ANNOUNCER: Council Member Myrna Peterson and friends from Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
TIM EDWARDS: Good morning, Grand Rapids. Tim Edwards here on KOZY. It’s a beautiful, brisk morning. It’s only 29 degrees below zero.
[THEME MUSIC]
MYRNA PETERSON: Hi, my name is Myrna Peterson. I am a board member on the Minnesota Council for Disability, and I represent DEED’s Region 3, which is Itasca County, going all the way over Northeast Minnesota, to Wisconsin, and all the way up to the Canadian border.
I’ve been living in Grand Rapids for the past 20 years. I just appreciate the variety of activities here in Grand Rapids to be involved with, the arts, the athletics, the culture, the history, the environment, hunting, fishing. It’s just a little bit of heaven right here in Grand Rapids.
ADAM: Hello.
MYRNA PETERSON: Good morning. Being in a wheelchair, I need accessible transportation, which we’re very limited evenings and weekends. And that’s when many of the social and arts activities that I belong to are happening.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
One of my favorite projects was when they were doing a fundraiser to get me a car that I could drive myself. My friend Lee and I had our accidents on the same day, and I said, if I’m going to get a car, I want to get a four wheel drive pickup for my friend Lee. We attempted to see how many wheelchairs we could get rolling in a certain number of minutes.
We ended up with 351 wheelchairs rolling in succession for three minutes. While we were overwhelmed with the number of people, Lee and I went to four different communities within Itasca County to find out, why don’t we see you in the public? We don’t see you around.
The answer clearly was, number one, transportation. Lee and I together formed a nonprofit called Mobility Mania, Accessibility for All, and began to look for ways that we could find transportation to get all of our friends to the activities that they were missing for their quality of life.
There was a perfect opportunity when Michigan May Mobility wanted to pilot a project for autonomous vehicles in a cold climate and focus on accessibility. And so we accepted the challenge, and now, we have goMARTI.
We have five autonomous vehicles. Three of them are ADA compliant.
ADAM: That’s everything. Looks like we’re good. Are you good?
MYRNA PETERSON: Yep, I’m feeling secure. Thanks, [? Adam. ?]
ADAM: Safe going.
MYRNA PETERSON: OK.
ADAM: Where are we heading off to?
MYRNA PETERSON: I’ve got an appointment at the clinic, Adam, so–
ADAM: All righty.
MYRNA PETERSON: That’s where we’re headed.
ADAM: Sounds great. Let’s get going.
MYRNA PETERSON: Anyone can ride it. There’s an app on your phone, or you can call 211, or booking a ride. It’s on demand. So it works as a transit service, but perfect for literally getting me off the streets.
ADAM: Hello, Kayleen.
MYRNA PETERSON: Hi, Kayleen.
KAYLEEN: Hey there. How are you guys today?
MYRNA PETERSON: Are you off to work?
KAYLEEN: Yes, I am.
MYRNA PETERSON: So where’s your stop? Where do you stop when you go to work?
KAYLEEN: Stop number eight at Anytime Fitness.
MYRNA PETERSON: One of the unique things about goMARTI’s project is that it’s all community based. When they started the operation, they went to the community and said, where do you want to go? We have now a route of over 17 square miles, but we have 78 stops within that distance.
JUDY: Good afternoon.
MYRNA PETERSON: Hi, Judy.
JUDY: Hi.
MYRNA PETERSON: Where are you off to today?
JUDY: I’m headed to Super One North.
MYRNA PETERSON: Minnesota law requires that there’s an operator. But there’s such a great assistance for me to buckle me in for safety and for my visually impaired people who need some guidance or our elderly population. It fits everyone, and totally free to our community.
For me and my family, it has been such an improvement for quality of life. I put about 1,500 miles on my chair every year just going on my own.
ADAM: All right, straight back.
MYRNA PETERSON: But now, with goMARTI, I don’t have to go out in 20 below temperature or in the rain or in the snow. And I have an accessible way of transporting me to activities that improve my quality of life and those of my friends that I advocate for.
[PHONE RINGING]
ORLIN: [INAUDIBLE] Community School. This is Orlin.
MYRNA PETERSON: Hey, Orlin. It’s Myrna. I like to know what’s going on in my community, so I can help to make it better. Being on the Council of Disability provides avenues for further engagement. So I can reach out and say, as a representative of the council, how can I help you?
Everyone agreed that I should bring it up as an option. I couldn’t do my advocacy work here without the support of the city council, without the support of the people at the library, elder circle. We’ve got a village here that works.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
I have one thumb that works and a mouth that won’t quit, and I’m very proud of it because I’m a dreamer. I’m a visionary. I like to look at the big picture. I want my utopia. And then I start backwards. What steps do I have to take to get to my final dream?
The work that all of us are doing through the Minnesota Council on Disability, the changes that we’re making here, positive changes for people of all ages, of all abilities, is going to be impacted throughout our state, throughout our country, and throughout our world.