Outward/Community

Map 18 by: Cozell Gibson
Location: Park Forest, IL
Tell us about your map: “My map depicts my house and things on my block. My map shows places I love to visit during outings.”
Image Description: The top of the picture in orange letters reads “Cozell Gibson.” The border surrounding the picture are streets labeled. The left side is labeled “S. Orchard.” The left side is labeled “Orchard St. – Marquette St.” The bottom is labeled “Onarga St.” The blue X’s on the boarders represents “We are walking” and “We walking around block.” In the middle of the picture reads a street address “Park Forest IL.” Above the address is a green area labeled “Baseball field” and a yellow circle. At the top right corner is a blue area with the words: “We swim at park forest aqua center.” Below that is “Park Forest Library – where we go to read books.” The bottom of the picture displays 3 red houses labeled “our neighbor” “our neighbor” and “our house” The third house has an orange “patio” and a tree.

Map 19 by: Anonymous
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: Not Submitted
Image Description: Aerial view of digital city map with blue icons for public transit, orange for food and drink locations and green for a park (in the top left of the image). A series of jagged pink lines overlap in the center of the image to indicate a path of travel from location to location.

Map 20 by: Leanne Kenworth
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: Not Submitted
Image Description: Throughout the image is a path around the neighborhood with several marked areas. At the top of the picture is a brown house labeled “my house.” On the right side is a red building labeled “school – school park.” There is also a green area marked “Lady always gardening.” At the bottom-middle is an area with 3 people and a car with the words “where kids play.” To the bottom left is two red flowers marked “house with pretty flowers.” The last stopping point to the left has a picture of a dog “House with barking dog.”

Map 21 by: Lanella Myrich
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: Not submitted
Image Description: At the top of the picture is the name “Lanella Myrich.” At the bottom of the image is three houses, one of the is outlined in red. In front of the houses is a red path labeled “1 mile walk.” Within the middle of the image is blue paths and two stick figures.

Map 22 by: Anonymous
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: “During Covid 19 I moved from Chicago to Charleston.”
Image Description: A map drawn with crayons shows the route from Chicago to Charleston. At the top is a blue colored area labeled “Chicago.” A red X begins in the blue area, followed by red dotted lines that leads to a white area at the bottom of the page, labeled “Charleston.” The red dotted lines represents the route from one location to the next. Also at the bottom of the page, a red arrow points to a purple house with a purple heart In the middle of the page it says, “During Covid 19 moved from Chicago to Charleston.”

Map 23 by: Anonymous
Location: Charleston, IL
Tell us about your map: Not submitted
Image Description: The map key is shown at the bottom right corner of the page. Each colored dot represents something. The words and their corresponding colors are: motorcycles (orange), children playing (yellow), fire engines (pink) and police cars (green). In the middle of the drawing is a cul de sac with multicolored houses. At the top of the cul de sac is a brown house labeled “Court Charleston, IL. To the left of the house is an area labeled “Empty Lot.” One line appears above the cul de sac and one runs perpendicular to it with a third connecting at the bottom to the cul de sac. Each of the lines represents a street. At each intersection appears the words “Church.” Along the top horizontal line appears two pink dots. Along the vertical line appears two orange dots. At the bottom intersection appears a green dot. Yellow dots appear at several houses.

Map 24 by: Anonymous
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: “The route I took when I went on a scavenger hunt during covid”
Image Description: At the bottom of the drawing is a description that says, “The route I took when I went on a scavenger hunt during covid.” Pink, yellow, orange and green dots show the route for this scavenger hunt. At the bottom right corner of the page is a car. Pink dots form a path moving upward to the middle of the page where a volleyball net and volleyball are. Yellow dots lead to the top right corner of the page to two trees. Orange dots form a path from right to left to the top left of the page where a swing is. Green dots move down the page to the bottom left corner to a present box, with candy and chips inside of it.

