Fridays 10:00am - 11:00am (EDT)
EPISODE SUMMARY:
They will learn about The Viscardi Center’s transformative work in education and workforce development. Also they will understand the role of disability in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
💡 This Friday on Philanthropy in Phocus with host Tommy DiMisa #InTheAttic
Join us for an impactful conversation with Dr. Chris Rosa, President & CEO of The Viscardi Center—a national leader in education, employment, and empowerment for people with disabilities. A lifelong advocate and wheelchair-user himself, Dr. Rosa has spent decades breaking barriers and driving systemic change to promote equity, access, and opportunity. ♿🌍
This week, we explore “Redefining Possibility: Disability, Leadership & Equity.” From transforming college access through CUNY initiatives to leading national disability employment policy, Dr. Rosa shares how authentic leadership, lived experience, and inclusive vision are reshaping what’s possible for people with disabilities.
🕙 Tune in Friday, May 9th at 10 am EST for an inspiring conversation on progress, purpose, and what it really means to lead with impact. 🎧
✨ Why listen?
Learn about The Viscardi Center’s transformative work in education and workforce development
Understand the role of disability in diversity, equity, and inclusion conversations
Be inspired by Dr. Rosa’s leadership, legacy, and advocacy on a national scale
Website: https://viscardicenter.org/
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#PhilanthropyInPhocus #TheViscardiCenter #DisabilityEquity #InclusionMatters #ChrisRosa #AccessForAll #TommyDiMisa #InTheAttic
Tune in for this sensible conversation at TalkRadio.nyc
Tommy DiMisa welcomes Dr. Chris Rosa, President of The Viscardi Center, for a heartfelt conversation about leadership, legacy, and disability inclusion. Rosa shares how disability icon John Kemp influenced his journey and how he now continues that mission by preserving history through the launch of the National Museum of Disability History on Long Island. Together, they emphasize the power of community, inclusion, and storytelling in driving meaningful change in the nonprofit and disability advocacy spaces.
Dr. Chris Rosa shares his personal and professional journey from being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at age five to leading the Viscardi Center, a pivotal organization in disability rights and education. He recounts how the Americans with Disabilities Act and a supportive public education system empowered his path, culminating in leadership roles at CUNY and Viscardi. The conversation highlights how inclusive education, community connection, and grassroots advocacy shape transformative change for people with disabilities.
Dr. Chris Rosa shares the powerful origin story of the Viscardi Center, founded by Dr. Henry Viscardi, a pioneering disability rights advocate who created one of the first social enterprises in the U.S. to employ veterans with disabilities. Viscardi, inspired by personal hardship and driven by grit, built Abilities, Inc. from a retrofitted garage into a million-dollar enterprise that empowered hundreds of people with disabilities. This legacy lives on through the Center’s broad programs in employment, independent living, education, and advocacy—including the acquisition of Able News and the upcoming National Museum of Disability History.
Tommy DiMisa reflects on his personal journey and philanthropic mission through the Lindy Lou Foundation, emphasizing the life-changing importance of accessibility to meaningful employment for people with disabilities. Dr. Chris Rosa affirms that work is central to identity and dignity, and that the Viscardi Center’s suite of career-readiness programs, internships, job coaching, and community integration initiatives empower individuals to thrive independently. The episode closes with heartfelt gratitude for the Viscardi team’s collective impact and an invitation for listeners to engage, visit, and support this transformative organization.
00:00:40.420 --> 00:00:48.000 Tommy DiMisa: Boy is back. Everybody philanthropy in focus, the nonprofit sector
00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:59.140 Tommy DiMisa: connector that's what I call myself. It's a nickname. I'm big on nicknames. They also call me Tommy D. And I tell myself, and I tell other people they call me the Kid, and then my kids go.
00:00:59.140 --> 00:01:22.719 Tommy DiMisa: Dad, no one calls you that, and I say, but I call myself that, and that's the thing. Listen, gang! It's all about laughing. It's all about having fun, and if we can laugh about ourselves, which I tend to like to do. Then I think we don't take ourselves too seriously, but I will just put some gratitude out there for the folks in this community specifically the nonprofit sector. As I like to spend my time with all these folks.
00:01:22.740 --> 00:01:33.590 Tommy DiMisa: and really just the gratitude to that I get to hang out with people who are changing the world each and every day, and that's a big deal. And I was at a Kiwanis meeting just about a week and a half ago, and they asked me to be the speaker.
00:01:34.090 --> 00:01:37.210 Tommy DiMisa: and you know it wasn't like, Hey.
00:01:37.300 --> 00:01:49.199 Tommy DiMisa: teach us something. It was just come up and tell us about the stuff you're doing in the world, and you know it's when I speak at a rotary or speak at a Qantas. It's like, Wow, I'm blessed to be able to hang out with people who are doing
00:01:49.200 --> 00:02:09.160 Tommy DiMisa: important work. I say this, there's a ton of stuff that's negative in the world, and if you're looking for it, you can go find it. It's there, man, go there if you want to. I choose not to. I choose our sector. I choose friends like my friend and fellow fan of the New York Metropolitans, Dr. Christopher Rosa, Chris Rosa. What is up, sir? How are you.
00:02:09.169 --> 00:02:16.389 Chris Rosa: How are you, Tommy? It's great to see you. And, by the way, I don't know if you know this, but behind your back in the nonprofit sector. We all call you the Kid.
00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:22.159 Chris Rosa: When you're wearing your met cap, you remind us, with your exuberance of Gary Carter and his.
00:02:22.160 --> 00:02:28.570 Tommy DiMisa: Oh, look at that like Kid Carter. Oh, my goodness! You know who I've met recently, and I understand. Actually, I know for a fact.
