Community Roundtable Focuses on Resource Center for Inclusive Recreation

11/16/2009 

A panel of recreation educators and advocates for persons with disabilities will present information and answer questions about the newly created New York State Inclusive Recreation Resource Center (NYSIRRC) on Thursday, Dec. 3, at SUNY Cortland.

The SUNY Cortland Community Roundtable, titled “Is That Park Accessible? Ask the NYSIRRC at SUNY Cortland,” takes place from 8-9 a.m. in SUNY Cortland’s Park Center Hall of Fame Room. Refreshments will be served at 7:45 a.m. Sponsored by the President’s Office and the College’s Center for Educational Exchange (CEE), the community roundtable is free and open to the public.

Panelists will include: Frances Pizzola, program coordinator of Access to Independence of Cortland County, Inc.; and four representatives from SUNY Cortland’s Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department, which houses NYSIRRC. They are: Lynn Anderson, professor and department chair; Vicki Wilkins, professor; Laureen Penney McGee, lecturer; and Brandi Crowe, graduate assistant. Following the presentations, the panel will answer questions.

The NYSIRRC promotes and sustains participation by people with disabilities in inclusive recreation activities and resources throughout the state. Through training, information, technical assistance, inclusivity assessments and recreation referrals, the center serves as a resource and referral hub for state residents with disabilities.

The roundtable session will offer information about the positive transformation of recreational sites to date. Anderson obtained a grant for $624,000 from the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council to launch the center in 2007. For more information, visit www.nysirrc.org.

For more information, contact the CEE at (607) 753-4214 or visit www.cortland.edu/cee.