Loganville man’s Web site is resource for disabled

Helping people with disabilities is a passion for some. For Ryan Mercer, it’s a lifelong mission.

The Loganville resident, who has cerebral palsy, is on a crusade to help other disabled individuals by offering resource information on a Web site he runs out of the home he shares with his parents.

Enlarge this image

Kimberly Smith/ ksmith@ajc.com

Ryan Mercer manipulates the joystick on his wheelchair to operate his new laptop computer.

Enlarge this image

Kimberly Smith/ksmith@ajc.com

Mercer’s Web site offers information on services such as housing and transportation. His efforts recently got a boost when he won a laptop computer in a drawing.

Enlarge this image

Kimberly Smith/ksmith@ajc.com

Ryan Mercer of Loganville runs a Web site to help other disabled people find resource information. Mercer started the Web site about six months ago while enrolled in Georgia Voices That Count, a training program for people with disabilities. ‘They taught me how to stand up for myself,’ Mercer says of the program.

Recent headlines:

• Gwinnett police nab more than a ton of pot 
• Budget shortfall may delay deportation of illegal immigrants 
• Paralyzed ex-husband may face murder case 

   • Gwinnett County news

His efforts received a boost Aug. 23, when the 22-year-old won a new Hewlett-Packard laptop as part of a back-to-school promotional drawing at Sport Clips in Snellville. Mercer is a regular customer of the men’s haircutter.

Mercer started the Web site — which offers information from housing and transportation to sports and education — about six months ago while enrolled in Georgia Voices That Count, an advocacy training program for people with disabilities.

“They taught me how to stand up for myself,” he said of the program.

And he’s doing just that. In addition to his online outreach efforts, Mercer has spoken to elementary schools, churches and local colleges, sharing his experiences and what it means to have physical limitations.

“The main point I would like to get across is to really treat people with disabilities the same way you would treat anybody else,” Mercer said.

“A lot of people don’t understand people with disabilities. They’re scared,” he said. “My main goal in life is to tell people about people with disabilities and bridge the gap” between the two.

Mercer said the new laptop will come in handy. The port connecting his old computer to his motorized wheelchair was damaged, and he needed a new computer to continue updating the site, he said.

Once plugged in to the computer, the joystick he uses to maneuver around his house acts as a mouse for scrolling the Web site. A caretaker then makes any changes to the site.

Sport Clips team leader Scott Denton, who met Mercer the day he won the laptop, was moved by his story.

“He’s kind of got this charm that spreads to everyone around him,” Denton said. “You can’t help but smile.”

Mercer said his site has received positive feedback from others facing the same challenges.

“It’s given them ideas about what to do with their own lives,” Mercer said, but he added there’s still much work to be done.

What does Mercer’s mom, Rhonda, think of her son’s outreach efforts?

“He’s just a really strong person,” she said. “He’s opened a lot of eyes, touched a lot of hearts.”