Beverly Chapman
Tribute
MWF 1977 was Beverly Chapman. She became
MWA 1977.
She established the Central Florida
Center for Independent Living in 1979 and was its first executive
director. Later she directed the computer training for the disabled
program at Valencia Community College in Orlando. In 1989 she was named
Disabled American of the Year by the President’s Committee on Employment
of People with Disabilities. In 1990 she attended the signing of the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
If Beverly’s name is familiar to
Floridians, it may be because of a law she helped create, the Beverly
Chapman Act. Under this law persons with disabilities who drive and are
physically unable to pay a toll because they cannot handle change and
drive, are given an exemption.
In her typical style, Beverly brought
attention to this problem by driving through toll booths without paying
for the toll. She had gotten tired of taping coins to her driver’s side
window and then trying to explain it to the toll-takers. When she was
finally arrested, she contested the charges in court and received
national media attention.
Her actions inspired her local state
legislators to create The Beverly Chapman Act. Because of all this The
Able Trust in Florida calls its yearly award for advocacy The Beverly
Chapman Award.
Beverly was a tough, aggressive advocate
for persons with disabilities. If you got in her way, you were likely to
find yourself face-down on the floor, with wheelchair tire tracks across
your back.
Unfortunately, she passed away in 1993
due to complications from the MD that had forced her to use a respirator
as well as the wheelchair, but her legacy lives on.
Her lasting message to present and former
MWA contestants, is to never underestimate what one person can
accomplish.
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Thank you to Mr. Karl Beck
for sending us this information. |
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