Living in NYC With Physical Disability, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The concept of being disabled is that of being restricted in physical powers that help in coi-ordinating movement. It can be caused through disease, accident, or mental impairment.

This paper examines the impact of living in New York City (NYC) as a disabled person. This from the lens of urban research and sociology. The motivation being to examine the plight of disabled people who are either homeless or escaping from domestic abuse. Many non-profit organisations strive to provide help and assistance to this disadvantaged group. The wider perspective looks at the general concept of being disabled and living in NYC and the help and facilities that are generally made available. The Mayor’s office in Manhattan accepts a civic responsibility in order to help the disabled. They have established local community boards that include disabled people, in order to contribute in identifying improvements which include a wide range of issues that impact disabled people. (City of New York ).[1] These in turn create considerable challenges for the disabled.

Challenges of being disabled

There are many people living in New York that have additional challenges, in addition to that of being disabled. This can include those suffering from mental illness, being homeless or escaping domestic violence abuse. An additional challenge is represented by the diverse ethnic community living in New York and the range of different languages employed. Suitable organization exist to help the disabled

Coping beyond physical disability

There are organizations like ‘Barrier Free Living’, a non-profit that has strived to help the disabled homeless people living in New York. Established in 1978 they have worked with Federal Grants in order to provide shelter, help and assistance to the disabled. The work has mainly focused on the lower east side of NYC. A lot of the work focused on helping those who were faced with severe disabilities for the first time and needed help and guidance in finding their way. Despite losing Federal aid the company found a New Jersey financier that provided corporate support for them to become a stand-alone non-profit. The CEO stated that many people arrived in wheel chairs after being discharged from hospital stating they had nowhere to go. With costs of a nursing home bed running at $118,000 per year this left many people stranded from the results of a dysfunctional system. (Feuerstein)[2]

A considerable effort to help the disabled has been made in the transportation arena in NYC. A good example is that of wheelchair accessible taxis in the downtown Manhattan area. Disabled passengers have been able to hail taxis on a virtual basis by using cell phones, sending texts or on individuals tablet computers. This service offered by Metro axis in New York ensures a wheelchair friendly cab is made available to the disabled person with a typical response time of twenty minutes. Historically, getting a wheelchair friendly cab from over 13,000 cabs was almost impossible. The firm receives over 35 calls a day for the service and rides cover downtown Manhattan and the five boroughs. (Moran)[3]

Disabled victims of domestic violence

Domestic violence has been a common problem amongst mainly women who are disabled. This is because they have little opportunity to defend themselves. There are very few disability help organizations that are equipped to deal with this issue. This type of abuse may come from husbands, boyfriends, care providers or other personal assistants. Abusers have been known to taunt their victims by withholding care, removing mobility access or taking away sensory devices. This can result in fear, social isolation and difficulty in disclosing the abuser. Very often a disabled woman reporting domestic violence is disbelieved. The main thing for the victim is to seek remedial help and obtain a safe shelter. Places like Freedom House in NYC provide this first line help to victims of domestic violence. The greatest challenge resides with the victim in seeking out help and creating a change to their intolerable circumstances. (Levy).[4]

Social acceptance of the physically disabled.

This has to be examined from a number of different perspectives. A child that was born with a physical disability or acquired this from an early age is much more likely to succeed in acceptance of the disability and the challenges represented. They can be helped and taught from an early age to become self-reliant. A soldier returning from a combat area where a physical disability has been acquired may have a much tougher period of acceptance and reintegration into society. Historically people in society were somewhat intolerant of the disabled and in some regards they were stigmatised. Things have changed in the last few decades and attitudes have become more tolerant and helpful to the plight of disabled people.

From a social perspective society has become much more tolerant towards disabled people. Muvch of this has ben due to recognition of the valuable contribution disable people can make to society. There is a need for inclusivity and the abled bodied people are now much more in tune with these needs.

We see more helpful sign postings for the disabled in malls and shopping centres, lifts and ramps are provided to increase mobility, washrooms have special disabled facilities and shopping avenues have been made wider for ease of access around the stores. The use of electronic buggies have progressed beyond the wheel chair and this has increased the range of mobility for disabled people. NYC is a good example of most modern cities that have made considerable improvements in this regard. There is no doubt however that more can be accomplished.

NEW york helping the disabled

Affordable housing

People that are registered with disabilities are entitled to register with numerous City housing lotteries. Disabled people are given priority in these lotteries. The Department of Finance has waived future rent increases to disable people who are living in controlled or rent subsidized appartments. Property Taxes are also lowered for those owning appartments or condominiums. The Mayor’s office has provided a wide range of literature that helps to describe the many features in NYC that have been designed to help the disabled people. A fair amount of information has also been provided online in order for ease of access.

Non profits helping the disabled

There is no doubt that the many non-profit agencies that serve the disable community in NYC do so with good intent and make a significant difference to the community. There are however some serious concerns about the community workers that are employed by these non-profits. Many are without credentials and earn around $10-15 an hour. The issue is that when the non-profits invoice the State they are charging in excess of 4X that amount. This has placed a strain on the Medicaid system and illustrated a serious weakness in the system. It would appear that NY State needs to re-examine the disparity between the financial support provided to the non-profits and that of the helpers providing front line support. These disparities were published in the New York Times in December 2011. This was not confined to a few non-profits but went across the board as the non-profits were allowed to become awash in state money. (Buettner)[5]

Returning veterans to New York city

The Office of Veteran Affairs (USA), was established to provide service veterans with a comprehensive package of benefits. Such benefits covered a range of different options from finding suitable housing, provision of training needs for rehabilitation into the employment arena and a range of insurance benefits in order to support the veterans.