00:02:29.160 --> 00:02:56.319 Tommy DiMisa: you just recently, at one of your events, is Mookie Wilson. I met Mookie a couple weeks, or actually back in March through the Queens Chamber of commerce. He was there at the St. Patrick's Day event. I didn't know Mookie Wilson was Irish, but now maybe we know, but I know I was talking to our friend and your your employee and colleague, Lauren Marzo, and you know the mookie has like a food truck business. So right, what was that? You got to hang out with Mook a little bit.
00:02:56.320 --> 00:03:22.779 Chris Rosa: Oh, it's just for lifelong met fans. It's a thrill of a lifetime. He is a truly a gentle soul, and he's a great chef. The barbecue was phenomenal. People loved it. I loved it, and you know, like what it was a thrill as a lifelong met Fan. I grew up with Mook. And you know, when when they started to regain their relevance, and it's all about him.
00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:29.770 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, it was so great. And so I was born in in 78. So in 86, that makes me 8, 8, something like that whatever
00:03:29.770 --> 00:03:53.370 Tommy DiMisa: going on 9 in the January of the next year, and I remember being like in my parents, kitchen in the house, the same house they still live in with a little TV like on the kitchen table and watching some of those games, man, and, you know, like my friend and business partner, Ed. Probst, one of the founding partners of vanguard benefits our agency. Big big met Fan, and I always give them the business about being, you know, about 1011 years older than I am.
00:03:53.380 --> 00:04:07.640 Tommy DiMisa: Maybe it's 9 or 10, and I always give him and all the part of Vinnie the business, because they're more advanced in years. But Ed was at some of those games, you know, in 86 I was a baby boy. I was a kid. I remember this stuff as best you can from
00:04:07.640 --> 00:04:27.670 Tommy DiMisa: from that age. But as I look, it's funny. I look right here. So here's a picture of 4 of the pitchers from that team right? And then over there I have this great shot. You all can't see it, but you have to imagine. I'll tell you this because all my nonprofit people know this story. So, Chris, they don't know this specific story, but they're gonna know the punch line. So I'm at an event. There's this picture of Doc
00:04:27.670 --> 00:04:53.720 Tommy DiMisa: Daryl and Mike Tyson. They all got the. Have you seen this one? You know this? So they got the satin jackets on right, and all the Yankee fans are like Tommy D. Come on, move on! And my friend Mick Collins, who's down in Baltimore who's named after Mickey Mantle, is like Tommy d enough with the mets. Stuff, Mick. Change the Channel baby if you don't like it. So my wife put down on the silent auction an amount. It was like, whatever the minimum was. I go? We're going home with that, and she goes.
00:04:53.720 --> 00:05:07.559 Tommy DiMisa: She doesn't know that like sometimes the silent auction doesn't go like bonkers. And this particular event they had like 15 different things going on. There was the Casino, there was the silent auction. There was a dance party.
00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:33.179 Tommy DiMisa: They brought 2 rappers there from like the nineties, and it was just. It was great, great like, if you have Adhd, it was wonderful. But if you if she thought she wasn't going to go home with that piece which now is in the attic with me. It's those memories of those mets teams, but I gave Mookie a hard time. I got to tell you when I saw him at the Queen's chamber of St. Patrick's Day, because I was chatting with him. And he I'm 47 and he isn't.
00:05:33.180 --> 00:05:44.090 Tommy DiMisa: I go! And we took a picture together. Dude! We look like we're the same age. I go. This isn't even fair, like same like little bit of white in a goatee kind of thing. And I'm going.
00:05:44.100 --> 00:05:49.139 Tommy DiMisa: I just. I said, this isn't fair, Mookie, you've lived a much more relaxed life, apparently, than I have.
00:05:49.140 --> 00:05:53.709 Chris Rosa: And and, like you, he is in phenomenal physical shape. Looks like you could still get out there.
00:05:53.780 --> 00:06:14.190 Tommy DiMisa: Look at you. Oh, my God, wow! The compliments! I appreciate it. Great physical shape. You should see when I can run around the street with my kids. How great physical shape! Listen, Chris. I'm so happy, even just the conversation we were having before we turned the cameras rolling today. Conversation you and I had earlier in the week, you know.
00:06:14.520 --> 00:06:37.840 Tommy DiMisa: I see such opportunity. We're going to do some great things together. And I mentioned, you know, July 26, th we will be at the ballpark and talk to another friend and colleague of mine, who you may or may not know, but our Buddy, Mike Durney, who's the CEO of Acds, is going to join us with a friend at the game on the 20 second. So we're really that's shout out, guys that's through the Bayside Business Association reach out to me, Tommy D.
00:06:38.420 --> 00:06:56.879 Tommy DiMisa: At philanthropyandfocus.com. If you want to learn more about that or go to Bayside Business Association website. And my, oh, PHOC. US. If you don't know how to spell focus, yeah, gang. So you know, it's it's just bringing people together making those relationships. But I really appreciate. You know, I was telling somebody this the other night
00:06:57.420 --> 00:07:03.189 Tommy DiMisa: what I've created with this platform philanthropy and focus over 210 episodes.
00:07:03.190 --> 00:07:27.539 Tommy DiMisa: And and the other stuff I'm doing is I've created this opportunity where my friends, Yolanda, Robino Gross, Mike Durney, Chris Rosa. Right? You know Jeff Reynolds, I'm on the phone. Dr. Jeff Reynolds yesterday making an introduction. These are my friends who lead the you know, and it isn't just the Bigs. It's you know. I hang out with the Ceos who run the $70,000 nonprofit here in Long Island and goes to how I started the show, too, Chris, like
00:07:27.790 --> 00:07:39.880 Tommy DiMisa: we make choices in life, and we get to choose who we want to spend our time with. And I get to say and text message with people who lead important organizations. And I get to say that they're my friends, and that's and I appreciate that. And I'm grateful for that.
