As a family with two wheelchair users facing a trend of declining attention to accessibility, together with controversial issues tied to accessible parking, North Branford residents Alex Bode, her brother, Sam, and their mom, Mary Caruso, decided to bring needed attention and change to the issues. In 2023, they founded nonprofit Peace, Love and ACCESSibility (PLA), for which Alex Bode, MSW, serves as Executive Director.

Now, PLA invites the public to attend a fun, informative fundraising event to further their efforts. On Saturday, July 13, PLA will hold its first Community Access Awareness Day from 1 to 4 p.m. at 1 North Street in North Branford (next to the Atwater Library). Tickets, $20 for adults; $10 for children under 12, need to be purchased in advance at tinyurl.com/PeaceLoveACCESS

Bode corresponded with Zip06/The Sound via email to discuss the event and PLA.

“Our event will feature food, great music by The Mediums, and of course, snow cones! We will have a wheelchair Reality Check—not an obstacle course, which people think of as fun and competition, but a series of tasks to complete while using a manual wheelchair. We will also have a fun adaptive technology table, and hand trikes for people to try,” said Bode of just some of the activities planned for the day.

The event will also host a simulation table for guests to experience different types of impairments; yoga sessions for all levels with Sal Anunziato; an ADA expert available to discuss the laws businesses and the general public should be following; catering by J. Roo’s; PLA merchandise for sale; and a mindfulness booth.

“Research shows that practicing mindfulness helps overcome bias,” said Bode. “Besides physical barriers, Sam and I face attitudinal barriers every day. Teaching people about mindfulness might help make the world a little more judgment-free!”

Both Alex and Sam Bode live with Friedreich’s Ataxia, a rare progressive disease that has led to full-time wheelchair use and multiple physical challenges. Through PLA, their mission is to advocate for accessibility, raise awareness, focus on community building, and speak to legislators and law enforcement as part of their work toward creating a more inclusive world.

“Our event is a fundraiser to sustain our work. Grants are extremely competitive, and people often struggle to understand why we do this work. The main reason for the misunderstanding is that while there are strong laws around the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act], enforcement is challenging,” said Bode.

PLA efforts include focusing on handicapped parking law compliance, including non-compliant parking and vehicle operator issues the family has encountered at Branford, North Branford and other area businesses (and often share as posts at the PLA Facebook page). PLA also focuses on illegal use of accessible placards and parking, said Bode.

“There is so much to be done. We successfully helped pass two bills: one to form an Accessible Parking Placard Council within the DMV [Department of Motor Vehicles]; and another to ban companies from charging huge fees to get your accessible placard online. We even had a fully able-bodied grad student obtain a placard prescription through this mechanism, so it’s proof that many other able-bodied people have done the same,” Bode noted.

Bode gives special thanks to PLA Community Access Awareness Day sponsoring groups including Branford Community Foundation, GSB, NuMotion Foundation, ADA Coalition of Connecticut, NexGen, The Peter Crisp Family, and Love Tribe Open Hearts Arts Life Center.

Learn more about PLA and event updates at PeaceLoveACCESibility on Facebook or at the PLA event page on Facebook.