Kathleen
Wood always wanted to be an airplane pilot. If she had a choice, she would
still get her pilot’s license.
But she is considered legally blind, able to see about 10 percent of what most people see – one of several disabilities she has had since birth.
Yet, she hasn’t let that stop her from seeking the friendly skies.
“I’ve flown in every kind of aircraft you can think of,” she said during an interview last week. “Even a hot air balloon. I haven’t yet flown in a helicopter. I love travel, and I love the freedom of flight.”
Wood said she understands how her disabilities limit her options, but she refuses to stop doing things she loves.
“Of course they interfere,” she said. “I can’t drive. I can’t just take off for parts unknown. If I could, I would get a pilot’s license in 30 seconds. I’m not Pollyanna. Disabilities are not wonderful, but I can still live a good quality life. I have choices and goals that I can achieve. So can anyone with a disability.”
At 48, she may have traveled as widely as others, or even done more. Recently she flew in a glider plane and recalls with great affection the loops it took over a farm in northwest New Jersey.
“No,” she said, “I wasn’t scared.”
She also recently took an airplane trip over the ice packs of Alaska.
Wood, the director of the Hudson County branch of Heightened Independence & Progress (HIP), insists on fulfilling her dreams, even if not in the way she might have first perceived.
“A person might have a dream of becoming an airplane pilot, but with sight like mine, that will never happen,” she said. “But I might be able to become employed in the airline industry as a ticket clerk or some other job. And that’s the point. You don’t have to let your disability keep you from living a quality life.”
Disabled doesn’t mean handicapped
During an interview at the HIP center in Jersey City, Wood talked about the role her organization is trying to play in the lives of disabled people in Hudson County.
Handicap is not a word she uses to describe the people who use HIP resources.
“The word handicap originated in the time of the Crimean War,” she said. “Soldiers came back from battle with missing limbs. These soldiers went to the king and told him they could no longer tend fields. But if they went and begged in the streets, they would be arrested for vagrancy and thrown into prison. So the king told them they could beg by holding out their [caps] in their hands.” (It should be noted that there are a variety of opinions on where the term originated.)
HIP helps people, but doesn’t tell them what they ought to do. It hosts support groups, workshops, and recreational/arts activities. The staff will help people find solutions to individual problems or provide education on disabilities.
“This is a center of independence,” she said. “We are among 500 centers across the United States and 12 in New Jersey.”
Centers of independence got their start in the 1960s when a man named Ed Roberts fought to attend classes at the University of California in Berkeley. This eventually led a movement for access.
“We want to live lives like everyone else,” Wood said.
Although centers of independence serve all 21 counties, HIP has two offices, the main office in Hackensack and this satellite office near Journal Square in Jersey City.
“The mission of a center of independence is to help integrate people with all disabilities into the community and allow them to live a life of their own choosing,” Wood said. “If an individual wants to work, we help them find a way. If they want to be more independent at home, we try to help with that.”
People usually begin contact with a phone call. Although the idea is to get disabled people out of their homes and into public spaces, HIP can arrange for a home visit if necessary. Otherwise, disabled people come to the offices, where they hold peer session meetings or one-on-one sessions with staff.
Last year, Hudson County HIP helped 271 people as an ongoing situation.
“This means that we’ve interacted with them more than once,” Wood said.
During the same year, HIP had more than 3,000 information or referral requests.
HIP is governed by and staffed with people who have disabilities and who understand the needs of their peers.
“Fifty one percent of our staff and board must be disabled,” Wood said.
The Jersey City office currently has two full-time and five part-time workers. Volunteers, disabled or not, are always welcome. Clients come from every corner of Hudson County, and from every way of life. Some are renters, and some own their own homes.
What does HIP do?
HIP acts as a clearing house for information. If you need to know where to get something you need, it is likely the HIP staff will know or point you in the right direction. HIP seeks to help people enhance their independent living skills. “This can involve finding a place to buy a cane or fix a wheelchair,” Wood said.
The group also works with non-disabled people so they can learn to be more accommodating.
“We might educate the manager of a diner as to how to make the diner accessible, or help in training employees as to how to handle disabled individuals’ needs,” she said. “A workshop could be with an employer who has just hired a disabled employee or has an employee who has just become disabled. It may be how to help non-disabled employees deal with disabled customers.”
Peer support can help disabled people share solutions to problems or give a level of comfort to newly disabled.
“Some people do not believe they can live their lives again,” Wood said. “At the peer group, they can talk with others with similar disabilities.”
HIP offers independent skill training, teaching people how to manage their lives. This can be something as simple as how to manage a checking account to the more complex issues of learning adaptive equipment or techniques.
“We might help someone handle a household task or get from point A to point B,” Wood said.
Although HIP has no housing stock, it can help people in their search for accessible housing – although Wood admits that Hudson County is among the most difficult and most expensive places to find housing of any kind.
HIP services are funded through the U.S. Department of Education, NJ Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, NJ Department of Community Affairs, Hudson County Department of Human Services and a variety of contributions from corporations, foundations, membership dues, and donations from friends and supporters.
“Many of the programs we have are also provided statewide,” she said.
But HIP has programs of its own such as “Hudson HIP Happenings,” in which HIP takes trips to various events. There is an upcoming trip on July 26 to Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum on Times Square. That trip will include a light lunch and costs $15.
There is also a HIP writing group.
Getting access
Last year, Hudson County HIP was involved with a tour of the historic Journal Square business district in Jersey City, and as a result, for the rest of the summer, business owners kept their doors open after seeing how difficult it was for some of the members to open them.
One store rearranged merchandise to allow better access for people using mobility devices. Two stores bought portable ramps to put over the single step to their establishments. One of these shops was the local Subway sandwich shop.
The most recent program offered by Hudson County HIP is Special Assistance for Independent Living (SAIL) program. This program is funded by Hudson County and was started last year with the Kessler Foundation.
This helps with the purchase of adaptive equipment and devices. It could be something as simple as the purchase of an air conditioner for someone with respiratory problems or a stair glide for someone needing to get up a stair. SAIL funding can be used to purchase items and to obtain services intended to help enhance independent living. This includes medical and non-medical assistive devices that could significantly increase day-to-day functioning.
People who qualify for the state’s PAAD prescription program’s income guidelines would qualify for SAIL. While HIP cannot always bear the whole cost, it can often help reduce the cost to the person in need.
“So many disabled people are trapped in their homes,” Wood said. “They are not limited by their disability. They are limited by their fear. We can help them overcome their fear by providing them with tools they need.”