00:07:39.880 --> 00:07:51.659 Chris Rosa: And, Tommy, it's a it's a blessing for us. There we do. We feel important work for meet people where they are in the hearts of their community.
00:07:51.660 --> 00:08:10.780 Chris Rosa: And there's a tendency for us as much as that's a very meaningful endeavor to get isolated from each other, and as a nonprofit sector connector. You are the the fabric of of a true community. It means something tangible because of the work that you do. So we're grateful for you.
00:08:10.780 --> 00:08:36.759 Tommy DiMisa: And I'm thank you and I and I'm doing better at becoming grateful and realizing that, like I used to say, it's no big deal, Rosa. This is what I do. No, no, I know it's a big deal, and I appreciate your gratitude, and you know now I can't hug you right now, but you're making me cry on my own show. We haven't even got it out of the 1st segment. I'm already a mush. Let's let's get into your story because we you know it was. We had such a cool chat just now about you know your predecessor who led the organization, and I loved what you said
00:08:36.760 --> 00:08:50.889 Tommy DiMisa: before we got started. It's a network of nonprofit organizations, is viscardi. Going back to Dr. Henry Viscardi and Abilities, Inc. But we talked about how you had a connection to somebody you refer to as an icon.
00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:52.429 Tommy DiMisa: John Kemp, right.
00:08:52.450 --> 00:09:09.980 Chris Rosa: Yeah, and that thanks for always remembering him because he left an indelible impression on our organization and in the hearts of the individuals we serve. But John Kemp is an unequivocal disability rights hero and icon
00:09:10.526 --> 00:09:36.769 Chris Rosa: and I'm about a decade behind him, and I'm a decade behind that generation that really changed things in the United States for people with disabilities. John is a legendary disability rights leader and activist. His grassroots effort really ultimately helped to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act.
00:09:36.770 --> 00:10:01.509 Chris Rosa: which now for 35 years has created the expectation that Americans with disabilities, will fully participate in all aspects of American life, and so I looked up to him with awe and wonder, but never imagined that I'd get to meet him. But it was my work at City University of New York, where
00:10:01.510 --> 00:10:14.990 Chris Rosa: Cuny is the largest public urban university system in the world. It enrolls more than a quarter of a million students, including more than 11,000 students with disabilities, and which is always my my
00:10:15.280 --> 00:10:19.040 Chris Rosa: sphere of content expertise, and my real passion.
00:10:19.060 --> 00:10:38.160 Chris Rosa: And it just so happened that I got an unsolicited call from my hero, John Kemp. I had all I could do to keep it together, but it turned out that some Henry Viscardi school students who are brilliant in their own regard, but need intensive wraparound services
00:10:38.160 --> 00:11:02.830 Chris Rosa: were coming to some of our Cuny campuses, and John was reaching out to me to ask, what can we do to sort of replicate that holistic approach at Viscardi, at some of our Cuny campuses to ensure that our students would succeed, and I wanted to do it. A. Because you don't want to let your hero down. But BI got to meet these students, and they were brilliant, and I felt like they deserved
00:11:02.830 --> 00:11:19.639 Chris Rosa: equal access and opportunity to transform their lives through the power and the promise of higher education. And together we did a good job. You do that a handful of times. Suddenly you become a street hero on the streets of New York City, and
00:11:19.640 --> 00:11:40.499 Chris Rosa: based on that. John extended me a very humbling invitation for me to join the Henry Viscardi School Board, which I eagerly accepted, and I felt proud to do work to make sure that generations of viscardi students, classes of them for 4 years got to go on and pursue their dreams in college and beyond
00:11:40.580 --> 00:11:57.240 Chris Rosa: and during the heart of Covid John, like so many of us, had a reckoning, and said as much as I love this. You know I'm from the South, I'm from Alabama. I'm a Yankee up here, and you know there comes a time when you have to go home.
00:11:57.260 --> 00:12:20.709 Chris Rosa: and as much as it, you know. He didn't want to leave this at all. I think he felt like it was time, and in that vacuum I was honored that the Board looked among them to their credit. They felt like an organization like Viscardi ought to be led by somebody with the lived experience of disability. And I'm a wheelchair user. I've been using a wheelchair
00:12:20.710 --> 00:12:33.239 Chris Rosa: since 1976. It's a lot of years in the saddle at age 58. And because of that, it kind of made me uniquely positioned to give it a go, and I haven't looked back. It's been the greatest
00:12:33.330 --> 00:12:38.869 Chris Rosa: personal and professional thrill of my life to work here at the viscardi center.
00:12:38.870 --> 00:13:00.939 Tommy DiMisa: I love it. I love. We're going to get so into all this stuff today, man, and you know we usually start with your background. But what a great thing that was to just bring up John Kemp, and how that story really unfolded! I tell you I didn't know all of that I had been involved in some committees, and and you know, was, I guess, informed earlier, maybe not
00:13:00.940 --> 00:13:10.099 Tommy DiMisa: early on in the process, because I was on a committee. I think it was for Sports night a number of years ago. So an email came out about John moving on. And
00:13:10.210 --> 00:13:13.430 Tommy DiMisa: you know, it's so. It's so funny, because, you know.
00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:33.890 Tommy DiMisa: you say icon, you say Hero John would probably not think he should be anybody's icon or hero right? And I think of you in that regard as an icon and a hero. So yeah, I mean it, man, and and that's the stuff about it. But I remember when I, when I had John on the show I told you earlier, you know he had met Dr. Viscardi, which we got to get into Dr. Viscardi's story today.
00:13:33.890 --> 00:13:52.660 Tommy DiMisa: but we had met him as when when John was a child. And it's just you say Mount Rushmore is, I think, how you referred to John earlier. So we're we're going to get into all the stuff about viscardi and and the network of of organizations and the work. And you know what I like when I come to the to the center. There.
