week of  2/6/02
 
 
 

Youth theater gets state grant for the disabled
By Michael Beadle
All the world is not a stage for some people. For those with developmental disabilities, it can be quite frustrating to learn that older buildings do not have wheelchair accessible ramps or lifts, making it nearly impossible to get a person in a wheelchair onto a stage.

But thanks to a $11,750 state grant recently awarded to Spotlights Youth Theatre, opportunties for those in wheelchairs will be much improved in Haywood County. Spotlights was one of only two theatre organizations in the state last year to receive a grant from the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities.

Back in March, Scott Richmond represented Spotlights at a state workshop on developmental disabilities and was amazed to find all sorts of activities that could involve people in wheelchairs.

Spotlights has always had a policy of welcoming any child into the programs it offers regardless of any physical obstacles the child might face, but the old Armory in Waynesville — where the theatre group rehearses — is like several in the county in that it does not have a wheelchair ramp for its stage. So Richmond and Spotlights director Bebe Abel decided to apply for a grant that would improve wheelchair accessibility for children who might want to participate in Spotlights. After applying for the grant in April, they were notified in October and ordered the portable wheelchair lift right away. Part of the grant money goes toward increasing public awareness about the theatre’s opportunities for those with developmental disabilities. There’s also money for four full scholarships to the Spotlights Theatre summer camp, which is run by Spotlights actors and available to children ages 6-11.

Richmond stressed that children in wheelchairs should have a full opportunity to participate in any kind of activities that take place on a stage whether it’s acting or singing in a chorus or playing music. Richmond said she also wanted to be sure to separate the wheelchair from the child, so the wheelchair is not the identity of the person. With a portable wheelchair lift now readily accessible, opportunities abound for people with disabilities to perform on stage.

The mobile wheelchair lift uses a hand crank to lift a wheelchair to the raised level of a stage. The lift rolls around like a shopping cart and its wheels lock into place. A person in a wheelchair simply rolls onto the lift platform, which can be enclosed like a small elevator compartment. Then a person on the outside of the compartment cranks a handle to raise the platform. The elevator crank is easy to use, and the lift can bring the platform up as much as five feet with up to 600 pounds of weight.

“No one organization needs it all the time,” Richmond said. But lots of organizations can use it some of the time.

Tuscola High School recently used it for a Waynesville Middle School choral program, and Junaluska Elementary School, which has a special program that includes students with developmental disabilities, has also expressed interest in the wheelchair lift. The lift will be stored at the old Waynesville Armory. Other schools are welcome to use it for free as the need arises, Richmond said. For more information about using the wheelchair lift or about Spotlights, contact Spotlights Director Bebe Abel at 828.456.8983.