GPMTD to Host 2nd Annual ADA WOW! Celebration & Resource Fair on July 26, 2023

The Greater Peoria Mass Transit District (GPMTD) is hosting its 2nd Annual ADA WOW! Celebration & Resource Fair on Wednesday, July 26, 2023 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Peoria Civic Center (Exhibit Room C). The event is FREE to the public and will be a celebration of the 33rd Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and offer valuable resources to the local ADA community. The GPMTD ADA Committee, chaired by GPMTD Board Trustee Patti Sterling Polk, is spearheading this event for the second year.

“It is with great enthusiasm that the GPMTD ADA Committee and staff has planned for the 2nd Annual ADA WOW! Celebration & Resource Fair. The addition of several new resources and vendors is proof that this event is growing to meet a need in the Peoria area. It is a positive and age inclusive opportunity for the local ADA community to learn about the resources available to them.”

GPMTD Board Trustee Patti Sterling Polk

Vendors will be available to provide information on their services and products and hand out free giveaways to attendees. There will also be an opportunity for attendees to enter a raffle for a chance to win a CityLink 30-Day Pass or CityLift/CountyLink tickets. After the event, the raffle winners will be contacted to determine which transportation service pass or tickets best fit their needs. Below is the current list of registered resources/vendors:

• Advocates for Access
• Best Buddies Illinois
• Camp Big Sky
• Center for Sight & Hearing
• Center for Youth & Family Solutions – New Day Seniors Program
• Central Illinois Agency on Aging
• Central Illinois Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
• Community Workshop and Training Center (CWTC)
• Easterseals Central Illinois
• EP!C
• Greater Peoria Mass Transit District (CityLink)
  • CityLink electric bus
• Heart of Illinois Special Recreation Association (HISRA)
• Illinois Assistive Technology Program
• Illinois Central College Access Services
• Just Like You
• National Multiple Sclerosis Society (Central Illinois Community Council)
• Transdev (CityLift & CountyLink services)
  • CityLift & CountyLink vehicles
• Tri-County Regional Planning Commission

GPMTD’s transportation services – CityLink (fixed route), CityLift (paratransit) and CountyLink (rural) – will have vehicles on-site to showcase their accessibility features. Light hor’dourves and beverages will be served. Parking for event attendees will be free in all Peoria Civic Center parking lots.

The July 26 date was chosen for the event because it is the anniversary of when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990 by President George H.W. Bush.

Free CityLift paratransit service will be available for Pekin residents after the event concludes due to CityLink fixed route service not being available to Pekin at that time. This is open to anyone needing transportation to Pekin; no service qualification is required.

Information on the ADA WOW! Celebration & Resource Fair is available by visiting www.ridecitylink.org/mobility/adaevents.