Differently Abled Persons and Local Food Issues

Howdy! I remember when I organized my first meeting and someone in a wheelchair came and of course the hippie resteraunt I picked had 4 stairs at the front door and she couldn't attend.  It is just not something most people think about - I didn't!  More and more people I meet have chronic pain, chronic fatigue, environmental allergies, Lyme disease, limited mobility issues and are very interested in local food (and regenerative living, self sufficency, green issues etc), but are barred from participating in most events. 

Could people when posting events say if it is wheelchair assessible, what the seating is like, if it is in sunlight, how long the walks will be and what the terrain is like, and what people will be expected to carry?  Info like that REALLY helps differently abled people know if it is worth trying to attend.  If you want a more inclusive community and more resources (I have two degrees on nonprofit stuff for example), this little bit of effort can go a loooong way. Also persons who are disabled are usually on SSI which here is about $700 a MONTH and $56 in food stamps and there is no door to door paratransit for them to get to, let's say, a drug store, farmer's market, support group, voting etc.  So most things are not assessible.

I personally, due to hypothyroidism type 2 which is considered an epidemic and is caused by the toxins in the air, food, soil, water, etc, have chronic pain and faitigue and cannot regulate tempature properly.  I grew up really off the grid (no phone, no solar, no water!) and we had bees, goats, chickens, Dad homebrewed and sometimes hunted, Mom gardened, foraging, baked and canned - and that stuff is what I consider normal living.  But I am now cut off from being part of this community because I cannot drive, I cannot hike, I am allergic to sunlight and mosquitos, I need a comfortable chair to sit in, and I cannot do all that bending that gardening and foraging and stuff involve. So many people are aware that their disability is caused by toxins now and we want to be a part of the local food stuff and we cannot.  I just wanted to put this out there.  I know that most groups are small and broke and overworked and the last thing they are thinking about is "Is this assessible?" but we differently abled are a huge uptapped resource for any environmental group or issue. (So are the first wave hippie kids - we have horror stories and cynical wisdom from growing up in the homesteading or intentional living or home schooled or whatever scene of the 60s and 70s - not to be party poopers, but we can help people not reinvent the wheel by saying what we watched go terribly wrong!)

I would like to be around people living the way I consider normal.  I miss community.  But the events I see posted really are usually impossible for a differently abled person to attend.  I recently alerted the Cary Institute about this and they were super cool, saying I could attend for free (being on SSI) and they'd have a shaded golf cart for me if I wanted to attend any walks!  I know for a CSA or whatever that is not likely, but it was really impressive to me that they THANKED me for explaining why so many people are not going to attend who want to and how to be more inclusive and bring their info to more persons.

Are there other differently abled persons trying to do this stuff?  How are you managing?  There are no books on green living that mention disabled people!  We're so cut off from this whole movement that so many of us care about so deeply.  (Classism is another huge issue no one likes to look at in the US.) 

I have a worm composter made of recycled plastic so I don't have to go outside.  I get up around 3 am so I can be outside before the sun is up and do slow, paced foraging in my yard until about 6 or 7 am.  I have a great library on all this stuff, I wish I could DO it.  How I was raised and all the reading I have done, I am a wealth of info, but I physically cannot make my rain barrel or use it once it is done.  I make my own cleaning products but that ingredient of elbow grease I don't have.  I bought lots of Hudson Valley heirloom seeds with the amazing art and tried a container garden in my sun room, but it didn't work so well - but the sunflowers I started someone planted outside for me and they are already (if not eaten by deer) in bloom and AWESOME. The rest of the seeds I sent to a woman on SSI for mental illness who community gardens to feed her three kids.  I'd LOVE to hear from other differently abled persons about ways they've adapted to have as eco-friendly a lifestyle as possible when the books assume you are in perfect health and have money.  Most of my friends are differently abled and trying to find a way to end the ableism in the green movement we really want to join. I someday hope there are books for green stuff that include things that EVERYONE can be a part of.  Doesn't it upset you when people talk about how your "special needs" are not their problem, but then complain there is not enough community involvement?

Thanks!