All-Ability Day on Revere Beach this Saturday, Aug. 17
By Barbara Taormina
The Commission on Disabilities spent their meeting this week discussing various state bills and efforts of other municipal commissions that could potentially impact residents with disabilities.
Working with others in the field of disabilities allows them to unite and focus on services that would provide the most assistance to disabled people, services that don’t occur to able-bodied residents. This week they discussed the problem people in wheelchairs face when their chairs break down when they are out and about. They can call an ambulance to get home but their chairs, some of which are motorized and expensive, are often left behind. The Revere Commission proposed a service something like AAA that would pick up and transport broken chairs. Web accessibility and pay for personal care assistants are also topics on the commission’s agenda.
At the end of the meeting, commission Chairman Ralph DeCicco announced he had accepted a job at the Massachusetts Office of Disabilities as an access specialist. DiCicco said he will still stay on as chairman of the Revere commission.
” I’m still here for the residents of Revere, I just won’t be in city hall every day,” he said.
The Commission on Disabilities is hosting an All-Ability Day on Revere Beach this Saturday, Aug. 17, that will highlight the inclusivity that has become part of Revere’s culture.
Sponsored by the Parks & Recreation Department, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the event will feature sand and floating beach wheelchairs to allow disabled residents to enjoy the beach. The event runs from 10 am to 2 pm at the Oak Island Bathhouse, 462 Revere Beach Boulevard. Volunteers from the Recreation Department will help run the event and all are welcome.