Disability License Plates & Placards

If you are a West Virginia resident with a disability, you may be eligible for a disability parking placard or license plate. Placards and plates are issued by the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for both temporary and permanent disabilities. License plates, including disabled veteran plates. Have a qualifying disability. Regularly provide transportation to someone with a qualifying disability. Applications for disabled parking usually require certification by a medical professional. NOTE: If you are visiting West Virginia from another state, you can use the handicap placard or plate issued by your home state. Any disabled placard or plate allows you to use designated parking spaces for the mobility impaired. It is illegal to loan your placard to anyone, regardless of their own impairment. Hang it from the rearview mirror when parked. Place it on the dashboard if you do not have a rearview mirror. Your doctor will need to re-certify your disability. Permanent disability placards must be renewed. The West Virginia DMV will mail you a renewal notice and form before your placard expires. You will simply need to complete the renewal form and mail it back to the DMV. Your doctor DOES NOT need to re-certify your disability. NOTE: If your address changes before your placard expires, be sure to change your address with the West Virginia DMV so you receive your renewal notice. Disability license plates are renewed by renewing your vehicle registration. If your WV handicap placard is lost, stolen, or damaged, you can apply for a replacement by mail or in person. A completed Parking Application for a Mobility Impaired Person (Form DMV-41-TR). Payment for the replacement fee.

Most Sunday mornings you can find me in the parking lot of my home church. My wife and I usually attend the Saturday afternoon service, so that gives me the opportunity to serve on Sunday morning. I will usually "check-in" on Facebook and post some type of comment about the weather or maybe the message that weekend. Over the years I've received lots of comments and questions about this from pastors and church leaders at other churches. Many of them seem to indicate that a parking lot ministry is great for a "mega" church, but not needed in smaller churches. I'd like to respectfully disagree. Your church, no matter the size, needs a parking lot ministry. In my opinion the parking lot ministry is 70% Guest Services (Hospitality), 20% Safety & Security, and 10% Parking Assistance. Parking Assistance - most people do not really need help finding a parking spot at church. However, it can be helpful to point people to the closest open space.

In too many cases, the members at a church tend to take the best spots. So a first-time guest coming in late might have to drive around for a while. Safety & Security - we always wear some type of safety vest and have a radio. Unfortunately we live in a time when some people don't feel as safe at church (or many other places) as they once did. Our hope is that people see us outside and just feel a little safer. Guest Services - this is our main role. We are the first person most people encounter when they come to our church. We are out there smiling and waving every weekend. There are always first-time guests who might have questions. My favorite position in the lot is where I can also see the road that runs in front of our church. This gives me a chance to wave to cars as they pass.

As a church consultant and coach I've had the chance to see many different churches all over the country in the past seven years. I cannot recall a single one who did not want to improve their hospitality ministry. Here is your chance. Prayerfully consider adding a parking lot ministry in your church. Have someone (with the Spiritual gift of Hospitality) stand at the entrance to your parking lot next weekend and just wave "hello" to everyone. Buy some umbrellas and have a couple of people out in the lot to walk people in who do not have their own umbrella the next time it is raining. Move your door greeters outside the main entrance. They can still open the doors. Have your facilities team review the parking lot from a first-time guest's perspective. Can they easily determine where to park and where to enter? Do you have several "First Time Guest" and "New & Expecting Mother" parking spaces? Is the lot in need of repair anywhere? There is of course much more, but I hope this has at least got you thinking about having a parking lot ministry in your church. As you might be able to tell, this is a passion of mine. We only get one chance to make a first impression at our churches. Let's make the most of each opportunity! Please let me know if you have questions or would like to know anything else. I'm very happy to share.

You also may visit any of the El Paso County Motor Vehicle Offices or complete this transaction through the mail. Individuals who need to renew their disability placard, obtain a duplicate, cancel, etc. also may use the online service for those transactions. Additionally, to obtain a handicapped placard, the applicant may send a representative to the DMV office to drop off the handicap placard application. If the representative has a Power of Attorney (POA) to act on the applicant’s behalf, he/she can pick up the placard for the applicant. If no POA is provided, the placard will be mailed to the applicant’s address on record. For handicapped license plates, either the applicant must be present, or must provide the representative with a POA, to act on their behalf to process the application and pick up the license plate. Citizens with a “Permanent” disability can sign to self-certify themselves when their placard expires after the third year and the sixth year.