Naperville woman is a trendsetter in helping disabled

Seventeen years ago, Marita Manning admits she knew little about helping the disabled.

She was working in the crime prevention unit of the Naperville Police Department when she met Alice, a blind and deaf woman who lived alone and had no family in the area.

But Manning learned how to help, first by using Alice’s text telephone. Then she had Alice teach her the Braille alphabet. Later, she took classes to learn sign language.

“I found her to be very inspirational and very interesting,” Manning said. “She actually was a relative of Helen Keller.”

Manning’s willingness to learn about the needs of people with disabilities led to her becoming three years ago Naperville’s first full-time Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator. In June, she became first in the state and among only seven people in the nation to be named a certified Americans with Disabilities coordinator.

She is responsible for making sure all the city’s facilities, programs, policies and services are in compliance with ADA law.

“ADA affects, really, everything we do,” she said. “I’m the single point of contact with the community if they have a grievance, or even just a question or concern.”

Goal: Full access

That Naperville has chosen to have a full-time ADA coordinator in tough economic times when governments are cutting back, exemplifies the city’s commitment to inclusion, said Peter Berg, chairman of the city’s advisory commission on disabilities.

“I think it reflects well on the Naperville community to have a certified ADA coordinator,” he said. “I think it’s a great accomplishment.”

Manning is proud of the steps Naperville has taken to ensure all residents have full access to city services and programs. She noted that the police department has just installed a text telephone, known as a TTY, along with its outdoor emergency phone that can be used to report a crime during evening and weekend hours when the police department is closed to the public.

The process of obtaining the text phone took 10 months, she said.

“It took a light bulb going off to say, hey, what if that person coming at midnight to report a crime ... (is) deaf or has a speech impairment,” she said.

The city also has established a policy to require crosswalks in town to include audible traffic signals for vision-impaired pedestrians.

When renovations were done on the Riverwalk during the past three years, Manning worked with city engineers to improve accessibility with widened walkways in some sections and providing ramps or redoing ramps that were too steep.

She has worked with sponsors of special events such as Last Fling and Ribfest to ensure the events include designated parking for the disabled, accessible shuttle service and accessible-viewing areas. The Last Fling, coming up on Labor Day weekend, includes a special needs carnival from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday so children with special needs and their siblings can enjoy the rides and activities without having to wait in line.

Personal journey

Manning is quick to say people with disabilities aren’t intentionally excluded; it’s often a lack of knowledge about their needs and what the law requires. Her own involvement with the disabled community has been a journey.

During her 14 years in adult crime prevention at the police department, she became a certified elderly services officer and started an elderly services team that included representatives from all city departments.

So now, when, say, an unscrupulous repairman gives a senior dire warnings about the work that must be done, the city can send over a crew to check out the claims.

Meanwhile, police have distributed donated cellphones for seniors to use in emergencies and instituted well-being check calls. They also established a senior photo database in case a senior with dementia or Alzheimer’s is reported missing.

Manning said a persistent mother of two autistic children motivated the police department to take a further step to help to locate missing persons. In the Fastrack program, now used by those with an array of disabilities, people wear personalized transmitters that emit a tracking signal if they wander off.

Proactive approach

When she became the city’s ADA coordinator, Manning said she still had a lot to learn about her job. She frequently contacted the Great Lakes ADA Center with questions. And when she learned of a new certification program, she signed on.

After three years of attending conferences, the ADA national symposium, webinars and taking a final exam, Manning in June became first in the state to gain certification.

Manning isn’t resting on her those accomplishments. The annual disability resource fair Naperville holds will have a new focus on technology this year when it is held from noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Naperville Municipal Building. Vendors will demonstrate equipment ranging from amplified phones and computer software to an accessible motorcycle and modified van for drivers with disabilities. Educational presentations also will be held.

“The majority (of attendees) come from within Naperville, but it’s certainly open to surrounding communities,” Manning said.

Over the years, the definition of disabilities has been expanded to include people with health problems such as cancer and heart disease, Manning said. Part of her job is helping to make accommodations for city employees who may have disabilities that are not visible, she said.

Manning can be reached at (630) 420-6725 or manningm@naperille.il.us.