Local Business Opening Doors For People With Disabilities

The Shepherd's Crook wins award for being a leader in accessibility

February 22, 2007 – The Shepherd’s Crook and Young’s Pharmacy were awarded the Ontario Mainstreet Accessibility Award 2006.

Young’s Pharmacy and The Shepherd’s Crook, both located on Main St. in downtown Georgetown, were recognized for outstanding achievement in accommodating the needs of people with disabilities through customer service.

Young’s was also given an additional award for outstanding achievement in modifying and adapting the working environment to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities as employees.

The Ontario Mainstreet Acc-essibility Awards are given to small businesses and communities across Ontario that have made a substantial effort to identify, remove and prevent barriers for people with disabilities.

The Shepherd’s Crook was honoured in the 1,500-3,000 sq. ft. category while Young’s was recognized for their efforts in the 5,000-10,000 sq. ft. category.

The awards program was developed through a partnership between the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA), the Ontario Business Improvement Areas Association (OBIAA), and the Ontario Government. The awards were created to recognize the efforts of small businesses and communities in Ontario that have significantly improved accessibility and reduced barriers for people with disabilities.

In Ontario approximately 1.5 million people or 13.5% of the population have disabilities. Nationally people with disabilities account for an estimated $25 billion a year in consumer spending and influence the spending decisions of twelve to fifteen million other Canadians. People with disabilities are a growing consumer market in Canada.

While the common perception of a disability might be an individual requiring a wheelchair, the reality is disabilities are varied in types and degrees. Vision loss, difficulty with mobility, loss of hearing and more can be barriers and most can be easily addressed with simple no-cost or low-cost accommodations. “As a business we acknowledged this and uncovered solutions that brought everyone into our store,” said Rick Ruggle, Owner of Shepherd’s Crook.

Businesses like The Shepherd’s Crook and Young’s Pharmacy recognize that by being more aware of possible barriers and working to reduce them they make themselves more accessible to all of their customers. Accessibility isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do.

The following additional resources can be viewed or downloaded at:
TABIA
Accessibility Directorate of Ontario

Local Business Opening Doors For People With Disabilities

The Shepherd's Crook wins award for being a leader in accessibility

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