TRUMBULL COUNTY Independent living center serves needs of disabled

The facility is in the Riverside Square building, Tod Avenue.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The Western Reserve Independent Living Center has been formed to serve the needs of the roughly 100,000 disabled residents of the Mahoning Valley.
The center opened in January in the Riverside Square building, the former St. Joseph Riverside Hospital, on Tod Avenue with a $25,000 technical grant from the Ohio State Independent Living Council.
"We're a nonresidential, community-based, consumer-controlled center for people with all types of disabilities," said Keni April Reisinger, executive director.
The center offers information and referral, peer support, advocacy and life skills training to people with physical, sensory, cognitive or multiple disabilities and those who care for them.
"We're like a one-stop [center]," said Scott Angel, Americans with Disabilities Act/program coordinator. "Rather than having to make 20 phone calls, you call us and we help you get the information."
Areas of focus include housing, employment, transportation, accessibility and education.
Sample issues
Voting accessibility and Medicaid are two issues that have generated advocacy efforts from the group.
"Voting is a basic right," said Don Medd, center board chairman, who also is executive director of the District XI Area Agency on Aging Inc.
But when Reisinger, who is blind, wanted to vote at the polls earlier this year, she ran into problems. A Democrat and a Republican must be present while a visually impaired person is read the ballot information. A small staff at that location caused a slowdown.
WRILC wants to encourage members and agencies from the community to join in advocacy efforts, writing letters to legislators and lobbying local leaders.
"Too many people need services who aren't being served," Angel said.
People who are physically or mentally challenged cope with real as well as perceived barriers and sometimes the perceived ones are the most difficult, Reisinger said. A real barrier, such as lack of a wheelchair ramp, can be remedied with a ramp.
Perceived isolation, such as what many senior citizens experience, may be more difficult to overcome, she added.
"A lot of our work is to help alleviate that kind of thing," Reisinger said.