The City of Vancouver has a bump in the curb.

This past week, I ventured downtown Vancouver, Washington. I wanted to photograph the homeless. As I was wandering aimlessly around, I came across a gentleman in a wheelchair. He asked me if I was from the newspaper. I told him "no", but then asked him why he would ask that. I let him know I co-authored a blog and I would like to hear what he had to say. I told him I might possibly be able to post his concerns on my blog. These were his concerns:
The City of Vancouver has not made their curb sides conducive to those individuals in wheelchairs. Although, the curb sides do slope down toward the streets and they can cross to the other side. They have not made it easy for wheelchairs to go back up onto the curb once they are down on the street. There is a large lip preventing wheelchairs from smoothly transitioning back onto the sidewalk. This is a safety issue because while individuals are trying to maneuver their wheelchairs up onto the sidewalks, cars are turning those corners, and could possibly hit one of them. This gentleman (unfortunately, I did not get his name) has had several close calls with cars. He has talked with an organization in the past, who has taken photos and written to the city, but the city has only fixed a few of the curbs.

Later that day, I met up with a woman who also lives downtown Vancouver, and she too confirmed the trouble she has had with the curbs. She almost tipped over her wheelchair onto Main street.
I am not sure what to do with this information yet. I have thought about writing a press release, after researching the issue, making phone calls, confirming what has been done, and what needs to be done. But for now, I am posting their story as promised, in hopes that someone, who might work for the City of Vancouver, will be reading this blog.
To all others; as you cross the street this week, let us remind ourselves that sometimes an unnoticed, minuscule, bump in the road to one, is a giant mountain for another.
We can reach out, grab hold of another, cross the street and lift each other, over the curbside bumps of life.

Love to all,
Ingrid