Living The Life Of Wheelchair Bound: Council Members Spend Time Making Way In City

DETROIT (WWJ) - On one of the hottest days of the year, members of Detroit City Council accepted the Barrier Free Challenge and carried out their business while strapped in wheelchairs.

Warriors on Wheels (WOW) President Lisa Franklin offered the challenge to help make lawmakers aware of the difficulties people with disabilities have while trying get around in the city.

Some Council members like Kwame Kenyatta also ventured out on to the streets of downtown Detroit.

"I think it's important to put ourselves, if you will, in the seat that our citizens and particularly those who have challenges and disabilities in our community to make sure that we as lawmakers are doing everything that we need to do to make sure they can get to where they need to get to. This is an opportunity for us to see what they see, and feel what they feel and go where they go," said Kenyatta to WWJ's Florence Walton.

Council President Charles Pugh said as a policy maker the council should be participating in this type of activity.

"We are now sensitive to the concerns of people who a Bus Your Bus accessible - your entrances to this building or other public spaces aren't accessible," said Pugh.

City council members experienced first-hand the difficulty in trying to get their wheelchair up onto a curb that wasn't  finished properly and/or trying to enter buildings that didn't have a wheel chair entrance.

Mayor Dave Bing did not agree to participate.