Embedded Files
Kennadee McFarlane
The Missouri Neighborhood Integration Project was an initiative developed by Paraquad in St. Louis, whose aim was to make communities more accessible for people with disabilities. While the notion of accessibillity typically implied only physical accessibility, this project aimed to expand the scope of accessibility to include housing, transportation, job opportunities, and other areas which could use reshaping. The current exhibit utilizes archival resources from the Paraquad archive collection to demonstrate the nature of disability advocacy in Missouri, which strove for neighborhood-wide changes, in favor of including disabled members in community life and systems.
A Vision for Inclusion
A Vision for Inclusion
This collection of documents originates from the official proposal prepared by Paraquad for the creation of the Missouri Neighborhood Integration Project. The proposal describes the goals and objectives of the organization, which include independent living and equality of participation within society. It is stated in the documentation that the issue of isolation of disabled individuals did not arise out of their condition itself, but rather as a result of certain limitations within the environment, such as, unfavorable conditions within the home, lack of transportation means, employment, and more.
Building Inclusive Communities
Building Inclusive Communities
The proposal highlights critical factors that are essential to ensure full participation in society. Some of these factors include: affordable housing, transportation services, employment opportunities, and availability of publise spaces, like shops, parks, and community centers. Instead of focusing on the limitations associated with indivudal disabilities, the documents see disability as a social problem caused by the enviroment. This approach is consistent with the broader trend in disablity activism, which recognizes that inclusion and accessibility are dependent on community design.
Funding and Planning!
Funding and Planning!
The archive shows how extensive the planning process was for this initiative. Budget information indicates that the project would cost more than $200,000 per year, taking into account personnel, outreach activities, and operating costs. This information illustrates that building communities where everyone can participate necessititates more than just advocacy; it also involves funding. This case study exemplifies how disability activism is intertwined with financial systems.
A business card from Marsha Leonatti, Vice President of Employment and Education at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.
Community Partnerships!
Community Partnerships!
This business card from the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis suggests that the project may have involved collaboration with other community organizations. The Urban League has historically worked to promote economic empowerment and racial equality, indicating that disability advocacy efforts were connected to broader struggles for social justice. This highlights how the Missouri Neighborhood Integration Project may have intersected with issues of race, housing inequality, and economic access.
Max Starkloff and other protestors.
Historical Context
Historical Context
The Missouri Neighborhood Integration Project could be considered in the context of the wider disability rights movement in the United States. In the latter decades of the twentieth century, activists fought for independent living, asserting that individuals with disabilities have a right to reside in their communities instead of in institutions.
Max Starkloff led such initiatives in St. Louis. In 1970, he founded Paraquad. Starkloff and his associates played an instrumental role in the development of one of the first Centers for Independent Living in the nation. They advocated for personal independence, accessibility, and empowerment.
Campaigns conducted in St. Louis entailed pushing for curb cuts, accessible public transportation, and legislation supporting the rights of individuals with disabilities. The Missouri Neighborhood Integration Project takes the legacy left behind by these campaigns and applies it directly to housing and neighborhood integration.
An example of the way in which disability rights activism is tied to more broadly defined social concerns is the Missouri Neighborhood Integration Project. Instead of seeing disabilities as individual problems, this project was concerned with the systemic and environmental factors that hinder full participation in the community.
Historians of disability point out that the independent living movement changed the way in which disability was conceptualized by framing it as a social problem created through structural inequalities. This project fits well into this perspective because it addresses the structural barriers to full participation in society.
Another important idea to consider when analyzing this project is intersectionality, the notion that disabilities intersect with other forms of discrimination, particularly in regard to economic status and race.
Why this Still Matters!
Why this Still Matters!
While legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act has made progress towards improving accessibility, there continue to be numerous obstacles for people with disabilities in terms of housing, transportation, and employment. Accessibility is not only about being protected by law; it involves being included in the community.
The Missouri Neighborhood Integration Project is an excellent reminder of this fact.
Union, St. Louis
What makes a community truly inclusive? Think about your own neighborhood, who has access to housing, transportation, and public spaces, and who might still be excluded?
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