IRVINE : Center for Disabled Will Honor City

The Dayle McIntosh Center for the Disabled will recognize the city next month as the best local government agency in 1992 for providing services to the handicapped.

The McIntosh Center will give the city its Apple of Our Eye service leader award during a Sept. 24 breakfast ceremony. A total of seven individuals and organizations will receive the Apple of Our Eye award and other individuals will be recognized for their help in lowering barriers for the disabled, center spokeswoman Peg Hall said Tuesday. Other award winners will be kept secret until the ceremony, she said.

Irvine was recognized for its innovative programs geared toward helping the handicapped living in the city, Hall said.

The city will open a 40-unit apartment building in the city geared to the handicapped. Officials also recently opened a playground where handicapped children can play on slightly modified swings, teeter-totters and other regular play equipment. In addition, Irvine provides a bus service for handicapped residents and has an active task force of disabled residents looking for ways to provide better services for the handicapped, Hall said.

“One of the purposes of our selection committee is to encourage other public agencies to emulate the winner,” Hall said.

The 40-unit apartment building at Harvard Avenue and University Drive will open in November and will provide an opportunity for low-income residents with disabilities to live independently. It will be called Mariposa Villa, a change from the original name of Access Irvine, Hall said.

Last year, Irvine won the National Organization on Disability’s grand prize for public agencies providing creative and useful programs for the handicapped.