For 15 years, Access Press has been bringing Minnesotans news that affect the disability community. When Charlie Smith and his father, Bill, started the venture of researching the feasibility of a disability newspaper, I don’t know if they knew how important it would become, even after 15 years. I believe they never dreamed that Access Press would become the major source of disability information for the community. They must have had many questions:

• Is there a need for a newspaper focusing on people with disabilities?
• Are there enough people with disabilities who will read the paper?
• Can we find enough advertisers to financially support this venture?

I would have to answer YES, Charlie, there is. Our readers survey in the past few months solidified a few of these answers and some the advertisers are still here and new ones have joined the bandwagon.

We have become stronger in the past few years. We have increased the number of pages we publish each month. We have added a What is? section, which describes diseases and illnesses that affect people with disabilities. The “InBrief” section has been expanded and reformatted into the News At A Glance section. We have also added the Upcoming Events section to inform our readers about dates of trainings, celebrations, or other important workshops.

Watch in the June and July issues for more information about the anniversary of Access Press.

15 years and still going—like the Energizer Bunny and the community we are proud to serve.