Buffalo Grove launches handicap parking awareness campaign

It’s a sight we’ve all seen: A shopping cart abandoned in the middle of a handicap parking space. Buffalo Grove is launching a public awareness campaign to make this less common at the town’s 21 shopping centers.

Rick Kahen is an above the knee amputee, who uses a prosthesis and a cane to get around, and knows the frustration of dealing with handicap spaces being used by shopping carts and by people who don’t have a disability.

“I can’t walk long, long distances,” said Kahen, chair of the Buffalo Grove Commission for Residents with Disabilities. “When people who don’t need handicap parking park there, it hurts every single one of us who needs it.”

His organization is posting fliers in local businesses, hoping to raise awareness of the problem.

“It’s an age-old problem that’s getting worse because the population is aging,” Kahen said.

As the population ages, the number of people who are disabled goes up and so does competition for handicap parking. If shopping carts are taking up spaces, that means fewer are available.

“I think people do have good intentions; you just have to raise a little awareness to make things as inclusive and accessible as possible,” said Gerilyn Miller-Brown, chair of the poster campaign.

The current fliers are just the start for the campaign.

The group hopes to raise awareness about the problems that parking on the lines next to handicap spots cause for those who use ramps to get in their cars and about the misuse of the word retarded.

The group also passed out a flier to local businesses about how to make shopping easier for customers who are disabled, including tips like widening aisles so people in wheelchairs can shop easily.

“We’re trying to educate businesses and the residents about the challenges that individuals with disabilities face on an everyday basis and what they can do to help,” said Buffalo Grove Deputy Village Manager Ghida Neukirch.

“If we’re able to educate just one person through this campaign initiative, then we’re doing our job,” Kahen said.