Engineering Inclusive Facilities, Events and Projects for Individuals of ALL Abilities in Summit County
Our Vision
A young girl participating at the Downtown Akron “Fun Run” with her new prosthesis
www.summitdd.org/blog/my-storystory/my-story-audrey//
Typically, many individuals with disabilities face difficulties and exclusion when operating outside of their immediate support group and environment.
Helen Keller was once asked ”Could there be anything worse than being totally blind?” She replied “Yes, having perfect sight and no vision”.
At Inclusioneers, we envision a place where people of all abilities can enjoy public facilities, events and activities with their families, enlarging their social community.
We picture a world where a little girl with a disability can ride a bike with her siblings or where a mother with two children in wheel chairs can navigate out in the public space by herself, with both children in their Tandem Wheelchair.
Our Inclusioneers vision builds innovative technical solutions designed to assimilate people with disabilities into the community at large, empowering people with all abilities.
The Inclusioneers Solution
At the heart of the Inclusioneers concept is the need for engineered adaptive solutions, coupled with the energy and talent of college engineering students, guided by the strength of experienced business professional engineers.
Who We Are
Together, Inclusioneers are volunteers that provide inclusive engineered solutions to help the disenfranchised enjoy the same facilities, events, and activities, that are commonly taken for granted by the mainstream population. Through volunteer time and talent, our team helps people of all abilities engage in community programs and enjoy their natural learning environment.
Our Purpose
The Inclusioneers organization is formed exclusively for charitable purposes. The Inclusioneers organization is purposed for the charitable mission to provide inclusive engineered solutions that (a) are ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliant, (b) are designed by mentor engineers that volunteer from local businesses and student engineers that volunteer from local colleges, (c) bring accessibility to public facilities, public events and (d) provide independence and mobility to individuals with developmental disabilities, empowering people of all abilities in the Summit County community.
Our Background
In the fall of 2015, it all started with a simple idea to bring an engineered solution to the aid of a 3 year old girl who just wanted to ride a bike with her siblings. Because she was born with a physical disability, she received support from a local board service agency, designed to provide assistance to individuals with disabilities. Through community connections between Summit DD Board, a local business engineer and the University of Akron, a volunteer effort was formed to grant a little girl’s wish.
In the spring of 2016, after the successful completion of an adaptive bike handle-bar project, additional requests for inclusive engineered solutions were met with enthusiasm. An entire class of 30 Biomedical Engineering (BME) students at the University of Akron (UA) volunteered to solve more client requests and make a positive “real world” impact on individual lives. With this expanded pool of talent, teams scaled up to accept 5 new projects. Additionally, mentor engineers from local businesses volunteered their time, project management experience and engineering know-how to assist the UA student engineers. As a result, projects moved more quickly and teams learned to clearly define: (a) Roles and Responsibilities, (b) Communication Channels, (c) Project Procedures and (d) model a classic Project Management approach throughout the project process (i.e. Concept Reviews, Design Reviews, and Design Testing etc.).
