Disability Futures

Still, in most places, the legal responsibility to clear sidewalks and walkways lies with adjacent property owners. For wheelchair users, the options are often limited: In most cases, they can either ask a neighbor or local organization directly for help, or call their city government to request volunteer assistance. Non-governmental services like Help Around Town and Snow Crew allowresidents to post job listings or request snow shoveling help as well.

According to Ben Berkowitz, CEO of SeeClickFix, which operates Snow Crew, this year alone has already yielded around 650 volunteer shovel requests in the cities where the service is offered. But only 120 of them—or around 20 percent—have been met. While Snow Crew’s services are made visible to the public via local governments and email lists, Berkowitz says “there’s probably more people that need assistance than there are to volunteer.”

This can leave wheelchair users—including students and working citizens—stuck in their homes for much longer than the average resident. “I tell people to prepare for at least a week,” says Edith Prentiss, a New York resident and the head of the civil rights organization Disabled in Action. “Two years ago, I was in for at least two weeks.”