The compensation for Disability is a benefit paid to a veteran because of personal injury or contraction of a disease whilst on active service or an existing condition that was made worse by active service. Additional amounts of compensation may be awarded in certain circumstances. Of particular importance is the work carried out by the department dealing with vocational rehabilitation and employment. This has regional representation across the United States and has been designed to help returning veterans, particularly disabled veterans, to prepare for and obtain suitable jobs.

The wounded warriors project is one example of an organization that is committed towards helping returning veterans. “Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) serves veterans and service members who incurred a physical or mental injury, illness, or wound, co-incident to their military service on or after September 11, 2001 and their families. On that date, America watched in horror as approximately 3,000 people died including hundreds of firefighters and rescue workers” (Wounded Warrior Project).

The VA has adapted specific housing grant programs to meet the need of disabled veterans. These grants for the purpose of constructing or modifying an existing home in order to meet special needs. The Specially Adapted Housing program (SAH) has a main aim of providing a barrier free living environment that will provide the veteran with a degree of independence that they might not otherwise enjoy. The grants may also be used for such veterans taking up residence outside of the USA but it must be practical for the VA to provide assistance to the nominated country. The VA through its various branches throughout the USA provides permanent disability id cards to those veterans who are unable to work and eligible to apply for compensation.

A great deal of information is offered on the extensive range of services offered from New York State division of Veterans Affairs. (NY State division of veterans affirs)[6]

In order to address these needs the VA has been structured into three distinct departments:

• Veterans Benefit Administration
• Veterans Health Administration
• National Cemetery Administration

The compensation for Disability is a benefit which is paid out to a veteran because of personal injury or contraction of a disease whilst on active service or an existing condition that was compounded by active service

conclusion

Over the last two decades the NY State has ploughed considerable monies into the non-profit organisations that help support the disabled. This has resulted in a great deal of improvements but equally a great deal of corruption and mismanagement of funds owing to serious inadequacies in the system. The subject matter of being disabled in NYC is a complex matter because it crosses over so many different boundaries and essentially no one area can be looked at in isolation if we are to avoid diluting the holistic picture. There are a number of good points, particularly in people’s attitudes towards the disabled and a great degree of this can be attributed to the general public acquainting themselves with the injuries sustained by returning veterans.

In general terms people are much more aware of the needs of the disabled and the types of provisions that need to be made for them in both the workplace and in social life conditions. A continued effort is being made but certainly a great deal more work needs to be accomplished. The State needs to re-examine funding arrangements of the non-profits supporting the disabled people and ensure that value-for money is being achieved in terms of the end results. This means more procedural reviews and quality audits of these organizations.

Advancements in technology can also be cited as amongst the items that have improved the general mobility of the disabled. This has been applied to a wide range of mechanical, medical and infrastructure areas in recognition of the disabled people’s needs.

Works Cited

Buettner, Russ. Aiding disabled, non profits rake in state money. 13 12 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/nyregion/caring-for-disabled-at-home-nonprofits-swim-in-new-york-state-money.html?pagewanted=print. 17 1 2013.

City of New York . NYC Government web site. 15 1 2013. http://www.nyc.gov/cgi-bin/misc/pfprinter.cgi?action=print&sitename=MOPD. 15 1 2013.

Feuerstein, Paul. Barrier Free Living When Disability Isn’t the Only Challenge. 24 11 2009. http://www.nynp.biz/index.php/agencies-of-the-month/1692-barrier-free-living-when-disability-isnt-the-only-challenge.html. 15 1 2013.

Levy, Eric. The Challenge for Disabled Victims of Domestic Violence. 2013. http://www.disaboom.com/disability-rights-and-advocacy-general/the-challenge-for-disabled-victims-of-domestic-violence. 20 1 2013.

Moran, Karsten. Disabled in New York hail cabs virtually. 2013. New York Times. 17 1 2013.

NY State division of veterans affirs. State Benefits. 2012. http://veterans.ny.gov/state-benefits.html. 17 1 2012.

Wounded Warrior Project. Wounded Warrior Project. 2013. http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/. 9 2 2013.

[1] This source provides a foundation introduction to facilities and services offered to disabled people in the City of New York. Provides multiple case study examples of how the mayor’s office is launching initiatives in order to help the disabled.

[2] This article looks at the plight of non-profits as they seek to help the disabled community in NYC. A particular case study on one company ‘ Barrier Free Living’ and the views of the CEO Paul Fuerstein.

[3] NYT article illustrating progress made in the Taxi services for the disabled in NYC

[4] A look into the challenges of disabled persons who are impacted by domestic violence. A serious concern of where historically there has been little help or support.

[5] Explains how the state has been flooding the non-profit sector with funds but has paid little attention to service quality or front line delivery to the disabled. There have been numerous cases of corruption.

[6] Comprehensive site on range of state benefits available to returning disabled veterans to the NYC area.