Perinton Recreation & Parks Town of Perinton

Challenge:

The Town of Perinton, in Monroe County NY, is home to around 47,500 people and includes nearly 1000 acres of land featuring parks, hiking trails, and a bustling recreational industry along the historic Erie Canalway. The municipality is well-known for its Recreation & Parks department which oversees organized community festivities and programs.

The Perinton Community Center is an accessible ‘state of the art’ facility with vibrant aquatic and fitness centers and is home to many programs for all ages.
There are around 3,600 people living with a disability under the age of 65 in the town, and yet very few of that group were participating in program offerings. The leadership of Perinton Recreation and Parks began asking:

If it wasn’t the building’s physical accessibility that prevented participation, why weren’t people coming in?

Solution:

Determined to understand—and change—this reality, the leadership contracted with RAA for
an Inclusion Partnership. This began a multi-
year journey to transform how their organization operated—from their front end desk, to their fitness/ aquatics center, to the management of their parks.

Beginning with a thorough organizational assessment followed by mentored training, they established an Inclusion Team to work with RAA and develop a Strategic Inclusion Action Plan. This was used to organize their pathway to more inclusive practices.

In the first year, their team has reached many benchmarks including:

• Initiating a culture of inclusion to strategically guide their operations through staff training, inclusive program development and park enhancements.
• Creating sustainable ‘inclusion habits’ to ensure that their culture of inclusion continues to exist beyond staff changes, program shifts, and new initiatives.
• Making purchasing decisions which lead to greater physical accessibility, better wayfinding, and enhanced experiences by their community members.
• Intentional outreach to families with a member living with a disability to understand their experience, listen to feedback about programs and encourage their participation.

In the first year of their inclusion process, Perinton Recreation and Parks is already seeing an increase in the number of people with disabilities participating in their programs, including summer camp, after-school, and aquatics.

Continuous improvement is made possible by inquiries directed to their Inclusion Coordinator and the recent addition of an Inclusion Advisory Committee.