people with different income levels and people with different physical abilities. I can honestly say that his words reflected the people I met later in the day. I had a nice conversation with a woman from the north end of Flint who was proud of her community. It was great to hear because the media makes us believe the north end is not a nice place, and this belief separates us.
At the end of the day the market was bustling, but the people were still friendly. I realized that the people of Flint are really proud of their new farmers market, and they deserve to be proud. I am going to make it a regular morning stop.
Back to Charlene and All About Awareness LLC. Her goal is to bring people of different backgrounds and abilities together, and to make them feel comfortable together. She put this event on at the last minute, but she must have sprinkled it with pixie dust, because she successfully brought people together.
Giffels Webster routinely counsels retailers, residential developers and municipalities on how to accurately meet Americans with Disabilities Act criteria. Their proven process determines the exact specifications to be met, incorporates them into project engineering, and effectively communicates with the contractors and the Department of Justice to ensure the job is properly executed. More information on Giffels Webster’s devotion to ADA accessibility can be found at their ADA Compliance website.