Civic Life’s Disability Program supported the Real Choice Initiative and Portland State University Center for Public Service to perform the Disability Equity & Engagement Survey in 2021. Nearly 500 Disabled Portlanders took the survey, and the Office of Equity and Human Rights has published the report on the findings from this survey.“The Disability Equity and Engagement Survey was a collaborative effort undertaken to identify and understand both the composition of the disabled population in Portland as well as their respective experiences, needs, and perspectives,” reads the opening of the report.Those who took the survey provided information about things like the mobility aids they use, how they access their community and government, and how prepared they are for a natural disaster. Sixty-two percent reported a gross annual income of less than $35,000.
Figure 18 in the report. Annual Gross Income Above or Below $35,000.Conclusions drawn by the report include:
- Disabled people in Portland experience extreme poverty at a high rate.
- Mobility and other physical disabilities were the most common. The built environment must be constructed with the assumption that power and manual wheelchair users are accessing the space.
- The assumption of wheelchair users in a space should include planning for safe evacuation of wheelchair users from that space if the need were to arise.
- Disabled Portlanders care about City events and programs, but don’t feel heard or prioritized by local leaders.
Original source can be found here.
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