Introduction
As 2024 comes to a close, and 2025 begins, I’m proud to say that while I’ve made progress in advocating for people with disabilities in my local community, there’s so much work to do in 2025 in order to make the community accessible and inclusive for everyone.
In this article, I’ll be going over what I’ve done in 2024, with links and posts included so you can look back at the content.
New Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan (January)
Starting in January, I heard on 13 WMAZ that the Warner Robins City Council was going to vote to approve the American’s With Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan for 2024.
The good news is that they’ve voted to approve the plan at their first City Council meeting of 2024. You can learn more by reading 13 WMAZ’s article on the approval of the transition plan.
Also, during this time, I wrote a letter to the ADA Coordinator for the city regarding getting the ADA Transition Plan in alternative formats.
While they couldn’t post the ADA Transition Plan in alternative formats, I was happy that they’ve posted it on their website. Note that they’ve updated their website to a new system since March 2024.
While I was researching for the right link to update my Facebook post from January, I was disappointed to find that the whole PDF was inaccessible. I’ll be writing an email soon to get it corrected. In the meantime, for screen-reader users, one of the workarounds that I figured out was to use Google Chrome, where Google’s AI will make the PDF document accessible for you to view. It’s not perfect, but it’s worth it for now.
My First Time Attending A City Council Meeting (February)
On February 20, 2024, a friend took me to my first City Council meeting, where I spoke during the citizen comments after they went through the agenda.
While I admit that I was nervous the first time that I spoke, I talked about the lack of affordable and reliable public transportation. At that time:
- Warner Robins had a population of 80,000 and growing.
- Houston County had a population of about 167,000 people.
I then go over what people with disabilities are having to rely on as their mode of transportation, such as the high costs of Lyft and Uber, depending on how far that they have to travel in the city to get to wherever they wanted to go.
I didn’t come with just a problem. I also came with solutions. I’ve also extended my offer to collaborate with the City and the Houston County Board of Commissioners on getting public transportation implemented.
Three months later, I found out that I was on one of the local news channels, and nobody didn’t reach out to me to let me know that I was on the news. One night, I researched public transportation in Warner Robins. That’s when I came across an article from WGXA (ABC16/FOX24) where it talked about a Houston County man bringing up this issue for Houston County/Warner Robins.
New City of Warner Robins/Houston Home Journal Website (April)
In April, I wrote a letter to the Houston Home Journal regarding their new and improved website that they released to the public. I was probably the first to visit the new website before anyone else.
As I always do with any new website, I check to make sure that it’s accessible with screen-reading software, such as NVDA/VoiceOver. At the time, it was not completely accessible. Hence, a letter was sent to them to report the accessibility issues, along with the solutions that got these issues fixed.
The good news is that they’ve fixed these issues, and they now have an option for people to report other accessibility/usability issues on their Contact Form.
Also, I began live streaming website reviews from an accessibility perspective. I reviewed:
As of now, the City of Warner Robins was able to fix the labeling of the links to all of the social media platforms on their website, located in the footer area before the copyright information.
Bringing Up My Voting Experience In The Houston Home Journal (May)
In May, I was turned away from voting the first time during early voting due to the Adaptive Voting Machine not working correctly. However, later that day, I was able to vote privately and independently after they fixed it a second time when they’ve realized that they’ve made a mistake.
After the whole ordeal, I went to my first Houston County Board of Elections meeting where I explained my situation. I stressed that I wanted to make sure that this doesn’t happen again to other citizens with disabilities.
I then reached out to Houston Home Journal to make sure that the community knows about this issue and to make sure that people with disabilities know their rights when it comes to voting.
Fast forward to the Presidential Election, I was able to vote privately and independently. It went way faster this time. Yes, they had technical issues in the beginning. However, they fixed it right away.
My Second Time At A City Council Meeting Plus My First Time At A Political Convention (August/September)
On August 19, I attended my second Warner Robins City Council meeting where it was out in the community at Fellowship Bible Baptist Church.
This meeting was different. It was a meeting, followed by a town hall where citizens can ask questions and also bring up any concerns.
I was able to ask two questions regarding:
- An update regarding the progress of getting public transportation
- Creating a disability committee, where people with disabilities can come together and speak about the issues that they’re currently experiencing anywhere in the city
I sent the Mayor of Warner Robins plus the City Council an email on December 5, 2024, asking for the status of the formation of the Disability Committee. My hope is that it’ll be created soon.
My First Political Convention
Since I wanted to get more involved and give a voice to people with disabilities and to educate others, I went to my first political convention.
At the convention, I was able to meet and connect with new people and learn more about what was going on before the November Presidential Election. I was able to meet Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
Since there’s no public transportation in Houston County, when I got the opportunity, I went and rode MARTA for the first time.
Writing To MARTA Customer Service (September)
In September, I wrote a letter to MARTA Customer Service regarding my experience. Yes, I also advocate outside of my area. Hence, this letter was posted to my website.
In the letter, I suggested MARTA to partner with AIRA, a visual-interpreting service that helps blind individuals get tasks done such as navigating a public transit system. I did not mention that the platforms were not accessible to people who are blind. The only clue is that the cane goes over the edge of the platform.
Two Letters Sent Regarding Transportation Systems (October)
I wrote two letters in October regarding implementing a transportation system. One letter was sent to an Entertainment Complex, while another letter was written to three (3) mayors plus the Chairman of the Houston County Board of Commissioners.
These letters were in response to me going to Tennessee for a family vacation and getting information from up there regarding The Island In Pigeon Forge’s Transit System and The Pigeon Forge Mass Transit System that supports multiple cities in the Smokey Mountains.
While my letter regarding adding a transit system to one of the Entertainment Complexes in my area received a response, my letter regarding getting public transportation in Houston County was read by two mayors, according to read receipts that I’ve received:
- The now former Mayor in Centerville, Georgia
- The Mayor in Perry, Georgia
Coming To A Close: Looking Ahead To 2025 And Onward
There’s a lot of work to do. However, I’ll keep fighting for what’s right in my local community.
My goal for 2025 and onward is to reach out to local businesses and even sit down with them in person to make sure that their service(s) is completely accessible and inclusive to the widest audience. I know that I have to work on that, but it’s rewarding at the end to see a business in my community including someone, regardless of their abilities.
Since politics impacts all of us, including people with disabilities, I’ll be more involved in the local, state, and even the national level to make sure that the laws that our officials in our Legislator/Congress passes doesn’t harm us in the long run. This includes our neighbors in the LGBTQ+ community.
I’ll also keep fighting for the rights for all women to make their own healthcare decisions. I’ll continue to fight for reproductive freedom and equal access to healthcare for all of us.
I hope that 2025 will finally be the year where accessible, affordable, and reliable public transportation is available and in service in all of Houston County, including the cities and towns of:
- Bonaire
- Byron (Houston County)
- Centerville
- Clinchfield
- Elko
- Kathleen
- Perry
- Warner Robins
I also hope that 2025 brings you happiness and peace.
Happy New Year!