00:13:52.660 --> 00:14:04.129 Tommy DiMisa: there's the Dr. Viscardi's office is still set. I assume it is. I haven't been there in a couple of years, but Lauren and I, Lauren Marzo, and I would would walk by and grade stories and stuff. So go ahead.
00:14:04.130 --> 00:14:12.040 Chris Rosa: Sure. Yeah, I thank you for remembering that. So we're we're blessed to have Dr. Viscardi's office intact
00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:30.110 Chris Rosa: as he left it in 2,004, and it's it's a living reminder of our disability rights legacy here at Viscardi Dr. Viscardi passed away, but he's still very much with us every day
00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:44.429 Chris Rosa: in the fabric of our work and our approach to empowering people with disabilities. But we also have that history, the artifacts that that tell a really powerful story about the life of a true American hero.
00:14:44.808 --> 00:14:51.620 Chris Rosa: And you know, strategically, they put his office right opposite my office as if I don't have enough pressure
00:14:52.790 --> 00:14:59.930 Chris Rosa: to work. I have to pass that I hold my head in shame and slink off, trying desperately not to screw it up that day.
00:14:59.930 --> 00:15:01.479 Tommy DiMisa: You're the best, you are so.
00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:16.910 Chris Rosa: Keeps you humble. But if I might, Tommy, just, it's a nice segue into one of our latest initiatives, and something that holds great promise for us. So when I got here, I was very impressed by how we cherish
00:15:16.910 --> 00:15:31.899 Chris Rosa: disability history, and we and we utilize it to help the people that we serve kids and adults to develop empowered identities that are very proud of their history and their identity as people with disabilities.
00:15:31.910 --> 00:15:50.420 Chris Rosa: And because of that ethos when we got word that the National Museum of Disability history, which had been in Buffalo, and it was a glorious collection in in Buffalo for 22 years, when it was forced to close its doors during the pandemic
00:15:50.965 --> 00:15:52.450 Chris Rosa: I reached out.
00:15:52.750 --> 00:16:00.429 Chris Rosa: told them a little bit about our existing commitment to history, and said, Would you ever consider moving the collection to Long Island?
00:16:00.540 --> 00:16:26.290 Chris Rosa: And it took about a year's worth of negotiation, but we acquired the collection we were able to raise from lots of different sources 2.2 million dollars to renovate 4,000 square feet of our own space. And in October everybody should stay tuned. We're opening the National Museum of Disability history right here in the heart of Long Island, on the campus of the Viscardi center.
00:16:26.290 --> 00:16:29.869 Tommy DiMisa: Wow! I will be there, no matter what, and we'll.
00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:31.000 Chris Rosa: Can't wait to have you.
00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:47.623 Tommy DiMisa: 100%. We'll make it a party for sure. That's so important. And and it is history that we we must reflect on on where we've come from. And you know I have. Maybe we're getting. I have several family members who have disabilities and physical and or otherwise. And and you know it's
00:16:49.930 --> 00:16:55.324 Tommy DiMisa: my one cousin who actually attended the Scottish school many, many years ago.
00:16:56.180 --> 00:17:01.589 Tommy DiMisa: We were at an event together. It was like at a Vfw. Or nights of Columbus, and and
00:17:01.940 --> 00:17:03.230 Tommy DiMisa: wasn't accessible.
00:17:03.430 --> 00:17:24.969 Tommy DiMisa: This wasn't 20 years ago. This was 20 months ago, and it was just, you know, and and she told me, you know, Tommy D. This happens, you know, and and again I get up on the soapbox, Chris. But I mean the Ada was not last week. Right? I mean, this is, this is a long time coming, but and it's still we're not there. A 100%. Still, right.
00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:49.900 Chris Rosa: Yeah, no, we're not there. And your own story underscores how important vigilance is certainly for the American disability rights community, but for our communities in general who really value full participation and inclusion. I'm proud, though, that a place like the viscardi center exists to speak to that
00:17:49.970 --> 00:17:58.350 Chris Rosa: also very cherished and valued nonprofit resource on how they might very easily remove that barrier.
00:17:58.350 --> 00:17:58.700 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah.
00:17:58.700 --> 00:18:00.649 Chris Rosa: Because everybody could participate.
00:18:00.650 --> 00:18:25.070 Tommy DiMisa: Might have to. I'm not going to say what town that place was, and I don't remember if it was a nice or a Vfw. Or whatever it was, but I remember being cranky and frustrated. That part, I remember, but we might have to be informative, and I know something. I've had Mike Caprera on a show from your team and talking about accessibility on websites and things like that. And you all provide such resources. We're going to take a quick break. We come back. I want to do it this way. I want to hear your story, and then we'll
00:18:25.310 --> 00:18:39.569 Tommy DiMisa: flip back. We're like, which is perfect for the way my brain works. We'll bounce all over the place, you know, so we'll get back to. Who is Chris? Rosa? How? What's your your youth coming up in Cuny and all that sort of stuff, and then we'll get all back into the viscardi stuff. How's that sound for you?
00:18:39.570 --> 00:18:40.999 Chris Rosa: Looking forward to it. Thank you.
00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:44.650 Tommy DiMisa: We will be right back. Chris and Tommy D. In the attic.
00:20:13.780 --> 00:20:27.019 Tommy DiMisa: Nonprofits need connections to move in good directions. To cut through all the static, join Tommy in his attic is right. Just
00:20:27.020 --> 00:20:44.049 Tommy DiMisa: earlier this week I was talking to my friend Chris Rose, and I was telling him about a buddy of mine who who is in a band, and the name of the band is damaged goods, and one night we're going to see them. The singer of the song you just heard is my Buddy Brendan Levy, who I was on a phone call with this morning. That's my friend Brendan from the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
00:20:44.050 --> 00:20:47.790 Chris Rosa: He's a great leader, and who knew he has. He has great pipes.
