I have asked Angela Raso, a resident of Hartsdale, to chair a soon to be formed Disabled Advisory Committee. Angela spoke at the Greenburgh Town Board meeting on June 13th. Her presentation to the Town Board appears below.
The goal of the Disabled Advisory Committee will be to inspect town facilities and locations around the town and to make recommendations as to how our community could correct problems and be more responsive. The disabled have a right to enjoy our town and to have the highest quality of life possible. If you would like to join our committee - please e mail me at pfeiner@greenburghny.com
Comments made by Angela Raso to Greenburgh Town Board:
My name is Angela Raso
I am from Hartsdale in the Town of Greenburgh. I was born with a heart condtion and other anomolies at birth. i have been in a wheel chair my whole life. I attended Sacred Heart pre-k but after that Sacred Heart was not the answer for me as they have many steps. My 3 sisters did attend there. I then went to St. Agnase School in White Plains for disabled children. After St. Agnase, my parents Nat Raso and (the late) Lucy Raso weren't sure what to do. They turned to Greenburgh for help. Greenburgh at that time did not have a program for disabled childrean. so they kindly bused me to PS 29 in Yonkers. That year i also got very sick and needed a second heart surgery. for a year Greenburgh gave me a home tutor to complete first grade. From that I went to Catholic school St. Gregory in Harrison. And was also on and off home tutoring through Greenburgh as I was not very able to attend school do to a low immune system. Last year I took a big step in getting my driver's license. For more freedom. My family was of course very worried about me every time i went out alone. My dad still asks are you sure you don't want me to come with you! And alot of times I have to stop and think because I have found that as i go out to do normal every day things I am stopped by inaccessabilty to a lot of places right in my own town. So I decided to contact Paul Feiner and see what we can do about this. And he has been so kind and on board since day one with solving the problem. My goal is to make everything as accesible as we can. Whether it be a town park a shopping center needing some help to comply with ADA. Even a bump in a sidewalk can set a disabled person off.
