Universal Design Community to the Rescue

Who would have thought that locating 'printable' Universal Design project photos would be so difficult! But I found this to be true when tasked with creating Universal Design brochures for the Town of Davidson, NC.

The Town of Davidson was awarded a 3-year grant from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta to conduct Health Impact Assessments (a total of 6) to foster healthy community design in their Davidson Design 4 Life program. Universal Design is their 4th HIA and I was brought on as their advisor. My immediate task was to produce 6 brochures with lots of photos to visually explain Universal Design to the public--builders, developers, town planners, residents, realtors, politicians--all of whom are involved in the HIA participatory process (the brochures are needed to address each of their area of interest).

When assembling the photos, I found that my own project photos were of a high printable resolution, but I had few 'true' Universal Design photos from which to choose. Unless you're designing a Universal Design demonstration home, it's difficult to sell homeowners on the importance of Universal Design. They feel the features are not needed at this time or that they're too expensive to include--neither of which are true.

That's why the Health Impact Assessment program with the Town of Davidson is so important. This is the first opportunity to educate the public on the importance of Universal Design in both the home and the community while assessing its impact on the health of that community.

But where to find the appropriate printable photos for the HIA brochures? I was getting pretty desperate with time running out, so I turned to the only place possible--the Universal Design community. I contacted everyone I knew (or didn't know) and they responded immediately regardless of their position or workload. They gave their time and energy to meet with me, to provide project photos, and to offer brochure content and proof-reading time. These are professional, passionate and caring individuals who believe strongly in the importance of Universal Design and who are so giving of their knowledge. I thank them very much and am proud to be a part of their community.

Here are the (6) Universal Design brochures produced (minus some photos that appear in the hard copy):

• Growing Up with Universal Design

• Aging-in-Place with Universal Design

• Visitability with Universal Design

• Building with Universal Design

• Communities with Universal Design

• Public Parks and Universal Design

People who donated time and photos:

• Cynthia Leibrock, Designer and Author, Aging Beautifully

• Charles Schwab, Architect and Author, Universal Designed "Smart" Homes

• Erin Clay Scherer, Designer, Livable Design

• Richard Duncan, Executive Director, Universal Design Institute

• Eleanor Smith, Visitability Founder, Concrete Change

• Leslie Shankman-Cohn, Designer, Jill Hertz Interior Design

• Emory Baldwin, Architect, FabCab

• Rick Millard, Director of Strategic Business Development, Praxis Companies

• Paul Milam, Realtor, Kelly Williams--Greensboro, NC

• Dennis Streets, Director, Division of Aging and Adult Services, NC Dept of Health and Human Resources

• Swarna Reddy, Planner, NC Division of Aging and Adult Services

People who helped red-line and fine-tune data:

• Katherine Hebert, Davidson Design 4 Life Coordinator, Town of Davidson

• Lori Rhew, Manager of Community Approaches for Prevention Unit, NC Dept of Health and Human Services

• Chris Mackey, Disability and Health Specialist, NC Dept of Health and Human Services

#accessibility #aginginplace #universaldesign #visitability