Women with disabilities proceed with accessibility lawsuit
Several women with disabilities fighting for greater mobility accessibility in public buildings have won the right to pursue their case, despite efforts to dismiss the lawsuit.
Jill Babcock, Ashley Jacobson and Marguerite Maddox, each with physical disabilities, allege in a federal lawsuit several disability rights violations by the state of Michigan, Wayne County, city of Detroit and the Detroit-Wayne Joint Building Authority, which runs the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center.
U.S. District Judge Jonathan J.C. Grey denied the state’s request for government immunity because of claims the plaintiffs were denied access or were impeded for in-person voting, courts, meetings and other essential services at government buildings.
“I see this as a positive development,” said Michael Bartnik, a Bloomfield Hills-based attorney with Law for Baby Boomers, who is representing them. “This is an election year, the judge specifically mentioned the ability to vote in person and that’s a big problem in the city of Detroit.”
Problems with access that the lawsuits allege
A spokesperson for the Detroit-Wayne Joint Building Authority could not be reached. The city of Detroit leases the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center from the building authority.
Plaintiffs began the court battle in December 2022, with Maddox joining the lawsuit months later, after experiencing difficulties navigating various government buildings, from using restrooms to opening doors without automatic access.
The three use various mobility devices and
breaking nearly $2.1 million, approximately $325,000 of which was divvied up between its 27 partner charities — including first-time recipients The DRE Project and Wings of Love Missionary Baptist Church. The rest of the donations are funneled back into SAY Detroit to fund its numerous other programs and initiatives to help Detroit’s most vulnerable populations.
“We’re also working on homing in on these relationships and building on them . ... We have so many things we do from a health clinic to afterschool (program) to giving away homes to volunteer programs, so if we’re involved with an organization on one level, chances are we can be involved with them on another level, so then how do we maximize these relationships?” said Kelley.
Donation amounts dispensed to the long list of charities ranged between $3,000 to $50,000, depending on the size and reach of each nonprofit.
“This year is our 115th anniversary, and every day we serve over 2,500 people and provide meals — 4,500 meals a day. Your generous donation allows us to continue this work that we’re doing, so thank you so much for everything you’re doing for us,” said Stephen Grady, chief strategy officer of Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries’ Behavioral Health Clinic, which received $25,000.
“You would not believe how many seniors in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park live in homes that are not safe . ... My phone rings every day from 6 in the morning to 12 at night, and we only have a certain amount of money, but because of Mitch and this organization we’re going to be able to make more homes safe for seniors,” said Stephanie Donaldson, the Tiny House ambassador from Cass Community Social Services, which received $25,000.
“There’s a lot of compassion and empathy in this room, but what’s really in this room is hard work. We’ve all worked really hard to raise up our communities. These sponsors from SAY Detroit help us to do what we do and continue to do that,” said Chris Tull of Humble Design Detroit, which received $15,000.
The next SAY Detroit Radiothon event will be broadcast for 15 hours on WJR, WDIV and mitchalbomradiothon.com on Dec. 5.