The City of Noblesville announced Sept. 28 that seven members were appointed to the new Advisory Council on Disabilities. Mayor Chris Jensen presented a resolution establishing the council March 14 during a city council meeting.
“When we look at census data for Noblesville, we see that we have around 8 percent of our residents that have one or more disabilities,” Jensen stated. “We saw a need to increase overall community awareness of challenges faced by persons with disabilities and opportunities for support.”
The seven members of the council are: Carrie Hobbs Guiden, appointed by the mayor; Jeff Huffman, appointed by the city council; Yolanda Kincaid, appointed by the mayor; Jennifer Kugler, appointed by the mayor; Sean Mason, appointed by the mayor; Jennifer Sell, appointed by the city council; and Jennifer Wiese, appointed by the mayor.
Current spoke with three of the new council’s members prior to their first meeting at 11 a.m. Oct. 23:
SEAN MASON
Mason has a 22-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy. She was born 12 weeks early, Mason said, and had a brain injury at birth that affected her motor skills.
“It’s easy for anyone that doesn’t have (a) disability not to think about it,” Mason said.
Living in Noblesville for the last 20 years, he said he wants to make businesses and buildings better equipped for people with a disability. He noticed some restaurants downtown had a lip at the doors that made entering difficult for those with some disabilities.
Some of his goals are to make the easiest changes as quickly as possible, including making apartments better equipped and accessible, and creating requirements for apartments to offer accessible housing.
JENNIFER WIESE
Wiese is the creator of BeeFree, a food brand that has created jobs for people with autism. She said one of her sons is on the autism spectrum and she knows the challenges for those with disabilities to find and keep jobs.
She said the interview portion of the hiring process is often not set up for people with autism since eye contact and communication may not be at the top of a person with autism’s abilities. Wiese said at BeeFree, she tries to break down barriers and make the environment more welcoming and calm.
During job interviews at BeeFree, applicants either observe or start working on a project with the team to see if they like it.
She said she is excited to bring more awareness to people who have disabilities.
“I feel like, with my experience, I can … maybe shed some light on the reality of what the gifts are that people with disabilities bring to the workplace and to our community,” Wiese said, “and how it can be really meaningful on both sides.”
JENNIFER KUGLER
Kugler is assistant director for the Bureau of Disability Services Case Management department at CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions, which aims “to make Central Indiana a community where older adults and those of any age with a disability flourish.”
She has her own disabilities, a daughter with Down Syndrome and was a caregiver for many years for individuals with disabilities.
Through being on the council, she said she wants to advocate for people with disabilities to have rights like everyone else: be able to live where they want, experience love, play, achieve their life aspirations and reach their own goals. Kugler said she wants to learn from people with disabilities what makes them happy, what makes them wake up in the morning and what they want to do with their lives.
“You know, it’s just really listening to the people in Noblesville and figuring out what it is that we can do to make sure (we are) megaphoning their wants and needs,” she said.
