Ms. Burks, born with cerebral palsy, has significant physical disabilities. It takes some concentration to understand her speech, with its elongated vowels, pauses and distortions.

INCLUSION AWARDS

Is there a business, school, church or other group making strides toward integrating people with and without disabilities? Nominations for outstanding examples of inclusiveness in the region are being accepted by the Inclusion Network for the Inclusion Leadership Awards.     Winners will be honored Jan. 30 at Paul Brown Stadium. Nomination deadline is Oct. 4.     Inclusion Network: 345-1330.

        Funny, smart, and passionate, her persistence and patience led to a bachelor's degree in computer science from Wright State University, and an 18-year career as a programmer for the University of Cincinnati.

        Her foresight contributed to the founding of the first independent living center in Ohio, the Independent Living Options at 632 Vine downtown, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last week. Vice Mayor Alicia Reece, Councilman David Pepper, Ohio Rep. Catherine Barrett, the Independent Living Options board, staff and friends attended the Sept. 19 event at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

        Ms. Burks and her friend, Patricia O'Brien, learned about a similar center in Berkeley, Calif., through their membership in the national Association of the Physically Handicapped. The center was run by people with disabilities and helped others get housing, skills and assistance needed to live independently.

        Ms. Burks credits her friend, who died 12 years ago, with making Living Options a reality.

        “Patty really did all the work,” Ms. Burks says. “I just listened and provided encouragement.”

        In its 25 years, Independent Living Options has grown from a paid director and mostly volunteer staff to a full-time staff of 12, most of whom have disabilities. The center offers advocacy, peer support, and skills training. It also is an information and referral resource on accessible housing, personal care assistance, medical equipment, explanation of disability benefits or guidance to homeless people with disabilities.

        A primary concern of Martha Burks and others in the 1970s was affordable, accessible housing for people using wheelchairs. In 1983, the HUD-funded Hollister House was built, Cincinnati's first all-accessible apartment building which continues to offer affordable housing to many people with disabilities.

        “My dream back then,” Ms. Burks says, “was that a person could want to live anywhere, and ILO would come in and make it accessible. ... Maybe that was too much.”

        After 25 years accessible housing is still an enormous problem for people with disabilities in Cincinnati and elsewhere and, like so many obstacles, is resolved one person at a time.

        For Martha Burks, the personal dream of owning her own wheelchair-accessible home has only recently come true. It took 12 years to find, and six years to become available. In August, she purchased two accessible condos in one building: One for herself and one for her personal care assistant three floors above her. Her patience and persistence again paid off.

        That's exactly what Independent Living Options and centers like it across the nation are celebrating: the freedom of Martha Burks — or any other person with a disability — to go to a job that uses her education and then go home, her own home, like everyone else.
       

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