00:20:47.790 --> 00:20:56.230 Tommy DiMisa: Got great pipes, and I tell him that I actually was. I was on a meeting with him and the leadership team from Tuesday's children, which is a nonprofit, came out of.
00:20:56.230 --> 00:20:57.700 Chris Rosa: It's a great organization.
00:20:57.700 --> 00:21:03.005 Tommy DiMisa: So I had Becky Rossman on the show a couple of weeks ago, the CEO and
00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:30.080 Tommy DiMisa: I was connecting her and some of her team with Brendan in the chamber just 2 days, probably Wednesday this week, and you know, because I'm me and I'm Tommy D. And I got the love. I just go. I just want to let you know this guy. He is the vice President of business development for the Chamber, but he's also the lead singer of the band, damaged goods, and and he's like he's like embarrassed. I'm like Brendan, this is it we are who we are. And all this stuff, man, and it's and you know he's trying to be like buttoned up businessman. And I'm like, No, no, you're a rock and roll star, man, so.
00:21:30.080 --> 00:21:30.630 Chris Rosa: He is.
00:21:31.045 --> 00:21:31.460 Tommy DiMisa: True.
00:21:31.460 --> 00:21:32.020 Chris Rosa: Really is.
00:21:32.020 --> 00:21:50.579 Tommy DiMisa: We wrote that song together. We wrote the lyrics together. I didn't sing it, although if you call me later on, Chris, one of my kids left that as a voicemail like. That's my outgoing message is one of my daughters singing that, and I I can't. I can't delete it. I just I worry. It's not professional enough. And then I remember who I am and I go. It's exactly what it should be, you know. So.
00:21:50.580 --> 00:21:53.290 Chris Rosa: I agree. It makes you that much more accessible.
00:21:53.290 --> 00:21:58.379 Tommy DiMisa: 100%. Thank you for saying that. Thank you. So who is Chris? Rosa? I don't know the story. I know.
00:21:58.520 --> 00:22:07.200 Tommy DiMisa: Cuny. Obviously we know the Viscori story you mentioned. You've been in a wheelchair since 1976. I don't even really know your story, sir.
00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:09.499 Chris Rosa: Sure. No, thank you for asking.
00:22:09.620 --> 00:22:23.750 Chris Rosa: I think, particularly looking at my own, the arc of my own personal history from a disability centered perspective, which is a big part of my identity. What I value who I am.
00:22:23.840 --> 00:22:48.909 Chris Rosa: My life is a testament to the slogan. It's better to be lucky than good. It helps when you're both. But I've definitely been very fortunate. Timing is everything. And I was born in 1967, and I was diagnosed early on with a form of muscular dystrophy at age 5
00:22:49.270 --> 00:22:49.920 Chris Rosa: and
00:22:51.680 --> 00:23:11.990 Chris Rosa: I was entering kindergarten in 1972, which was only a year or 2 before the implementation of the individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The idea which required. Now we all know Ieps
00:23:11.990 --> 00:23:37.070 Chris Rosa: to create meaningful plans that will ensure that students with disabilities, will be fully included in their educational experiences, and will be successful. And in those early days nobody really understood the full implications of the idea. Very few people had ever heard of it. But my mom and dad
00:23:38.400 --> 00:24:05.160 Chris Rosa: were loving. Parents were not disability rights activists. I don't know that they knew very many people with disabilities, but they had a son with a disability, and they refused to allow me to be denied any aspect of the educational experience. And so they leveraged this newfound law to make sure that I would be able to fully participate alongside my neighbors, my friends.
00:24:05.160 --> 00:24:26.680 Chris Rosa: and to be fully included in New York City public education. So I'm a product of a proud product of New York City. Public education. Ps. 163 in Flushing is 237, also in Flushing, the Rachel Carson Intermediate School, and Francis Lewis High School in Queens.
00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:42.229 Chris Rosa: When it came time for me to go to college. I was fortunate again, a function of being my age. The Rehabilitation Act already had more than a decade of traction where higher education institutions
00:24:42.280 --> 00:25:00.219 Chris Rosa: had already been compelled to figure out how to create equal access and opportunity for students with disabilities. And I really rode that wave. I stayed local at Queens college, my Alma Mater and I loved it, and it was where, for the 1st time, I got introduced
00:25:00.290 --> 00:25:30.140 Chris Rosa: to a diverse, vibrant community of other people, my age with disabilities, and for the 1st time I understood that it was part of something bigger than myself that I was part of a burgeoning American disability community, and, more importantly, a burgeoning American disability rights movement. And as I entered my junior and senior years in 88 and 89, the American
00:25:30.210 --> 00:25:40.740 Chris Rosa: Disability Rights movement was really activated and mobilized around the passage of this bill, which would later be known as the Americans with Disabilities Act.
00:25:40.830 --> 00:25:59.170 Chris Rosa: and so, by virtue of being on a college campus which was a hotbed of activism. And the activism was around my issue, which was unique. And so I got firsthand the opportunity to to learn about raising my voice for justice.
00:25:59.807 --> 00:26:11.719 Chris Rosa: about empowering others, but also deriving great pride and joy and affirmation in loving and developing friendships among people like myself.
