Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Rae Frank, Director of Independent Living of the Genesee Region (ILGR) and your host is yours truly, Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program, Rae.

Guest: Hi, Ernie, thank you for having me.

Host:  Yes, and we have a very good reason to have you because you have an exciting event coming up in the near future there at the Batavia office. Could you tell us more about it?

Guest:  Yes, I'd be glad to. We're going to be hosting Esther Greenhouse from Cornell University's College of Human Ecology, to speak about creating thriving communities from vision to reality.

Host:  Why is this of particular interest to the community of people with disabilities, what is she going to illustrate then?

Guest:  Esther's going to be speaking to us about universal design, and ways that we can create spaces that work for everyone.

Host:  Alright, universal design sounds like a kind of a broad concept especially if we're not anticipating any arrivals from the nearest star cluster or whatnot. Why does it have that term?

Guest:  Sure. Universal design is so that we're making things that work for everyone, not just people with disabilities. So, a doorway that works well for a janitor with a card or a person using a wheelchair also works well for the mom with a stroller.

Host:  Not just a doorway but ramps because heaven knows an awful lot of America's infrastructure was created before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 started putting strictures on how things could be built, and there's just a whole lot that's a challenge to people with various mobility disabilities but fixing it for them fixes it for lots of other people as you just said. What can you tell us about the event in question?

Guest:  The event is going to be held on Wednesday, October 23. We're beginning at 7:30 in the morning with registration and we go until 11:30 in the morning. We will be at Genesee Community College room, T-102, that's in the Conable Technology Building in Batavia, and we're going to have some refreshments available. It'll be a two part opportunity, the first part of the experience is a lecture from Esther regarding her experience with design, and then we're going to break into stakeholder groups, and talk about how we can change things in our own community.

Host:  And just so that you know that we haven't just brought in any old Cornell Professor to discuss this, she's an environmental gerontologist, a designer, a built environment strategist, she has been on the PBS series Designed for a Lifetime, as a lecturer in Cornell University's Department of Environmental Analysis, and an industry fellow in the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures, and her website would tell you a lot more www.esthergreenhouse.com. What else can you tell us about the event?

Guest:  Sure, pre-registration is required. It's $25 per person, we will have some continuing education credits available. People can register by going to our website at www.wnyil.org/ILGR or they could call us at area code 585-815-8501 extension 411.

Host:  Chances are this is probably going to be a limited size event so pre-registration is probably an excellent idea.

Guest:  It is a good idea, Ernie, but we will also try to make some seats available at the door, if people don't have a chance to register in advance.

Host:  Is this just for professional design people or are others welcome?

Guest:  No this is open to the entire community, anyone who's interested in having a hand or say in what we do to make our communities more livable.

Host:  And we're not doing this alone, I believe there's some community partners that are going in on this with us.

Guest:  That's true. Our partners include the Genesee County Office for the Aging, the Wyoming County Office for the Aging and PathStone, Inc.

Host:  And I think NY Connects is in there somewhere also?

Guest:  Yes, they are. Thank you for reminding me. NY Connects is also sponsoring this event.

Host:  And they deal with a lot of long-term services for people in their mature years. So, this sounds like a really big whoop, and how can people get more information?

Guest:  Sure, again, people can get information by calling our phone number at 585-815-8501 extension 411.

Host:  Thanks so much for being with us, Rae.

Guest:  Thank you, Ernie.

Host:  You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today was Rae Frank, Director of ILGR, and your host was yours truly, Ernie Churchwell.