Sometimes you just have to fight!

A relative of mine who is disabled used to take public transportation for the disabled.  That's where they pick you up at your door and take you to your destination - in this case to her doctors appointments.

Do you know they sent her a notice in the mail saying that it was determined that she could take regular public transportation and that she was no longer eligible for the disabled transportation access!  They determined that she could use her manual wheelchair and wheel herself the 3 blocks to the nearest bus stop.  Nevermind that there would be a hill that she would have to wheel herself up and down to get to and from the bus stop!  She was told that their decision was final and that there was nothing she could do about it.

Well I found out some interesting things.  First of all public transportation has to adhere to rules for transporting the disabled - I guess that's probably why they get so much public/state related funding. 

So what I did was sit down and write out a carefully detailed letter outlining why their assessment was wrong and I gave the reasons why.  Then I mailed the letter to them.  One month later I called to find out about the letter.  They told me that they hadn't received it!  So I faxed a copy of it to them that day which was a Thursday.  Monday I called them and they acknowledged the letter right away without me even getting a chance to identify myself or to whom the letter was about.  They informed me that while the appeal process was taking place the person would be able to take the specialized transportation for the disabled.

Sometimes you just have to fight!