Two Proposals Selected for 2009 ESPA-AUCD Trainee Sponsored Project Support

February 25, 2009

Easter Seals Project ACTION (Accessible Community Transportation In Our Nation), ESPA, has selected two student research projects for support under its arrangement with AUCD to increase the involvement of university students in the issues that surround accessible transportation and the impacts and implications on the lives of people with disabilities.

Chesley Giertz, MSW, UCEDD trainee at the Developmental Disabilities Institute at Wayne State University, under the mentorship of Barbara LeRoy, PhD, will engage in a project to investigate the extent to which Michigan's Transportation Voucher Program improved the quality of life and community connectivity of its participants.

Anne Salmone, MSW student, UCEDD trainee at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire, under the mentorship of Sönke Dornblut, MS, will work with a team of students to investigate the specific needs of the potential users of a brokered transportation system in Rockingham and Stafford Counties.

Following the conclusion of their projects, these students may be invited to present a summary of their work at an ESPA National Steering Committee meeting or other ESPA event and/or an AUCD Conference.