1031 Lenmore CT

Letter from Kirk Harmon, Founder Florida Disabled Citizens for Progress

Hello Everyone,

First, let me thank you for visiting this web site. I would like to tell you more about the Florida Disabled Citizens for Progress, why we are here and what we would like to do to better the lives of Florida’s disabled citizens who ride our Access Lynx public transportation system.

I am a blind veteran and have been a longtime advocate in the blind community for the last 7 years. Every time I have attended meetings anywhere, whether it be of the blind community or other disabled and senior citizens groups, I found we had one common concern that kept us from participating fully and actively in society - that being the inability to have adequate and fairly-priced public transportation. For years, my friends and fellow advocates in the disability community have talked to leaders in our government, as well as those who operate the Access Lynx program, that being Lynx, which administers and operates our tri-county transit. We have talked and talked, tried to pass legislation, protested fare hikes, but continued to pay them out of our steadily decreasing incomes. Many of us are on social security disability, social security supplementary income, or we are under-employed or unemployed. With our present fares of $4 one way or $7 one way if we live or are traveling to an area outside the 3/4 mile distance from a bus stop, we are finding that we are being forced to make choices about where we travel and when we travel. We also have to make choices about the bills we pay in order to be able to take necessary trips. Often, because we have no other reliable methods of transportation and because our transportation is so expensive, we must miss important appointments, such as medical visits.

As you further study this web site, you will see that our contribution to the overall budget for the operation of Access Lynx is really quite minimal in considering its entire operating costs. So why does the management continue to steadily increase our fares?

We believe this is happening, because they have failed to consider other alternatives, such as appealing to the private and corporate sectors for grants and contributions. Lynx has been unable to help us and with their ever-increasing fares, continues to make it more and more difficult for us to travel. Therefore, advocates and friends of mine along with me, have taken it upon ourselves to form this non-profit association, the Florida Disabled Citizens for Progress. While we have many other projects we would like to pursue, without effective transportation, little else is possible.

I am so happy to see people like yourselves that are willing too help us with this extremely needed service for our elderly and disabled, so we will no longer have to worry any more about how we will afford to transport ourselves throughout Central Florida. I believe that we can receive the moneys of less than a million dollars for our citizens to either ride free, or at the very least, only half price than what we are paying at this time! I am going to ask all of you at this time to PLEASE join us in this struggle by spreading the word of this problem that is not only in the tri county area of Central Florida, but in most all of Florida’s larger cities! I need for all of you to look into your hearts and see what you can personally contribute towards this effort to help us give our disabled and senior community the right, just as you have, to travel our communities without being financially forced to sit home, or have to restructure our weekly appointments to nothing but the bare necessary ones instead!

I want to thank you for your generous donation and after we are able to save our Central Florida area ADA riders, we will be coming to your areas to do the same! Lets make a pact with each other right now, rather than have our local governments and our local public transportation companies keep telling us that there is nothing they can do, we must start now and continue to take our problems into our own hands and resolve them through our communities and their businesses and private sectors that do care, and will do what they can do to make sure that the oldest, weakest, and disabled of us can still hold our heads up high and know we are taking care of each other by nothing more than the good old American way of helping and reaching out to one another in our time of need! I thank you for your time reading this letter, but just remember, every little bit counts drastically! PLEASSE HELP US! I am a firm believer that if you want something done, you need to do it yourself, and that is what we intend to do! Remember, “ FDCP Turning HOPE into REALITY!” Is not just our Motto, but what we are doing!

Your friend in the cause,

Kirk Harmon

Founder
Florida Citizens for Progress
President-CEO
FDCP Association
911 cell Phone Bank
Manager

Mayor's Veterans Advisory Counsel

State of Florida Veterans Counsel
Member
NFB
ACB
TRIAD
DAV
BVA
Disabled Advocate For Florida

" F.D.C.P. Turning HOPE into REALITY"