Map 25 by: Dawn Kinde
Location: Richton Park, IL
Image Description: The top reads “Title: House/Neighborhood.” Below that is a description “I live in Tiburon Cila in Richton Park Illinois – I have a learning disability – my map is about my house how we have to stay in a lot, the only time we were able to go out was to go on walks then later we were able to go on van rides but only 2 at a time. Yes it has not able to go to my community job and to see my family, friends. – Yes I give permission to publish my map to public display. – Sincerely Dawn Kinde.” At the bottom half of the picture is a house. Surrounding the house is a street with a street sign labeled “Tiburon St.” The bottom of the picture has vertical lines to represent grass and a street sign.

Author 26 by: Rochelle Robinson
Location: Richton Park, IL
Image Description: A handwritten and multicolored story that reads: “Title/neighborhood and House. I Rochelle R went on a van ride with Tess 2 weeks ago. We went to the Painted Turtle to look at benches outside. The staff took pictures. Afterwards we went to white castles for lunch. That was on the month of June. Today on the beginning of July me and Alicia Powe went to Shark’s for lunch at the house. In the neighborhood Tess and I took a walk. The house we live at is Tiburon and it’s a fun house. The city we live in is Richton Park. I love my housemates and staff a great deal. (Rochelle Robinson TooLaLoo 7/01/20).”

Map 27 by: Rochelle Bunch
Location: Park Forest, IL
Tell us about your map: “My map shows how I vision my neighborhood and highlights some of my favorite places to go.”
Image description: The top of the picture in blue letters displays a street address “S Orchard Dr. Park Forest, IL.” The middle of the picture reads “Rochelle Bunch.” At the bottom are 3 houses labeled “our neighbor” “our neighbor house” and “our house.” Above the first house is a green area labeled “baseball field.” Above the third house the words: “we walk around our block.” At the top right corner is a blue area with the words “we swim – park forest aqua center.” Below that is “park forest library – where we use to go for books” and an image of a book. The right side of the drawing is labeled “orchard st.” The bottom is labeled “onarga st.” The left side is labeled “we walk orchard dr.” and “House – our neighbor”

Map 28 by: Anonymous
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: Not submitted
Image Description: On the left side of the page, two parallel lines run up and down on the image, representing a road. At the top of the image, on the left side of the road, is a green square. Below the green square, is a brown outlined square with a dollar sign in it, representing a bank. On the right side of the road, is a brown outlined square with a gold “M,” the McDonalds logo. At the bottom of the page is a square outlined in blue. To the right of that is a brown outlined building with a bright green dot at the bottom corner.

Map 29 by: Anonymous
Location: Iowa City
Tell us about your map: “My wife has been working from home, so this map represents the few escapes that I have. I live in Iowa City. I’m disabled by Bipolar Disorder I and am on SSDI. My relationship with neighbors has greatly improved. We do favors for each other and we’re the only ones each other see”.
Image Description: Image of a drawing laying on a yellow cloth. The drawing features a circle colored black with pink in the middle on top of two legs, blue with red shoes. On top of the circle is a blue line drawn almost in the shape of a bird and red line below it. Small green coloring is on either side. A grey line comes up and attaches to a thought bubble, colored orange and red. On the right side a cross hatched green square. On the left side looks like grass coming from brown dirt. The background features hues of blue and purple.

Author 30 by: Anonymous
Location: Toledo, Ohio

Image Description: A screenshot of a narrative divided into two sections on the page. The top section reads:
“MentalWord Map Description and Narrative”
Toledo, Ohio, United States of America
Identified somtimes as having disability
Maps and poetry reflect inward struggle, professional involvements, and coping mechanisms to confront pressures of COVID-19.

Has your relationship with your neighborhood changed amid the coronavirus emergency? If so, how? Yes. I’ve been more isolated as I perform social work for a mental health provider from home using e-mail, voice, and video conferencing.”

The bottom section reads:
Anyone in 21^st-century America who lives outside a very urban area but who lacks a drivers license finds himself/herself facing a number of barriers, both physical and logistical. For those like myself who live with disabilities precluding us from taking the wheel for the rest of our lives, this reality simply incorporates into our thinking and the choices we make. My husband, who does drive, frequently laughs at me when we go out, since I attempt to plan 3, 4 or more drop-by missions to fulfill errands around town, while he doesn’t think twice about a casual joy ride. However, the pandemic has begun and perhaps will continue to bring the driving and non-driving worlds together.  

