Meet Your Special Neighbors 2009 is a campaign that helps the general public understand the disabled population in Kern County. Through this program, which is open to the general public, participants will not only have the opportunity to learn about people with disabilities, but also interact with those with special needs.

“This is a great opportunity of meeting and sharing comments with people that have special needs in the community,” said Kathleen Kress, the project coordinator for this campaign.

According to the campaign website, www.meetyourspecialneighbors.org, “the public understanding of physical disabilities is very important, as this condition could happen to anyone as a result of an accident or injury.”

As Kress stated, “the main purpose of this project is to bring together the community to understand and learn about the developmental and physical disabilities.”

“We have identified a huge unmet need in our community for coordination of services to those with any type of disability. This project has grown to about three times what we expected when we started planning in the spring of 2009,” stated Kress. “We look forward to see a lot of people join us.”

Maria Ramirez, 41, mother of Angel Ramirez, a physically disabled child, believes that “many times people confuse the real meaning of a disabled person and they think that because a child is disabled he is not capable of doing anything, but in reality they can do a lot and are very smart.”

“Sometimes I walk around or when I go to the store with my son I can notice people want to talk to him but when they see him in a wheel chair, they seem to be afraid for some reason, but once they do, they get surprised because they see that he is capable, just like everyone else, to carry a normal conversation,” Ramirez stated. “I like going to all types of programs for people with disabilities because I learn a lot from them.”

According to the campaign website, “a disability might not be readily apparent, in which case it is called a hidden disability such as asthma or diabetes.”

This program will include a variety of activities, events and seminars during the month of October that are coordinated by Kern Regional Center, H.E.A.R.T.S. Connection, and Rotary Clubs of Bakersfield.

“This program is getting really big,” said Kress. ” So far we have a committee of at least 30 people and 28 events scheduled in our website calendar.”

Kress claims to be the one who suggested the start of this program, and is very happy with all the support of the community. “For about 10 years I’ve worked with projects like this, but certainly, this is my biggest project and I know everyone will enjoy and learn a lot with us.”