Medford Secures $90K for ADA Improvements

The Medford Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has secured nearly $90,000 in a Municipal ADA Improvement Grant from the Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD), announced Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn. The funding will allow the City to create a new self-evaluation and transition plan to support improvement projects related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

The Municipal ADA Improvement Grant provides funding to Massachusetts cities and towns to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. The grant program supports updating a municipality’s ADA Self Evaluation and Transition plans and making capital improvements that improve access or remove barriers in municipal programs, services, and facilities.  

The City has been awarded funding in the planning category of the grant program. Planning grants are awarded for creating or updating a Self-Evaluation and/or Transition Plan as required under Title II of the ADA. A Self-Evaluation/Transition Plan is a comprehensive review of all programs, activities, and services offered by the City and outlines the actions that it will take to make them accessible.  

“It’s critical that our community is able to access and engage with all of our programming, services and resources,” said Mayor Lungo-Koehn. “This funding will help us strengthen our accessible offerings and allow us to create a new self-evaluation and transition plan that moves us closer to removing all barriers. Thank you to our Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for their hard work on securing this grant.” 

“This funding will support our ADA improvement goals for years to come,” said Frances Nwajei, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “Thank you to the Medford Commission for Persons with Disabilities and the Institute for Human Centered Design for their support with this grant and continued partnership.” 

Applications for this funding were scored on a competitive basis, and funding was awarded to projects that demonstrate tangible impacts for people with disabilities. The selection committee was comprised of people with disabilities, accessible design professionals, and MOD staff.  

More information on the grant program can be found here.