We’re grateful to all who supported the Council’s work during The Big Share on March 7. Thanks to your generosity, we exceeded our goal of $7,500, raising a total of $10,350 over the course of the event through gifts from 92 donors.
The Big Share is a unique, all-day fundraiser organized by Community Shares of Wisconsin (CSW) to generate support for its nearly 70 member nonprofits. “It’s really a day for our organizations to come together, not to compete,” says Council Fund Development Director Lori Werbeckes. “A chance to share our work all in one place and to raise awareness of all of our missions.”
A good example of that collaboration came in the form of a virtual forum, “Advancing Transportation Equity for Non-Drivers,” presented by two CSW organizations, the Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired and Disability Rights Wisconsin, along with the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities.
The hour-long panel discussion, streamed via Facebook during The Big Share, was a deep dive into the circumstances and consequences of a transportation system that prioritizes vehicles over people. Non-drivers and their families, supporters, employers and others pay the price for this disconnect. Panelists included Denise Jess, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired; Tami Jackson, Public Policy Analyst and Legislative Liaison for the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities; and Barbara Beckert, Director of External Advocacy with Disability Rights Wisconsin.
You can view the virtual forum in its entirety on YouTube.
Some takeaways from the conversation include:
Transportation inequities impact everyone, not just non-drivers.
- There are impacts on employment, education, access to healthcare, food security, voting and many other aspects of life.
- Non-drivers live throughout the state – urban, suburban, small town and rural areas.
- If you don’t drive or own a car, it’s difficult to impossible to get to where you need to go on your own schedule due to limited options, including a lack of pedestrian/bike infrastructure, erosion of the services that were previously available, a patchwork of services that are challenging to navigate, and services that end at municipal borders.
- We need to transform our policies and practices to prioritize the person who needs to get to where they are going, creating systems for all modes, all users, all abilities and all ages. Thanks again to all who pitched in to make The Big Share a big success this year!
Thanks again to all who pitched in to make The Big Share a big success this year!