00:26:12.287 --> 00:26:25.810 Chris Rosa: And so I graduated. But, equally and more importantly, I was part of a movement. Grassroots that ultimately led to the passage of the Ada in 1990, and that that law has changed
00:26:26.050 --> 00:26:53.359 Chris Rosa: the opportunity and life, for you know, 62 million Americans with disabilities since then I cared about, and was so inspired by this that I changed my career plans instead of I thought I was going to be an attorney, a disability rights attorney, which would have been a really cool opportunity. But I was more enthralled by the fact that I suddenly I discovered
00:26:53.930 --> 00:27:04.959 Chris Rosa: these these dimensions of my identity, that that I you know that I didn't really knew know were possible until I met my community. And I realized that my community
00:27:05.070 --> 00:27:14.120 Chris Rosa: had a distinct way of understanding what it meant to be an American with a disability that was qualitatively different than
00:27:14.190 --> 00:27:38.250 Chris Rosa: the perception of people with disabilities in mainstream contemporary American culture. And so I went to graduate school in the doctoral program in sociology to study this new thing, this emerging thing, American disability culture. And I got a chance to to study it, to write about it, to publish about it, to teach about it.
00:27:38.460 --> 00:27:41.679 Chris Rosa: And so it's been really important.
00:27:41.800 --> 00:27:58.620 Chris Rosa: affirmatively for me, not who I am as a person, but who I am as a professional. My greatest asset is my understanding of the lived experience of disability from the distinctive perspective of people with disabilities themselves.
00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:23.100 Chris Rosa: and I thought I was going to be a faculty member somewhere at a college or university, continuing my research and studying it. But my Alma Mater reached out a few years in and said, Hey, we have an important opening in our office of disability services. We know you. We know your work. We'd love for you to come back home
00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:50.429 Chris Rosa: and to lead the office, and it was an offer I couldn't refuse. It's the place that I cherish the most, and you know I was able to come back home to Queens College and work, but it also gave me exposure to leaders in the higher Ed community, who understood the importance of access and opportunity for people with disabilities, but understood that the leadership
00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:59.370 Chris Rosa: competencies that I had to put into play every day to be successful, had portability and could make an impact
00:28:59.480 --> 00:29:24.259 Chris Rosa: across the university, serving a really diverse community of student learners and a place like Cuny, with a quarter of a million students, met, the majority of them 1st generation, many of them new immigrants. That was a humbling opportunity. But I was blessed to work at a place where they valued
00:29:24.350 --> 00:29:52.149 Chris Rosa: diversity and inclusion, and it gave me successively responsible leadership, experiences, and opportunity, and ultimately I was appointed as the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, for Cuny System administration. And so that was a really humbling experience. And ultimately it positioned me to come back home
00:29:52.360 --> 00:29:58.950 Chris Rosa: or or to the disability community. Through this connection with the viscardi center.
00:29:59.370 --> 00:30:05.049 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah. Wow! Well, how long were you at Cuny as in administration?
00:30:05.712 --> 00:30:24.739 Chris Rosa: In as a as an employee of Cuny. I worked there for 27 years, so I had a pretty good run there, and honestly, I I never saw myself as leaving, you know. I always figured one of these guys who would. You know you just you'd find me at my desk. Someday.
00:30:24.740 --> 00:30:25.650 Tommy DiMisa: That'll be it. Yeah, yeah.
00:30:25.650 --> 00:30:50.419 Chris Rosa: That would be it. But something remarkable happened, I told you. Among those quarter of a million students at Cuny were 11,000 students with disabilities, who, as you know, are my heart, and I look for any and all opportunity to keep connected with them, and promoting their success. And I mentioned. My hero, John Kemp, one day just
00:30:50.500 --> 00:31:00.230 Chris Rosa: reached out to me and said, you know we have some Henry Viscardi school students who are brilliant, but they need kind of intensive wraparound support
00:31:00.410 --> 00:31:03.950 Chris Rosa: on some of your campuses. What can you do?
00:31:05.237 --> 00:31:13.209 Chris Rosa: For us? And and I didn't know I hadn't thought about it, but I cared enough to try.
00:31:13.470 --> 00:31:23.589 Chris Rosa: and we were able to make sure that they had what they needed in the spirit of the viscardi center. They went on to be successful, and I was able to do this
00:31:24.340 --> 00:31:29.419 Chris Rosa: over a couple of years, and it gave me a reputation on the street.
00:31:29.540 --> 00:31:35.189 Chris Rosa: and ultimately got me an invitation to serve on the Biscardi Board.
00:31:35.610 --> 00:31:48.490 Chris Rosa: and when John transitioned to his career back home down South, I'm still blown away. That that the Board extended me the opportunity to continue that great legacy, and I've never looked back.
00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:50.699 Tommy DiMisa: I love it. How long have you been in this role? Now.
00:31:50.700 --> 00:31:53.609 Chris Rosa: I'm in the the middle of my 4th year.
00:31:54.690 --> 00:31:58.499 Tommy DiMisa: That feels like quick. But does it feel a quick view.
00:31:58.500 --> 00:32:00.130 Chris Rosa: Oh, man! In a heartbeat.
00:32:00.130 --> 00:32:00.680 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah.
00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:02.539 Chris Rosa: I still feel like the new guy.
00:32:02.540 --> 00:32:26.919 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, I love it. Look I, before we go to break one thing I wanted to say, and I say this a lot on this show, you know. Listen, gang. I'm not saying everybody should be college bound. I'm not big on saying everybody needs to go, you know, when you have 4 children. People go. Wait till you get the college bills. Hey? Listen, man! If all 4 of my kids are college bound, we'll get them there. We'll get them through, we'll get them where they need to be, and if they're not, and if they want to go into the trades, or they want to be
00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:39.050 Tommy DiMisa: different things. There's that, too. So but I want to say I just preface. I put that there to just say to you, the Suny and Cuny systems. Man! What jewels they are, what jewels they are!
