by Anita Cameron
Thursday, March 2nd, 2000, as the Home Builders Association was having their
Home Solutions 2000 Expo at Denver’s Currigan Hall, ADAPT held its own
Home Solutions Expo out front on its first of four days of protest against
the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver. ADAPT had tried to
work with the HBA for about a year trying to get them to comply with the
Fair Housing law and build homes with access. Meetings, letters and committee
work were to no avail. It is apparent that the HBA does not want their
members building homes with access. The HBA actually wants the Fair Housing
Law repealed! They feel that access should be provided on an as-needed
basis, and feel that single-family detached homes, townhomes, and condos
should continue to be exempted from accessibility requirements. Something
had to be done.
That is why about 80 ADAPT members from Colorado and Kansas were at Currigan
Hall on that cold Thursday evening, sending the HBA a strong message. We
had great exhibits of our own to show. There was an accessible Barbie doll-house,
complete with an elevator. We had two doorways: one accessible, and the
other inaccessible, which we went through to demonstrate the usefulness
of one, and uselessness of the other. There were pictures of the buildings
that Atlantis Community had bought and remodeled for access, as well as educational
materials on accessibility. We even had petitions and flyers with ADAPT’s
demands--30% of all new homes to be accessible, 30% of all new homes to
be visitable, meaning a no-step entrance and an accessible bath on the
first floor, and clear enforcement mechanisms in Colorado’s Fair Housing
Law. We marched, sang, and chanted and several ADAPT members spoke of the
need for accessible homes and told stories of being forced to buy inaccessible
homes, or even to move out of state due to the lack of accessible housing.
The cops came around trying to get us to leave, but there wasn’t much they
could do since we were on the sidewalk for the most part.
Friday, we were back with more awesome ADAPT stuff, including some gorgeous
Styrofoam steps that Pat King, our wheelchair repair guy had made. After Dawn Russell’s
rousing speech, everyone had a chance to tear down the steps with a wooden
mallet. Afterwards, we formed a gauntlet in front of the steps to the front
doors and passed out flyers. Later we made a human chain chanting “The
People United Will Never Be Defeated”.
On Saturday, back again, we saw that the cops had put up barricades which
we quickly removed and got down to the business of letting the HBA know
that they weren’t going to ‘turn us around’. Joe Ehman, an ADAPT member
who is on the AIA committee, did a cool mock up of Roger Reinhardt, the
HBA vice-president who had insulted ADAPT in a meeting a few weeks earlier
by calling us simple-minded. Several of us gave interviews with the press,
some of us paid to get inside the exhibit to speak with the various builders
and contractors about access and pass out a couple of flyers, if we could.
There was only one small exhibit out of hundreds that had anything remotely to do
with access. This time, the cops sent out a trained negotiator, Sgt. Daniel
O'Shea, to tell us the police wanted ADAPT to stay in this ‘area’ that
they had designated by the barricades. We told him that if he brought Roger
Reinhardt out to speak to us, that we would leave. A few minutes later,
he brought Roger out, but he had nothing to offer us but the same tired
old discriminatory solutions that ADAPT would not accept. We kept our word,
though, and left with a warning from the police that if we came back tomorrow,
and did not stay within the barricades, that we would be arrested. Little
did they know...
On Sunday, we swept in, meaning nothing but business. We quickly sped up
the ramps and began blocking and handcuffing ourselves to doors. The cops
were there, but not quick enough to stop us. They began yelling out warnings,
and soon, the arrests began. When the dust cleared, 17 ADAPT members were
arrested and charged with blocking, and refusing to obey a lawful order.
The Home Builders Association's Tour of Homes was another target of protests
in July. After ignoring ADAPT’s call for an accessible house in the Tour
of Homes, for which the home builders built a series of NEW homes, this
showcase became an action packed showcase. Crawling into homes, picketing
outside and eventually committing civil disobedience, Colorado ADAPT members
sent the Home Builders Association a message that access can no longer
be blown off. Challenging the Home Builders Association to stop ignoring
access to housing for people with disabilities, ADAPT continues our drive
to end the excuses.
© 2000. Anita Cameron/Dread1myn Productions.
All rights reserved.
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