The daughter of long-time Almonte resident Marilyn Campbell has been awarded the Ottawa Celebration of People award for accessibility.
Kim, who was born blind, is a super achiever. She was a paralympian and among her many community projects, she is now a storyteller who has performed regularly on the NAC fourth Stage since 2004, as well as at storytelling festivals in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Saint Mary’s. She is a MASC artist in schools and for seniors and also performs in cafes, pubs, museums, parks, and at story slams.
The nomination described Kim this way:
Kim Kilpatrick is a passionate advocate in Ottawa working to ensure that services, programs, websites, technology and the built environment are accessible for people who are blind/visually impaired. Kim has, on numerous occasions, shared her knowledge and experience with City departments and partners to enhance the accessible design of City projects and services. Her contributions have been described as “innovative and creative … beyond the standards and cannot be taught in a book”.
She has been involved in the following projects: OC Transpo Working Group to implement exterior bus announcements, National Capital Heavy Construction Association Education Series, testing electronic tools and technology to be used in the City’s public engagement strategy, as a speaker at a City conference for municipalities across Ontario on best practices for an accessible built environment.
Kim’s easygoing and deliberative manner are key to her ability to assist others to comprehensively review accessibility requirements to ensure the needs of our diverse community are incorporated in to City work and projects.
