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Imagine not being able to enter your favourite store or enjoy the view from your own balcony because a disability is preventing access. Luke Anderson knows well the impact of barriers in our built environments. Since 2011 his Toronto-based StopGap Foundation has been fighting to dismantle not only the physical barriers in our society but the mental and attitudinal ones too.
Among StopGap’s many initiatives are the colourful transportable ramps which transform steps into rollable inclines. Having become synonymous with the organization’s mission for a barrier-free society, over 2000 of these ramps sit today in front of now-accessible entryways around the world.
A new short documentary highlighting Luke’s tireless and tenacious work, and the obstacles he’s up against, A Stop Gap Measure, recently premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. With that backdrop, Luke joins us to to talk about his ongoing battle for accessibility.
Welcome to In the Business of Change, where we speak with social entrepreneurs and changemakers impacting their communities and the world. I’m your host Elisa Birnbaum publisher and editor in chief of SEE Change Magazine.
On today’s episode we speak with Luke Anderson of the StopGap Foundation. In our conversation Luke shares the many challenges facing people with disabilities, whether at work, at home, or every space in between. We look at how fear and ignorance impacts those challenges. And we explore what needs to happen to remove those seemingly insurmountable obstacles, with the hope that the documentary can encourage important conversations and movement forward.
Listen. Learn. Enjoy. Share.
To learn more about the short documentary, A Stop Gap Measure, and where/when you can watch it, click here