ADA Gala
(left) Phil Pangrzio, Mayor Greg Stanton and Jennifer Langdon
array(right) Don Logan, Mayor Greg Stanton, Phil Pangrazio, Councilwoman Thelda Williams, City Manager Ed Zuercher, Peter Fischer
25th anniversary celebration of Americans with Disabilities Act
recognizes local heroes.
Lance Greathouse, who refurbishes and repairs power wheelchairs for free; Rose Daly-Rooney, an attorney whose 20-year career has been dedicated to advancing civil rights for persons with disabilities; ASU doctoral student Bhoomika Bhagchandani and the City of Phoenix received 25th Anniversary Americans with Disabilities Act awards at the ADA Gala on July 18, 2015, at the Tempe Mission Palms.
Six-time Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken-Rouen, who sustained a spinal cord injury in 2014 leaving her paralyzed from the waist down, was the keynote speaker at the event. Almost 350 guests, including Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, former Arizona Cardinal Andre Wadsworth and Tom Rouen, a two-time Super Bowl champion punter with the Denver Broncos and Van Dyken’s husband. CBS 5 anchor Nicole Crites was the emcee.
Van Dyken-Rouen, the first American Woman to win four gold medals at a single Olympics (1996) was named Swimming World’s American Swimmer of the Year in 1995 and 1996. She retired from swimming after the 2000 Olympics and has served as a radio disc jockey (the Peak 98.7 FM) and as the sideline reporter for the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos. She co-hosted Fox Sports Radio’s Fox Sports Tonight with Rob Dibble. She was inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame in July 2008 and was the only American swimmer inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s Class of 2007.
The ADA Awardees
Trailblazer Award: Lance Greathouse
Greathouse is a dental field service engineer by day,
who co-founded Wheelchair Labs, a nonprofit
organization that fixes power wheelchairs to allow
individuals to move freely within their communities,
gain better access to jobs, resources, education and
basic needs.
Legacy Award: Rose Daly-Rooney
Daly-Rooney is the litigation director at the Arizona Center for
Disability Law and formerly was Tucson Unit Chief for the Civil
Rights Division of the Office of the Arizona Attorney General.
Her accomplishments include obtaining a settlement requiring
open captioning for Arizona Cardinals games and other sporting
events at the University of Phoenix Stadium, and settlement agreements
requiring audio description and assistive listening devices at Cinemark
Theaters; a consent decree with the City of Avondale to revise a
discriminatory zoning ordinance to eliminate unnecessary burdens
placed on group homes serving residents with intellectual disabilities;
and a lawsuit against Harkins Theatres resulting in closed captioning
and audio description at its theaters.
Emerging Leader Award: Bhoomika Bhagchandani
Bhoomika Bhagchandani received the 2014 National Federation
of the Blind State Scholarship for Arizona as well as a 2015 City
of Tempe Mayor’s Disability Award. A doctoral student in the Hugh
Downs School of Human Communication at ASU, her research
focuses on communication issues facing the disability community
and developing practical programs and policies to address and
improve those issues.
Trailblazer Award: City of Phoenix
The city was acknowledged for its long-standing history of policies and actions that support people with disabilities. The long line of mayors and city leaders have worked on issues of social justice and inclusion that have had a direct impact on people with disabilities.
Gala sponsors included Arizona Bridge to Independent Living, Outfront Media, Valley Metro, Cigna, HealthSouth East Valley Rehabilitation Hospital, HealthSouth Scottsdale Rehabilitation Hospital, Henkel of America, Lovitt & Touché, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, Total Transit and Ability Center.
PHOTOS BY JIM BOOMER
