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Public
Employee Press Union
gets Kim Snelling new wheels
On the cold winter morning of Dec. 19, Kim Snelling
suddenly found herself without a way to get to her job at Metro Tech in downtown
Brooklyn.
While most New Yorkers depend on public transportation, Snellings
primary means of getting around town is her motorized scooter.
A Clerical
Associate at the Dept. of Education and a member of Local 1251, Snelling has cerebral
palsy and needs a motorized scooter that she drives from her Brooklyn home to
the stop for the bus that takes her downtown to work.
On that December
morning, however, Snellings usually reliable scooter broke down and she
had to call 911 to get a ride home. Her scooter was discarded by the Dept. of
Sanitation.
While she tried to get HIP to replace the scooter, she went
to work almost every day with the help of a neighbor who drove her to work and
picked her up whenever possible. At work, she used a walker.
HIP initially
denied her claim because their policy required her to turn in the old scooter.
Unable to walk more than a block, Snelling began to miss more days and became
more frustrated. Thats when she called the union and the DC 37 Disability
Advisory Committee for help.
I was determined to get her that scooter,
said Local 2627 member Portia Perkins, who chairs the committee. We started
making phone calls on her behalf to HIP. She needed a new scooter and she needed
it right away.
I had no idea how I was going to get to work
without it, said Snelling, but HIP informed her that it usually took around
eight weeks to replace a scooter.
DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts
got involved and made some calls to HIP officials, and the Disability Advisory
Committee kept the pressure on. The roadblocks gave way and Snelling went to work
Feb. 12 on a new scooter.
Thankfully, she said, with
the help of the union I was able to get the scooter a lot sooner and get back
to work.
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