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For More information contact: Rita Linnens (316) 722-4291 (316) 208-5679
Immediate Release July 17, 2014
Do It Attitude Helped Polio Survivor Lead City to Greater Accessibility
Delores Burris, community activist and volunteer, said
one of her life achievements was helping Wichita
become an accessible city for people with physical
disabilities. That ‘do it’ attitude helped Burris, whose
left leg is paralyzed due to having polio when she was
six years old, live a purposeful life geared to helping
the people around her.
Delores Burris, Wichita, KS, volunteers at Active Aging as
well as at several other organizations.
each affected uniquely. She said the smell
of the hot wool packs used for the Sister
Kennedy heat treatment never leaves you.
And she remembers two Catholic sisters,
Sister Ida and Sister Aidrene, who had
responsibility for the children and
encouraged them with, “You’ve got to do
it!” She said she went to physical therapy
twice a day and it was hard, but the
Sisters’ insistence to keep trying helped
her regain some strength back in her leg.
Burris, who grew up in South Haven, was hospitalized
at The Wichita Hospital, operated by the Sisters of St.
Joseph at Seneca and Douglas, where she described a
scene of multiple wards full of children with polio
The Wichita Hospital
Courtesy Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum
That ‘do it’ attitude has stayed with Burris
her whole life. Burris used crutches every day until 14 years ago when a nasty fall broke her paralyzed
leg and put her in a wheelchair. “I still wanted to work and be out with people. I couldn’t get my
wheelchair in and out of my car by myself so I decided to look into purchasing a wheelchair van. My
friends in the Post-Polio Support Group (formerly Kansas Paralysis Group) told me to go see Zack at
Kansas Truck. He showed me a wheelchair accessible van that I could just roll up the ramp and drive –
it’s a cakewalk! I love to drive!” exclaimed Burris.
One of her co-workers at Active Aging described Burris as ‘a wonder’! She bustles around town in her
wheelchair accessible van volunteering at Active Aging twice a week where she maintains the subscriber
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8846 W Monroe Circle Wichita, KS 67209
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list of 59,000 people and assists with seminars hosted by Active Aging. She helps at Operation Holiday,
serves on the Election Board, and volunteers for political campaigns so she can know more than the face
of the candidates.
“Wichita wasn’t accessible in the ‘1970s. I wasn’t in a wheelchair yet so I didn’t really understand what
everyone was complaining about. I used crutches and could go up and down stairs, drive a car without
hand controls, go where I wanted. Because I was in the Kansas Paralysis Group, I learned not everyone
had it as easy as I did. There weren’t curb cuts. Buildings had steps that prevented a person in a
wheelchair from entering; bathrooms were unusable for a person in a wheelchair,” Burris said.
She became part of a group to sensitize city leaders to the issues wheelchair users faced in Wichita.
Government officials were invited to spend a day in a wheelchair and experience the difficulties the
average citizen with physical disabilities experienced every day. The group was consulted on several
city/county projects. The result is a city which is more accessible to all citizens.
Burris has volunteered at the Mobility Rodeo hosted by Kansas Truck every year for five years. She’ll be
there again on Friday, October 3rd because it’s just in her nature to help people and according to her the
Mobility Rodeo is a good place get information about all kinds of things related to living independently
with a physical disability.
“It’s easy to think, I can’t do this, I can’t do that,” Burris said. She feels the Mobility Rodeo is important
because it helps people with a physical disability focus on their abilities, not their disabilities.
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