For the disability community, I don’t need to explain the issues of timing and planning when one uses paratransit; 30+ minute time windows for pick-up and return, times of day when the service is available, or days of week, for that matter, geographic limitations of distance or location, and minimal timeframes that one must remain at a given destination, usually at least two hours. The same applies to fixed-route bussing, but to a lesser degree. 

During the pandemic, I have heard much talk from my non-disabled friends regarding their own planning and mental mapping. For example, what timeframes are now operational in given businesses? Will they expect a crowd that precludes their participation, or at least guarantees a long wait time? What about safety issues overall in using masks and other equipment to protect others or self? I smile inwardly at their frustration at the same time as I frown outwardly in sympathy, as with a small child just learning the in’s and out’s of strategic planning. 

My mental map of this situation consists of two pages. Page #1 contains a large, flowing circle with borderless edges (let’s make it purple, why not?) labelled “Driver’s world.” The diameter would be about as large as one’s palm. Inside, a dime-sized, checkered circle with a black border is labelled “non-driver’s world.” This incorporates both the small geographic size, and also the spotty availability of time and place for those of us reliant on alternative transportation. 

Across the page on the right, page 2 contains two circles of similar size, again purple and checkered, and again the purple without outer boundary line, the checkered with a thick, black edge. Only this time, they overlap by about 50%. Thus they somewhat include each other’s sweep of the edges. This is my map indicating how the transportation/access/strategic thinking/mapping  world during the time of this pandemic have somewhat conjoined. 

My hope for the future is that both circles will come to appreciate each other’s scope and limitations with more accuracy and compassion. 

Map 31 by: Alicia Powe (Part 1 of 2)
Location: Tiburon Neighborhood – Richton Park, IL
Tell us about your map: About the history of this quiet, safe, suburb community, that goes back about many years ago in the 1840s-1940s, developers established a depot and plotted a small agricultural village where the rail line crossed the saur trail. In 1926, the Illinois central railroad electrified it’s suburban lines, with Richton as the last stop, local residents incorporated the village, renaming its Richton’s parts. There was a brief burst of real estate development, but Richton parts remained a tiny community surrounded by farms heavily planted by asparagus. When Chicago’s suburban sprawl finally pushed into the area in the late 60s and 70s, the village’s population boomed as it annexed new housing developments, there were 2,558 people living the village. In 1970 by 1980, the population had grown to nearly 9,403, and in 2000 the village had 12,553 residents. Thousand of these new residents were African American. In 1970s, virtually the village’s entire population was white. By 1980, 7 percent of the population was African American, while persons of Hispanic descent made up about 4 percent of residents. By 2000, 60 percent of Richton Park’s residents were African American.
Image Description: The top of the picture is a big brown house labeled “Tiburon House.” Below the house is green grass with plants in pots. The bottom of the picture is a black street with 12 stick figures of people. The first group of people standing are is labeled, from left-to-right “me, Tess, Dawn, Rochelle, Noreen” and “Amber” who is a wheelchair user. The second group standing are 5 people that are labeled “Staff.” And the last individual is labeled “Rochelle.”

Map 31 by: Alicia Powe (Part 2 of 2)
Location: Tiburon Neighborhood – Richton Park, IL
Image Description: At the top left corner reads “Alicia Powe.” In the middle-right is a white circle with two gray-numbered mailboxes. To the right and left sides is green grass. The right side also has a red stop sign. Below the circle is a red car on a black paved street. To the left of the red car is a street sign that reads “Redondo Dr., Oxnard St.” The bottom left of the drawing has a white car with black tires. The middle-left has two street signs that reads “Oxnard St., Oxnard St.” and “Tiburon St.” The bottom right is a brown house.

Author 32 by: Tadas (Part 1 of 9)
Location: Bradford, Yorkshire, UK
Image Description: A screenshot of a narrative that reads:
“One is Tadas’s map, the other photos and commentary.

