Fostering Independence: The Whole Person

If you are disabled and living in Kansas City, chances are good you know all about The Whole Person. The nonprofit agency started in 1978 at a time when the rights of the disabled to hold jobs and gain access to public buildings were poorly protected.

Their early achievements included helping persuade the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority to equip new buses with wheelchair lifts and improve physical access to polling places.

For more than 30 years, The Whole Person has been a local leader in representing people with disabilities. As you're about to see in this profile from producer Rich Miller, they're also engaged in dozens of direct services that allow thousands of people with disabilities, all across the metro, to lead independent lifestyles.

The Whole Person provides a variety of community-based, consumer-driven services to people with disabilities to promote consumer control and choice of services, self-direction, empowerment, independence, self reliance, self help, self advocacy and integration into the community. Services provided by The Whole Person emphasizes peer relationships and peer role models. The Whole Person services are offered without charge to all persons with significant disabilities.

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On a personal note, I think this is an incredibly important topic. The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) may be the least-publicized revolution of our time but the one whose impact ultimately reaches the furthest, affecting the way our buildings and buses are built, the way our schools are structured, the way our businesses conduct hiring and outfit their work stations.

Anyway, thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribed to Don't Mind Me TV and maybe even share us with a friend.

Thanks to KCPT -- Kansas City's community owned PBS station -- more stuff like this is in the works.

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Good people.

Great stories.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• The Whole Person
• Kansas City
• Independent Living Center
• ADA
• disability rights
• civil rights
• Don't Mind Me TV
• Pabulum Productions
• Rich Miller