Extreme Team Begins July Project To Fix CORD Building

SPOKANE — On Tuesday, the KXLY4 Extreme Team began work on their July project at the Coalition for Responsible Disabled building.

This month, the Extreme Team has chosen a group who needs a bigger facility so they can continue their work in the community for a long time. The Coalition of Responsible Disabled, or CORD, work to enhance the self determination, self reliance, and living opportunities of the disabled throughout Eastern Washington.

“I think that the disabled are so often just kind of pushed aside, they are here to really just give them a voice and encouragement,” AIDS case manager for the Spokane Regional Health district Ann Willis said. “It’s really important for disenfranchising folks I think to have cord on their side.”

Willis works with CORD on a daily basis, referring clients to the non-profit organization.

“We are just so fortunate that we are able to send them here for assistance. Sometimes the money is not there but we are so thrilled at how well they serve our people and it’s just a great relationship,” Willis said.

CORD grew out of a support group in 1981, and became a non-profit in 1988. Since then, they have bought their current home on North Maple, but as the years passed by, that space has become too small.

“We have got some resources back here,” Ed Kennedy of the CORD independent living services said. “We have put up cubical for staff people, so get used by more than one person, we have more volunteers than troops.”

They need more space, new flooring, and areas with more privacy for client interactions. KXLY4’s Extreme Team saw their need and decided to step in to help out.

“They don’t expect more, they just work with what they have and so they are so deserving and I am really excited for them,” Willis said.

Over the next two days, the Extreme Team will be doing their best to improve the work space so CORD can continue to provide excellent service to the Spokane community.