Tadas lives in Bradford, Yorkshire, UK.

He has Down syndrome.
While our family has been in lockdown we have been allowed to exercise once a day. Tadas’s map shows his daily walk. He took a voice recorder with him on one walk to describe what he could see (and smell!).His older brother Joshua (who also has Down syndrome) took many of the photos.

Tadas lives close to a busy, noisy road. Before the coronavirus outbreak, he regularly visited shops, bakeries, cafes and barbers, the Post Office and the GP’s surgery, all situated along the high street. During lockdown, he has been unable to visit these places and, instead, he has walked in the comparative isolation of his mapped walk.

Tadas’s relationship with his neighbourhood is very much people-centric. He is well-known and well-liked by his neighbours and everyone in the high street. He has not seen his high street friends for several weeks now. Most of the people we pass on our daily walk are dog-walkers and Tadas makes sure to ask for the name of every dog. He is still making friends.”

Map 32 by: Tadas (Part 2 of 9)
Location: Bradford, Yorkshire, UK
Image Description: Aerial view map featuring two blue lines, representing water. One lined with light and dark green circles (trees). Three white lines run in an uneven semi-circle, representing roads. Several evenly spaced brown house shaped objects sit in the bottom of the image. Numbers 1-31 form a path around the road, the river and the green grass area.

Map 32 by: Tadas (Part 3 of 9)
Location: Bradford, Yorkshire, UK
Image Description:
Screenshot of a chart divided into two columns and five rows. Photos are in the first column and descriptions by Tadas in the second column.
Row 1: Photo of an empty four way street. The street forward at a distance is going downhill. Two cars are parked along the downhill street. There are houses on both sides of the street. And a person can be seen walking their dog on the opposite sidewalk. Tadas describes: “We have been here. We’re walking down the hill.”

Row 2: Photo of Tadas, a light skinned individual, wearing a navy blue bucket hat with their head facing away from the camera. Tadas is walking along the sidewalk. Bushes with light purple flowers fill the left side of the photo. Tadas describes: “Way up ahead there’s blossom on my head.”

Row 3: Photo of a park at a distance with various types of playground equipment. Surrounding the playground is a metal fence and green grass. Next to the playground to the right is a tall blue phone booth. Tadas describes: “Here’s the park and here’s the letterbox.” There is a a picture of red mailbox surrounded by green bushes.

Row 4: Photo view of an empty street and sidewalk. On both sides of the street are green bushes and trees. On the right side of the street is a wooden post. The street goes over a bridge with walls on both sides. Tadas describes: “There’s a train on the tracks. Over the bridge.”

Row 5: Photo of three black and brown colored horses eating hay in a green field. One horse is at the top left, another horse is in the middle, the last horse is to the right of the photo. Tadas describes: “Past some horses. There’s the horses eating hay.”

Map 32 by: Tadas (Part 4 of 9)
Location: Bradford, Yorkshire, UK
Image Description:
Screenshot of a chart divided into two columns and five rows. Photos are in the first column and descriptions by Tadas in the second column.
Row 6: On the right side of the photo is a cream colored building with multiple windows. On the left side of the building is a tall metal gate. Next to the gate to the right is a blue sign with a logo. The logo also appears on a white truck extending from the left side of the building. A white car is parked in front of the building on the street. Tadas describes: “I smell bread in the Bakery.”

Row 7: Photo of a one level dark blue building. The building has a navy blue door in the middle and a sign above the door. There are multiple windows varying in size on the building. In front of the building is a street with the front of a gray car shown to the left side of the photo. Tadas describes: “There’s Higher Ground, where Kim works for.”

Row 8: Photo of an empty street and empty lot in the distance. In front of the empty lot is orange and white barriers blocking the entrance. There is also a tall white sign to the right of the entrance. Surrounding the lot is wooden fencing and green grass. Far back in the photo are full tall green trees. Tadas describes: “There’s the carpark of Hirst Wood over there.”

Row 9: Photo of an empty street leading to a bridge in the distance. On both sides of the bridge is metal railings. Across the bridge is a parked white van and tall green trees. Tadas describes: “There’s the canal bridge.”

