Each year Disability Network Southwest Michigan honors individuals and organizations in the community who have made a significant contribution to the disability community and to the mission of the organization. The Community Inclusion Award recognizes and celebrates the initiatives, policies and practices of a community organization or business in Southwest Michigan that embraces disability and works to ensure inclusion for their employees, community and customers.
This year’s Community Inclusion Award goes to the City of South Haven for their dedication to being inclusive to people with disabilities and training their staff to understand disability inclusion. The City of South Haven has engaged Disability Network to perform all-staff trainings on Servicing Customers with a Disability and Ableism 101. They have also contracted with Disability Network’s ADA Coordinators for an accessibility audit of the downtown area. Miranda Grunwell, Community Education Coordinator for Disability Network, said, “It’s not often that you see a municipality dedicate the resources that South Haven has to ensuring their community is inclusive to people with disabilities. We’d like to see other cities and towns follow their example.”