PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson Healthcare building has a new addition, a bench placed near the entrance in honor of the late Lynn Gressley a blind man who worked to enlighten others on obstacles to access for the disabled to public places in Port Townsend.
Despite rain Friday, about 30 members of the community crowded under tents just outside the hospital entrance for a dedication of the memorial bench to Gressley.
Gressley, who died in 2013 at the age of 64 of cancer, was instrumental in ensuring public places such as Jefferson Healthcare hospital were accessible for everyone, according to Pat Teal, the current president of Disability Awareness Starts Here (DASH).
Gressley, a founding member of DASH who served as president until his death, was known best for blindfold walks, where he would take blindfolded city officials on walks around Port Townsend to show them how difficult it was to get around.
“He was great in so many ways,” Teal said. “Despite his challenges of being blind and going through several bouts of cancer, he always lived up to his childhood nickname, Chip.”
Gressley lived only a few block from the hospital and chose to walk to many of his appointments, Teal said.
It was Gressley’s struggle to walk from his home to the hospital that spurred the DASH efforts to make the hospital more accessible, Teal added.
DASH members, including Gressley, worked with the city and the hospital to ensure its new building, which was completed in October, was accessible to everyone.
“It’s like night and day between then and now,” Teal said.
DASH members raised $2,000 for the bench to serve as a place for people to sit and rest or wait for their rides.
“We aim to make public places more accessible and a bench is part of that,” said Travis Rowland, a DASH board member.
DASH was founded in 1998 thanks to Lesa Barnes, who applied for grants through the state Department of Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control.
Barnes said at the time, the state was pushing accessibility for public transit. Barnes wanted to hear from the community.
“I thought, if I’m going to pull and group of people together to work for the community they should figure out what the problem is,” Barnes said.
“They said ‘who cares about public transit if we can’t get in the door when we get there?’”
The group was funded through grants until 2007 when it became a nonprofit.
Teal said DASH is looking forward to continuing to work with the hospital and the city to make public spaces easily accessible to those with disabilities.
“We’re really happy with Jefferson Healthcare and the city and all the work they’ve done,” Teal said, “and we hope everyone remembers Lynn fondly, like we do.”
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
A bench outside of Jefferson Healthcare was dedicated Friday to Lynn Gressley for his efforts in making public places more accessible to those with disabilities. (Cydney McFarland/Peninsula Daily News)
