Rochester’s Levine Center to End Hate has released a “State of Hate in Greater Rochester” community survey, finding that people with disabilities in Rochester most commonly feel discrimination in dealing with the health care system (51 percent) or when shopping or eating (51 percent).
A person with a disability is defined in the survey as someone challenged in mobility, cognitive or reasoning, mental health or virtual and speech impairment. Those who are deaf or hard of hearing will be covered in a future survey.
Center Director Karen Elam said 3 percent of respondents with disabilities have personally experienced discrimination. And 34 percent said they have felt unsafe because of their disability while shopping or eating out.
A majority (70 percent) felt Rochester was a mostly welcoming place for people of all backgrounds. But for people without a disability that number was 81 percent.