For people living with disabilities, transportation can be one of the biggest barriers to gaining independence and pursuing a fulfilling life.
For a nonprofit like Hillside, which serves 59 local neighbors with intellectual and developmental disabilities, transportation can be one of the biggest line items in the organization’s budget.
Thanks to a decades-long partnership with local nonprofit Easy Lift Transportation, Hillside residents can be more active and involved in their own community.
Craig Olson, Hillside president /CEO, stated, “Easy Lift helps our residents make individual trips into the community, allowing them greater access and choice. It’s good for their self-esteem, and it’s also refreshing to break their routine. This is a certain type of freedom most of us take for granted.”
Serving Hillside residents requires Easy Lift vans that are specially equipped to handle wheelchairs, with staff who know how to safely transition riders from the ground to the bus.
Easy Lift’s committed and trained employees make it look “easy” – hence the organization’s name. Leading Easy Lift is its executive director, Ernesto Paredes, who has worked for the nonprofit for decades.
When I asked Ernesto for an example of the places they go, he said with a matter-of-fact nod and smile, “Anywhere you and I go, we take ‘em.”
His affable style suits him well, and his long tenure at Easy Lift is a testament to his commitment and depth of knowledge on the subject of transportation needs.
Hillside’s director of operations, Gail Metzger, said, “Visiting family and friends is one of the most frequent uses residents have for the Easy Lift vans.”
Hillside has its own fleet of vans and busses for its 59 residents to use for medical appointments, for day programs in the community, or if they have to go out of the area for any reason. Hillside handles those needs.
Easy Lift, she went on to say, “gets Hillside residents out to places like church, or restaurants, and coffee shops — like Morgan does once a week — and so the community gets a chance to meet and interact with him and vice versa.”
Olson had high compliments for Paredes: “Ernesto is one of my favorite leaders in the nonprofit community. He always has a lot of energy and enthusiasm for working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
Ernesto and I met recently for lunch at Alphie’s in Old Towne. The first thing he said to me was how he liked my choice of location and then explained why — he grew up in Goleta — just off Patterson.
“I rode my bicycle all over this place,” he said. “I know it with the eyes of a child. I am so fortunate to have grown up here. I also know how important transportation is to someone’s independence and autonomy.”
Ernesto went to San Marcos High School, adding with a smile, “Morgan, one of the residents of Hillside – he’s a fellow Royal! We were at San Marcos the same time (1980 – 84), but I didn’t know him until we met at Hillside.”
Paredes attended SBCC and then went on to USC, where his major of physical therapy opened his eyes to another line of study with an elective class on gerontology.
While he was in college, people with disabilities were starting to become more active speaking up for more equality and access. In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law.
This was such an emotional win, in one of Hillside’s Annual Reports it notes, “After the day’s rallies and speeches, more than 60 activists abandoned their wheelchairs and mobility devices and began crawling up the 83 stone steps of the U.S. Capitol building. It was known as the Capitol Crawl.”
Paredes observed, “The ADA made life so much better for a population who had not been seen for centuries.”
He stepped into the Easy Lift organization right after the ADA became law, and it was an exciting time.
Since 1979, being flexible and at the ready for the residents of Hillside has been part of Easy Lift’s niche, helping deliver on the promises of the ADA, and to ensure the rights of those living with disabilities.
For residents of Hillside, Easy Lift helps connect them with their own community, live a fulfilling life, and pursue their passions – all key components of Hillside’s purpose and mission.
The partnership between these two critical nonprofits is one worth celebrating, and it will last for years to come.
More information:
Easy Lift: www.EasyLift.org
Hillside: https://hillsidesb.org