August 5, 2004

Ms. Stephanie Gehring
Daily Southtown Newspaper
6901 W. 159th St.
Tinley Park, IL. 60477

Dear Ms. Gehring:

The Unified Voice of Disabled Americans wants to thank you very much for your article.

Linda Stearns and I received e-mail from Dennis Day, Vice-President of Little Company of Mary Hospital. He wanted to set up an appointment to settle the problem of the handicap parking spaces. We wrote him to set up an appointment with Linda Stearns. The e-mail and our reply were sent before your article in the Daily Southtown Newspaper. Mr. Day has contacted us and Linda Stearns will be meeting with him, August 11th at 10:00.

We already knew the number of parking spaces Little Company of Mary Hospital had. This was checked out after Linda Stearns had a problem on Easter Sunday. The Unified Voice of Disabled Americans had complaints about this hospital prior to Easter Sunday.

The ADA Law for handicap parking spaces is 1 sixteen- feet handicap parking space for every l6 parking spaces. The hospital has 1241 parking spaces. We are entitled to 48 handicap parking spaces. Approximate 19 sixteen-feet handicap parking spaces per entrance. Having this many parking spaces there has to be access isles per so many spaces. Linda Stearns will discuss this with the hospital at their meeting. Little Company Mary Hospital should check out Christ Hospital. Christ Hospital is perfect in everyway when it comes to handicap parking spaces. We hope the hospital does not take it upon themselves to start making changes before having this meeting with us. They may end up having to redo the handicap parking spaces. The van spaces the hospital is proposing are not necessary. A van dropping a lift can use the sixteen-feet handicap parking spaces as long as it is sixteen-feet.

The City of Evergreen Park said they couldn't enforce the ADA Law for handicap parking spaces by going on private property. The ADA Law is a federal law. Evergreen Park gives out permits for new construction and remodeling. They send out an inspector to make sure it is up to code. This is private property. Evergreen Park Police Department when they are called for a disturbance. They check out criminal violations when notified. This is private property. Violation of handicap parking spaces is on private property. It is up to the City of Evergreen Parking to see it meets the ADA Accessibility Law. The cities and suburbs have been using the excuse of not being able to go on private property for not enforcing the ADA Law. The Unified Voice of Disabled Americans is going to see that this excuse can no longer be used. We also know if we take them to court they will lose.

We will be watching Evergreen Park for any violations to accessibility. We will now watch them for any violations of the ADA Law inside any commercial or retail property. If they have any questions we hope we are contacted because WE ARE THE VOICE OF DISABLED AMERICANS. Everyone elected to office comes and goes from Washington, DC to IL. The Unified Voice of Disabled Americans will never change.

Unified Voice of Disabled America



Rosemarie A. Botthof
cc: Mayor James Sexton