Row 10: Photo of an empty stone path. On both sides of the path are various types of green plants and trees. Tadas describes: “The stony road. This is an oak tree and a chestnut tree.”

Map 32 by: Tadas (Part 5 of 9)
Location: Bradford, Yorkshire, UK
Image Description:
Screenshot of a chart divided into two columns and five rows. Photos are in the first column and descriptions by Tadas in the second column.
Row 11: Photo of Tadas, a light skinned individual wearing a navy blue bucket hat, a multicolored tie-dyed T-shirt, gray shorts, black sneakers, and black and red socks. Tadas is seen climbing over a white closed gate with a note on it. The sun is beaming down on Tadas creating a shadow on the ground. The gate stands on a dirt path. To the left of the path is covered with tall green bushes and trees. To the right of the path is green grass. Tadas describes: “Here we go, over the gate, climbing over the gate.”

Row 12: Photo of an open field with green grass. Metal fencing surrounds a portion of the field. Trees can be seen at a distance in the photo. Tadas describes: “This is the sport’s field where Matthew R played.  Goal!”

Row 13: Photo of a tall black and white scoreboard. At the top of the scoreboard says “SLATS CRICKET CLUB.” A piece of the scoreboard dangles off the top down the middle. The scoreboard is sectioned off and has zeros in each section. Tadas describes: “This is a scoreboard.”

Row 14: Photo of Tadas walking on a low cement wall on the side of an empty stone path. To the left of the photo is various green plants and trees. To the right of the photo is the sun beaming down on the path and the open green grass field with a white building in the distance. Tadas describes: “This is the wall I walk on.”

Row 15: Photo of a pond in the shade. The pond is surrounded by multiple green plants and tall trees. Tadas describes: “Today is no herons here.”

Map 32 by: Tadas (Part 6 of 9)
Location: Bradford, Yorkshire, UK
Image Description:
Screenshot of a chart divided into two columns and five rows. Photos are in the first column and descriptions by Tadas in the second column.
Row 16: Photo of Tadas, a light skinned individual wearing a navy blue bucket hat, a multicolored tie-dyed T-shirt, gray shorts, black sneakers, and black and red socks. Tadas is climbing over a white gate that has a note on it. The gate stands on a paved path. The top half of the photo displays a short stone wall in front of a green hill with two big bushes. Tadas describes: “This is the other gate I climb over.”

Row 17: Photo of an open grass field. Surrounding the field is a brown wooden fence. To the top right is a white building. The top of the photo displays tall trees in the distance. Tadas describes: “When I was a baby I climbed over into the grass and picked up the man’s ball.  The bowls man was grumpy and I threw it on the ground.  And that’s it, my story.”

Row 18: Photo of a green fenced in tennis courts. Surrounding the area is rocky and there are tall trees in the background. Tadas describes: “Past the tennis courts.”

Row 19: Photo of a paved straight empty road in the middle. To the left of the road is various green plants and tall trees. On the ground, left of the road is a short wooden barrier. To the right of the road is tall trees, with big tree trunks visible. The trees are aligned along the straight road. Tadas describes: “This is a road.  Be careful of cars.”

Row 20: Photo of a red and yellow structure. The structure has two circle windows in the middle front. On the left side of the structure there is one rectangle window. Behind the structure is tall green trees. In front of the structure is an empty paved path and a black and yellow cylinder-like item is in front. Tadas describes: “This is the icecream boat.  It is closed.”

Map 32 by: Tadas (Part 7 of 9)
Location: Bradford, Yorkshire, UK
Image Description:
Screenshot of a chart divided into two columns and five rows. Photos are in the first column and descriptions by Tadas in the second column.
Row 21: Photo of a concreate walkway with short metal posts. To the left of the photo the walkway level goes upward to a bridge that goes over a river. In the river is a boat with signs covering the sides. At the top level corner of the photo is buildings with a lot of windows. The top right of the photo shows branches and leaves of a tree. Tadas describes: “Over there is Salt’s Mill.  I love David Hockney’s paintings.  iPads.”

