LYNN — The Lynn Disability Network and Caring Hearts Special Rights Support Group hosted a celebration of the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act in front of City Hall Wednesday.
Keynote speaker Dany Acosta, a Lynn resident who is blind, gave a speech advocating for accessibility in the community. He said that according to the United States Census Bureau, 10% of the city’s residents who are younger than 65 have a disability.
He told his story about how he had a kidney transplant, was on dialysis for five years, and eventually lost his eyes.
“I am never going to be able to see my mom’s smile,” he said.
Acosta also described how he believes the city can become more accessible.
Schools need to provide the necessary resources to students with disabilities, he said, and provide accessible technology and hearing aids to more counselors and social workers.
Acosta said that businesses need to have accessible entrances and bathrooms. They also need to hire employees with disabilities and provide them with the resources they need, he added.
“Stop holding the financial progress of our city behind,” Acosta said.
The city needs to fix broken sidewalks, he said, so that he and other residents with disabilities can safely move through the city.
“I can’t even go see my friends, I can’t go see my neighbors… because of broken sidewalks,” Acosta said. “We have a beautiful city but our infrastructure is old, we need to pour resources into accessibility.”
In his speech, Mayor Jared Nicholson thanked the Disability Commission for its work in making Lynn more accessible. The commission makes sure that the city is thinking about residents with disabilities when planning for everything from education to economic development, he said.
