I'm a former social worker, rehabilitation counselor, mental health counselor and long term care administrator who has lived in Sarasota County for the past 25 years. I have developed wheelchair accessible homes and am heavily involved in promoting Elder Cohousing in Florida and Puerto Rico. I currently work part time as a counselor with developmentally disabled clients who are in need of supported living and supported employment services. Most recently, I have completed a Community Entrepreneur Oppportunity program sponsored by the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County and presented by Karen Magee & Associates. I will soon be completing the Leadership Institute program sponsored by the Suncoast Community Foundation of Venice and conducted by the Fanning Institute of the University of Georgia. I see myself as a community activist specializing in issues of senior housing, universal design, cohousing, and co-ownership. I live in Venice in a wheelchair accessible cottage that I designed and built for my 87 y/o maternal aunt. It was a kind and gentle environment for an elderly lady, and I'm sure that it helped delay her institutionalization by five years. I took great staisfaction to be able to give back to someone who had been so meaningful and generous in my life.

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I'm basically a beach bum who takes time out for work and causes. I had served as vice-chairman of the Venice City Council's former Accessibility Advisory Committee, and I currently serve on the Sarasota County Commission's Seniors Advisory Council where I head the Council's ad hoc committee to develop a "Universal Design" point rating system for the County similar to what is availabe for "Green Building" incentives. I also serve on SCOPE's "Aging: The Possibilities" committee. I volunteer in Senior Friendship Centers' "Friendship At Home" program and take a 93 y/o gentleman out for weekly, wheelchair adventures on the North Jetty at Nokomis Beach and the City Pier by Sharkey's Restaurant as well as for grocery shopping. I am under consideration for appoinment to the City of Sarasota's Citizens with Disabilities Advisory Board as well as to the City of Venice's Lifestyles Committee.

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