Projects
Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council provided generous support with block grants for specific projects for VisitAbility in Pennsylvania.
1996: Developed the VIP logo and produced an informational kit for presentations.
1997: Produced the first VisitAbility Resource Book
1998: Video on VisitAbility, with the participation of the Pennsyvlania Housing Research Center
A copy of the video will be sent to anyone who requests it. No Postage and Handling will be charged for single copies at this time.
1999: Reprinted a revised verson of the Resource Book This booklet is available by download or by mail. Call LIFT if you want a hard copy mailed. There is currently no charge for this booklet.
2001: The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) approved funding for the current project.
The funding became available in 2003, and the project is ongoing through the end of 2005
Participants in the project are LIFT, administrative agency, Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, (PHFA) and Help Yourself Designs, Inc. (HYD). The firm of Shiber and Associates was retained for public relations work.
The project objective was to ascertain a range of true costs associated with the production of VisitAble homes. Although there have been many assertions on the subject, no objective studies covering the variables and methods of building has been produced.
The project was implemented by recruiting reputable builders, who agreed to participate by building one or more homes incorporating VisitAbility, and to provide insight into the difficulties and the costs associated with building the homes. Design criteria for resolving problems related to construction, mainly to do with the creation of no-step entries, were discussed and detailed with builders. PHRC, as part of the deliverables for the project, is to produce reports on No-Step front entrances on slab, No-Step front entrances on poured wall, No-Step front entrances on block, No-step details through garage, and cost reports for the various methods. HYD provided outreach and communication between the disability community, PHRC and the builders.
After a good deal of discussion between all the participants in the project (LIFT, PHRC, HYD, Shiber&Associates, the builders and developers) it was decided that high quality literature promoting VisitAbility was a primary need. The format agreed upon was a single sheet, two sided full color handout extolling the virtues of the basic tenents of Visitability. In the ensuing development discussions, with the hot issues being the impact on buyers of literature advocating for people with disabilities, it was decided to produce two pieces of literature; one with an emphasis on the advantages of the design criteria for people with various disabilities (including aging and being young); and one which emphasized the superiority of design that improves safety, convenience and user-friendliness of a home for everyone, regardless of age, ability, etcetera. A photography shoot was arranged at Cannon Homes first model, and the resulting photos were used in the final versions of the handouts. These handouts have been made available to the builders in various forms. They will also be included on the VisitAbilitypa website as downloadable files.
The web site is one of the deliverables of the PHFA project.
The detail drawings and the cost studies will be available through the website. It is asked that the source (PHFA funded VisitAbility in PA initiative) with links to www.visitAbilitypa.com be acknowleged by those who use the material.
Many interesting findings regarding this important design movement have been noted, and they will be the subject of further entries on the site.
<