00:32:39.050 --> 00:32:50.888 Chris Rosa: They are the great. They are the greatest value in American higher education. And your your point, Tommy, the data, bear it out. I mean. Not only do we know that
00:32:51.420 --> 00:32:54.020 Chris Rosa: the graduates end up being
00:32:54.470 --> 00:33:15.610 Chris Rosa: civically minded, remarkably well developed humans who go on to successful careers. The data show that over the course of their lifetime college graduates will earn more than a million dollars more than people who do not graduate from college. That may be fair or unfair. But that's what the data tell us.
00:33:15.610 --> 00:33:35.430 Tommy DiMisa: Data. Yeah. And I will tell you I was on a 6 year plan. So I went to now, after I graduated from Chaminade, not too far from from the Viscaris campus. I went to Nassau Community College, and then went to Baruch, and at the time I was a bartender in my uncle's place, shout out to my Uncle Joe a place called Halligan's in Floral Park.
00:33:35.430 --> 00:33:46.959 Tommy DiMisa: and I met my wife there, so there's a lot of good things that came out of that bar. And there's other things that you know have been now being sober for almost 15 years. You can imagine there wasn't such great things that came out of that bar. But but I met a lot of cool people.
00:33:46.960 --> 00:34:05.990 Tommy DiMisa: and then I went. So I was trying to go to Baruch at the same time while I was attending bar. But when you go home at 4 Am. Dr. Rosa, and you have a 7 o'clock calculus class, and you live in Franklin Square, and the school is in Manhattan. It wasn't exactly a good look, so that I didn't finish there. Eventually they asked me to make room for someone else is what I'm saying to you.
00:34:06.150 --> 00:34:09.610 Chris Rosa: It. The point is, I misspoke. It's it's people with
00:34:09.820 --> 00:34:11.790 Chris Rosa: we who have gone to college.
00:34:11.790 --> 00:34:12.400 Chris Rosa: Oh, oh.
00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:26.879 Chris Rosa: earn more than a million dollars, and and it's not about oh, we obviously everybody likes to complete but the lessons that you learn there, and the skills transcend like arbitrary beginnings and ends, you know. So.
00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:45.310 Tommy DiMisa: 100%, I mean. Listen, I the full arc for me was I finished up out here at Suny, old Westbury? So you went Suny NASA right, Cuny, for a bit, and that I don't regret a lot. But Baruch has such a great name, such great recognition, you know, having not finished. There is. It's kind of a miss, but you know that's.
00:34:45.310 --> 00:34:51.860 Chris Rosa: You and Sunil Westbury is a remarkable place. It's it's 1 of the most diverse student
00:34:51.900 --> 00:35:16.864 Chris Rosa: communities on the planet. President, Tim Sands is a just, a a transformational leader, and we're so proud that he is committed to help us to grow our inclusive higher education program at Sunil, Westbury, in partnership with Viscardi. And and what that is just. I know that you're you're clock, but
00:35:17.340 --> 00:35:24.840 Chris Rosa: It's it's an opportunity for people with intellectual disabilities on a, on a individualized curriculum.
00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:28.307 Chris Rosa: to go to college and to learn
00:35:29.190 --> 00:35:45.550 Chris Rosa: to pursue learning outcomes that are important to their own vision, to career and independent living, but also to experience the you know, the the remarkable connection that you get through campus life.
00:35:45.550 --> 00:35:45.870 Chris Rosa: Yeah,
00:35:46.190 --> 00:36:05.539 Chris Rosa: you know. And that's how I mean, that's to the extent that I've grown up at all. I attribute it all to the formative experiences I had in college, and we're hoping for the same thing for people with intellectual disabilities. And that's happening at Suny L. Westbury. We also have a great program at Nassau Community College.
00:36:05.540 --> 00:36:28.810 Tommy DiMisa: And I'll tell you this, we'll close this segment. One last piece I happened to be at Nassau a couple weeks ago, visiting with some friends from Nash, which is a food pantry right on the campus, and we were outside, and I met the new President there, and I'm telling them so I went here. I graduated high school in 96. I went here, and then I don't know if you knew Dr. Calvin Butts, but I graduated from old Westbury. So I'm walking across the stage right? And I,
00:36:28.810 --> 00:36:44.200 Tommy DiMisa: Dr. Butts reaches over, you know. Famous icon. Right. Dr. Butts reaches out his hand to give me a shake. I go none of that, sir, and I just grab him. Give him a big old bear hug on the stage at my graduation from old Westbury, the gentleman I'm talking about, whose name escapes me over at Nassau.
00:36:44.230 --> 00:36:50.139 Tommy DiMisa: Dr. Butts was his mentor. So it's all all connected. We'll have to figure out who all these players are you.
00:36:50.140 --> 00:36:55.459 Chris Rosa: And President Maria Canzadi is just a a really a transformational leader.
00:36:55.460 --> 00:37:16.509 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, yeah, so special. So just the jewel of Cuny and Suny, for sure. Really under, I don't know if it's underrated. But just enough. People are not aware of those assets that we have. We do have to go to a quick break. We'll have a short couple short segments because Tommy D. Doesn't stop talking and doesn't always take breaks on time. But that's part of the beauty of this show. Dr. Rosa and Tommy D. We'll be right back to talk about viscardi.
00:38:48.260 --> 00:39:04.200 Tommy DiMisa: Website is viscardicenter.org. VISC. A, RDI center.org. For those of you who are not watching the video that I'm sharing the website right now, you know this this coming Thursday, Chris, I'm the Mc.
00:39:04.200 --> 00:39:20.020 Tommy DiMisa: At a movie premiere out in Riverhead for a movie called Warrior, which is Warriors, the name of a horse. But it's in collaboration with Warrior Ranch Foundation. So I'm going to get you the details. If it's something, you know, you come as my guest. There's a little bit of a vip.
00:39:20.020 --> 00:39:20.860 Chris Rosa: Thank you.
