Members appointed to the new Advisory Council on Disabilities by Noblesville

Noblesville, Indiana – To raise awareness of the concerns and interests of people with disabilities, Noblesville has appointed its first representatives to a new disability council.

Same As U is a nonprofit organization founded and led by Jennifer Sell. For individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, it offered full-day programming in a setting reminiscent of a college.

Sell said of the council, “It’s a critical piece that I’m excited Noblesville is bringing.”

Sell is aware of the difficulties faced by those with impairments. Her daughter is diagnosed with Down syndrome.

“As a mom who’s been driving my daughter around for 22 years, just easier movability, so sidewalks, some improvements to the crosswalks. Drivers don’t pay attention. If the lights say ‘walk,’ they don’t see that.”

Sell is a member of the inaugural Advisory Council on Disabilities in Noblesville. Each of the seven members aspires to increase inclusivity within the community. The initial announcement of the inaugural council’s plans came in March.

According to Same As U’s head, she wants to push for greater funding and employment prospects for her pupils.

“Most of our students just come to us two days a week, so we want, and I mean we get excited about, jobs. We want our students to have jobs. We want them to have more than what they can get at Same As U, but we know here we’re just doing a lot of great things to help them live that life that they imagine.”

She expresses excitement in contributing to change.

Noblesville Deputy Mayor Matt Light said of the council’s members, “It was important for us to have a cross-section of service providers, nonprofits, as well families and individuals that are successfully navigating some of these challenges.”

According to Light, the council will work with the local administration to resolve concerns in order to make the city more accommodating and accessible to individuals with disabilities.

“With our infrastructure management for the city, we look at how we can improve sidewalks safety, accessibility to city buildings and facilities, and really get community input and ideas about how we can do better.”

By the end of the year, the deputy mayor said, the city will create a webpage with tools and information for these people.

“Create a website that kind of houses resources as a one-stop shop for referrals to information that might be of value. We’ve also talked about parent information workshops to provide information for parents and caregivers.”

The new members were included in a news release released by the local government on Thursday.

• Carrie Hobbs Guiden, appointed by Mayor Chris Jensen, a Republican.
• Jeff Huffman, appointed by the Noblesville City Council.
• Yolanda Kincaid, appointed by Jensen.
• Jennifer Kugler, appointed by Jensen.
• Sean Mason, appointed by Jensen.
• Sell, appointed by the City Council.
• Jennifer Wiese, appointed by Jensen.

The announcement states that around 8% of Noblesville’s 70,000 citizens have one or more impairments based on the most recent census statistics.

When the council might meet for the first time was not specified in the publication.