APRIL

NOTICE to APRIL MEMBERS
 
This is to alert everyone that Bill Cochran is our NEW Diana Spas!
 
Seriously, though, it’s come to our attention that folks may not have realized or recognized the switch when Diana retired. Email alerts, notices, conference materials and other general information and items of interest to the APRIL Membership are now coming via BILL COCHRAN at SKIL Resource Center in Parsons, Kansas.
 
All the information you received from Diana in the past is now coming from the APRIL office with Bill’s name in the “from” column in your email. So if you haven’t realized the change or you haven’t received info from APRIL recently, please check that your computer is not blocking emails from Bill and take a minute to look at what’s being sent.

Emails can be blocked on local machines and on the web as with online spam filters. One way to verify emails is to send one to the person and establish contact. If you would like to verify your email contact with APRIL email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Thanks! Sorry for any inconvenience.

Save the Date!

Community Participation - How Do We Measure Up?

October 28-29, 2010
Overland Park, Kansas

A state-of-the-science conference for researchers, policy makers and consumers.
Held in conjunction with APRIL's conference Oct. 30-Nov. 1 - so you can attend
TWO conferences with one trip!

Join us to learn how this major research project can enhance the lives of people
with disabilities. For more information, call or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

T4 America’s rural and small town partners take their transportation message to Capitol Hill

May 27, 2010
By Sean Barry   Transportation for America Website  Billy Altom's Complete Comments Here...

Arkansas Square Originally uploaded by whiteknuckled

Tuesday’s Congressional lobby day hosted by Transportation for America on the needs of rural and small-town America displayed a growing urgency for transportation options, livable communities and good access to jobs and opportunity — as great as one would find in any of our nation’s urban and metropolitan centers.

Though the specifics may take a different form compared to big coastal cities, the values these participants described in a morning briefing and then in dozens of meetings with members of Congress didn’t sound all that different from residents of anywhere else in America, small or large.

Americans from big urban areas all the way down to rural communities and small towns want good access to job opportunities. We want roads that aren’t cracked and crumbling and bridges that don’t fall down. We want our town or city centers to be vital places to live, work and shop. We want safe places to walk and bicycle. We want options other than long car trips for absolutely everything. Call it “livability,” or call it something else.

The dozen-plus participants who came to Washington, D.C. from small communities in Virginia to Arkansas to Northern California and places in between expressed their hope that a new federal transportation bill can help address these needs in rural communities across America.

The “fly-in” kicked off with a Hill briefing, followed by dozens of meetings on Capitol Hill with the participants and their Senators and Representatives about how transportation policy impacts smaller communities.

Participants came from all corners of America and hit many of the same notes when discussing the challenges facing their friends and neighbors. Billy Altom hails from North Little Rock, Arkansas, where he serves as executive director of the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL). Terry Suphahn runs his own consulting firm in rural Northern California, working closely with Native Americans. Barbara Bayes splits time between urban Charleston and her farm, helping low-income West Virginians with access to transportation. Carol Miller heads an organization focused on heavily rural frontier communities — her own New Mexico county is so sparse, she must travel to the neighboring county just to vote and use the post office.

All participants talked about helping their neighbors back home access the basics — groceries, health services and jobs. They also talked of spurring economic opportunity so people can find a job in the same place they grew up. Many felt their towns, tribes or counties were ready to move on innovative projects that improve access and quality of life, if only federal policy would give them a little nudge. Far from asking Washington to tell them what to do, they were asking for resources to make change for themselves possible.