Row 22: Photo of a shaded area with two paved pathways. The left side has tall trees. Down the middle of the paths are two short and tall signs on metal posts. Also down the middle are bushes, trees, and metal fencing with a signs surrounding. Tadas describes: “There is the Boathouse Inn Cafe.  It is closed.”

Row 23: Photo of Tadas wearing a navy blue bucket hat and a tye dyed T-shirt. Tadas is walking on a long bridge. The fencing and railing surrounding the sides of the bridge is colored light blue. The bridge goes over an area of water. Tadas describes: “Over the bridge. Heron bridge.” There is a picture of the water and rocks appearing out of the water.

Row 24: Photo of a four trees and bushes in front of them. At the bottom of the photo is a paved path. Tadas describes: “Robert’s Park.”

Row 25: In the middle front of the photo displays two statues of alpacas on a rocky circle area. In front of this area, half the area is filled with green grass, the back of the area is a paved area. Behind the paved area is a brick structure with blue and white doors and shutters. On the sides of the structure are stairs that lead to the top of the balcony on the structure. On the balcony a statue of a person is displayed in the middle. In the background are tall trees varying in size. Tadas describes: “This is Half Moon Cafe and Titus Salt made up of wool of alpacas.”

Map 32 by: Tadas (Part 8 of 9)
Location: Bradford, Yorkshire, UK
Image Description:
Screenshot of a chart divided into two columns and five rows. Photos are in the first column and descriptions by Tadas in the second column.
Row 26: Photo of two white buildings next to each other. The building to the left has a black and white scoreboard on it. The building on the right has a balcony outside on the second level. Behind the buildings is tall trees. In front of the buildings is a paved pathway and open area of green grass. Tadas describes: “This is another scoreboard.  There is no cricket.”

Row 27: Photo of Tadas wearing a navy blue bucket hat and a tye dyed T-shirt. Tadas is entering through an open wooden gate that leads to a straight dirt path. In the distance on the path are to individuals walking. On the right side of the gate and path are trees and bushes. Tadas describes: “Through the gate into the wildflowers.”

Row 28: Photo looking upward at the tall trees and partly cloudy sky with the sun peaking through the clouds. Tadas describes: “This is a tree and the bird flies to its nest.”

Row 29: Photo of the patchy grass. A majority of the grass is brown. Tadas describes: “This is Going on a Bear Hunt mud.  Squelch, squerch.”

Row 30: Photo of Tadas walking up the stairs outside. The stairs has white and wooden rails and lays on a grassy and patchy dirt hill. Tadas describes: “Up, up, up the steps.”

Map 32 by: Tadas (Part 9 of 9)
Location: Bradford, Yorkshire, UK
Image Description:
Screenshot of a chart divided into two columns and five rows. Photos are in the first column and descriptions by Tadas in the second column.
Row 31: Photo of a long bridge with white fencing and blue railings. The bridge runs over water. Tall trees can be seen on the other side of the bridge. Tadas describes: “There is another bridge here.”

Row 32: Photo of the sun beaming down on a straight dirt path. Surrounding both sides of the path is unmown grass and tall trees in the the distance. Tadas describes: “The short-cut way. Steps here back to the canal.” There is a picture of a shaded area of a short cut with concrete steps

Row 33: Photo of the sun beaming down on a paved path. White fencing an one tree is on the left side of the photo. To the right two individuals are walking on the path. Trees fill the right side of the path as well as in the far distance. Tadas describes: “Here’s the canal bridge here.  Over the canal bridge.”

Row 34: Photo of Tadas with their navy blue bucket hat walking on the sidewalk under light purple flowers hanging from the plants to the right side. Tadas describes: “Hirst Wood carpark here.  Past Kim’s cafe and past back over the bridge.  Under the blossom.”

Row 35: Photo of an empty sidewalk and street. A tall stone wall fills the right side of the photo. The wall creates a shadow for the right half of the photo. The left half of the photo the sun is beaming and a blue parked car can be seen up the hill of the street. Tadas describes: “And up the hill.  And…home!”