savvyplanners.com Defines Its Position On Disability Issues and Service Protocol--It's Not Just Business. It's PERSONAL.
World's First GLBT Wedding Company's CEO Speaks Out on Serving Clients and Guests With Disabilities
(PRWEB) July 23, 2004 -- savvyplanners.com, the first company dedicated to the provision of wedding services to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and intersexed persons, has announced its position on disability concerns.
CEO, MW Savant, has released his statement on the provision of guest and client wedding services for those with physical challenges or disabilities. You'll find it in the "articles" (http://savvyplanners.com/articles.html) section of the company website.
"Being the first-mover in an industry presents an obligation to bring certain things to light. If we can raise the bar on special needs provisions to some degree, for example, it is a wonderful thing", Savant said Thursday.
Savant credits a family member (a person with a disability) with a large part of his awareness to issues of living with a debilitating condition and the needs that come along with it. "She was diagnosed when I was a pre-teen. I remember how challenging it was for her on so many occasions."
There were times when it was difficult or impossible for the pair to enter certain places. Even in a major city like New York. In the days prior to the ADA, there was little recourse. "Of course, now, it really is a rare situation. It's the work of the late Justin Dart (fondly called the "father of the ADA"), that we even have the Americans with Disabilities Act. We should remember him as the ADA fourteenth anniversary approaches (July 26)."
The 2000 census counted 47.9 million persons with disabilities over the age of 5. "This would still be an issue for me because I was raised to try to be a caring person. Whether or not there was someone in my immediate family going through a situation such as that, I believe I would still be involved and concerned."
In fact, more than ten years ago Savant was a stage director and lecturer for the organization--- Very Special Arts'(VSA) New Jersey Chapter and their theatre company featuring the talents of both disabled and non-disabled performers. He led workshops in music and theatre for children with physical and developmental disabilities and was commissioned to write, direct and choreograph the NJ contingent's performance piece ("Ad-Agio") at the Very Special Arts Festival in Brussels, Belgium.
Savant has made it clearly known that his personal comittment to disability issue-awareness is so strong. The company, based in Key West, provides a great platform for educating people about the issue.
"In our intake procedure we ask about all sorts of special needs of both clients and their guests. It is a quick but quite comprehensive Q&A.
Generally speaking, it isn't easy to get wheelchairs to a beach on a private island for a ceremony. However, there is no reason why one of our clients should have to miss out on the ceremony of their dreams because of some technical limitation ---particularly if it is something that can be addressed. Many people in life just say, 'I'm sorry. That can't be done. But you can do THIS.' I prefer to say 'give me some time to work on that--or-- 'let me devise a plan with people who are experts at erasing "barriers". We'll get you to that island!"
Savant frequently uses mantras or phrases to guide the team while they work at making other people's desires come to be. One most commonly used is "Is it a problem or just a challenge?"
Between creating a company such as savvyplanners.com, being an out and outspoken man on GLBTI concerns, a caring person and the team leader, it is clear that challenges are what keep him going.
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