Group reaches out to Eastern Iowans with disabilities

Diana Saddoris successfully crossed a busy First Avenue East in her wheelchair, but on that frigid January day, couldn't navigate over snow piled up at the curb.

When even a group of bystanders couldn't lift her wheelchair over the mounded snow, she was forced to wheel back across the street, unable to complete her errand to the grocery store.

“That's the second time we've had to deal with that,” says her husband, Rick Saddoris, 59, of Cedar Rapids.

This trip ended in frustration, but the first incident ended with injury when a motorist struck the 62-year-old woman's wheelchair, seriously bruising Diana Saddoris.

Her experiences point to the need for a group, which opened a new office this year in Cedar Rapids.

Access 2 Independence of the Eastern Iowa Corridor is a non-profit, non-residential community-based organization that promotes independent living for the elderly and people with disabilities, Executive Director Scott Gill says.

The group, run by and for people with disabilities, offers four core services: individual and systems advocacy; independent living skills; information and referral and peer support.

Gill says employment barriers are among issues the federally and state-funded group addresses.

“We just want to get people out and doing what they want to do,” he says. “Our goal is to keep them out on their own in the community.”

Gill, 41, and a handful of other staff members split time between the Iowa City office at 381 E. College St., and the new Cedar Rapids office in the Human Services Campus, 317 Seventh Ave. SE.

Volunteers are an important component of the organization, he says.

The group serves an eight-county area: Benton, Cedar, Henry, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn and Washington counties.

Gill notes that Access 2 Independence assists about 300 people annually, but many more are eligible for its services.

About 60,000 residents of those eight counties are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act; about half of those live in Linn County.

“It's a large number,” Gill says. “There is definitely a need there.”

Many of the group's clients use wheelchairs or have other mobility issues, while a growing number have learning disabilities.

Limb loss is becoming increasingly common in the United States, affecting an estimated 1.7 million Americans.

More than half of all amputations happen to diabetics. Diana Saddoris is one of those.

She and her husband were unaware of Access 2 Independence, but Gill says their situation is an example of where the group could help, by providing information to businesses on the importance of keeping sidewalks clear of snow.

Keeping people from becoming isolated is another aspect of the group's mission.

Support groups, including the South Eastern Iowa Amputee Support Group, and activities and art appreciation groups, operate in conjunction with Access 2 Independence.

The amputee group, along with non-profit SportAbility of Iowa, attended a RoughRiders hockey game earlier this month in Cedar Rapids and had a dinner outing in Iowa City with Andy Yohe of Bettendorf, a Paralympics gold medalist in sledge hockey.

Retired electrician Eldon Hanson, 65, of West Branch, says the support group has been informational, with doctors addressing “phantom pain” and speakers on other topics. Members help each other, as well.

“You hear their stories and what they've gone through,” says Hanson, whose right hand and foot were amputated after a viral infection in 2009. “I think this is encouraging for everyone.”