00:39:20.860 --> 00:39:26.580 Tommy DiMisa: Yes, for sure. It's at the Suffolk out in Riverhead. But I just it comes off for me to think about, because.
00:39:27.210 --> 00:39:48.460 Tommy DiMisa: you know, there's a spot on the website relating to veterans. So why don't we sort of tell this story? I mean, I know that I know the term abilities. Inc. I know this was and correct me if I'm mistaken here. But Dr. Henry Viscardi started this as a what I would consider social enterprise before right. We're having vocational things involved.
00:39:48.740 --> 00:39:49.220 Chris Rosa: Absolutely.
00:39:49.220 --> 00:39:52.400 Tommy DiMisa: Before people said social enterprise before. That was a thing right.
00:39:52.400 --> 00:40:14.059 Chris Rosa: That's correct, Tommy, and the connection to veterans is at the heart of our inception just a little bit about Dr. Viscardi. He was born in 1912 to a 1st generation Italian family that settled in Manhattan. They were poor.
00:40:14.340 --> 00:40:21.490 Chris Rosa: and Dr. Vascardi had a congenital disability. He was born with
00:40:21.520 --> 00:40:44.470 Chris Rosa: underdeveloped legs. His own description was, I had stumps for legs, and because the family was poor, and health care wasn't readily available in the early part of the the 20th century. It was long before Medicaid and Medicare were created. During the new deal
00:40:45.240 --> 00:41:12.249 Chris Rosa: Dr. Viscardi's only recourse was to walk on his hands, and he did so. Up until he was 12 years old he had the good fortune of meeting a physician who saw something in him was inspired by him. Like so many people, would come to be throughout the course of his life, and said, You know, if if I were, I could fashion prosthetics that could really
00:41:12.310 --> 00:41:40.880 Chris Rosa: transform your life. It would give you the opportunity to be much more mobile and independent and sheepishly Dr. Biscardi said, my family doesn't really have the resources to pay for it. And the doctor didn't hesitate, he said, I'll get them to you, and if you grow up to impact the life of one other person like yourself consider us even paid in full, and I think that
00:41:41.020 --> 00:41:58.229 Chris Rosa: that that really was a formative experience for him, and I think in part it shaped what would be his life's work, which is empowering others with disabilities. In 1941, he was a brilliant student, and you know, college
00:41:58.230 --> 00:42:16.389 Chris Rosa: for people with disabilities was unheard of in the thirties and forties. So he went to work because of his winning personality. Much like yours, Tommy. He entered a career in sales, and he was really just knocking it out of the Park each and every time.
00:42:16.470 --> 00:42:20.650 Chris Rosa: And when the Us. Entered the War World War 2, in 1941
00:42:21.270 --> 00:42:26.247 Chris Rosa: patriotic, grateful for what the United States had created for him.
00:42:27.110 --> 00:42:37.240 Chris Rosa: He tried to enlist. Of course he was declared 4 F. Because of his disability, but went to work as a volunteer for the American Red Cross.
00:42:37.300 --> 00:42:57.269 Chris Rosa: providing support for men and women, particularly those who returned from service with disabilities. In the course of that work he met Eleanor Roosevelt, who was just really taken by him, and said, You know, you could really do a lot from for our boys coming back with disabilities.
00:42:57.910 --> 00:43:12.070 Chris Rosa: and through a conversation he moved to Walter Reed Hospital in in Washington, DC. And ultimately got the rank of captain in the American Red Cross, and he was just transformational
00:43:12.410 --> 00:43:30.840 Chris Rosa: in helping veterans with service-connected disabilities, transition to community life and civilian life, and he was successful on all fronts. But the sticking point was, he could not help these individuals get back in the workforce. These were
00:43:31.520 --> 00:44:00.759 Chris Rosa: almost invariably the quote unquote breadwinners of their family in a very traditional gender role, structured household and the same firms and companies that they worked at wouldn't consider bringing them back. And he was very frustrated at a certain point through Eleanor Roosevelt. She connected him with Bernard Baruch. All things, Baruch, today the Secretary of Treasury, who said, as you said. You know.
00:44:01.647 --> 00:44:04.669 Chris Rosa: Hank, why don't you just build it yourself?
00:44:04.780 --> 00:44:28.619 Chris Rosa: Create an enterprise, one run by and for people with disabilities. So he raised $38,000 to buy a garage in West Hempstead. He retrofitted it as a shop floor for manufacturing. He bid for military contracts for grumman, general dynamics, and General Electric, all of whom were manufacturing on Long Island.
00:44:28.630 --> 00:44:58.260 Chris Rosa: and within 5 years he hired 300 people with disabilities, who ran the enterprise from top to bottom, and they were grossing more than a million dollars a year in sales. And so that was abilities incorporated. That's our founding, and that has really been the inspiration for all the other dimensions of our program, our Henry Viscardi school, our abilities programs that still focus on employment, but also independent living
00:44:58.667 --> 00:45:09.329 Chris Rosa: and all of the work that we do around empowerment and consciousness, raising through the museum which is coming on board. We're now the owners of ability, able news.
00:45:09.330 --> 00:45:10.530 Tommy DiMisa: That's no.
00:45:10.530 --> 00:45:17.210 Chris Rosa: Yeah, which which is the newspaper definitively by and for people with disabilities in this region.
00:45:17.370 --> 00:45:20.250 Chris Rosa: All that inspired still by Dr. Viscardi.
00:45:20.250 --> 00:45:34.160 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, you know. Gang. If there's something you want to fix, go make it go, build it, go. You know what stands out most for me in that story is grit, you know Dr. Viscardi's grit and determination, and the other part of it is relationships.
00:45:34.200 --> 00:46:00.609 Tommy DiMisa: you know. You say, Baruch, you know you say, Mrs. Roosevelt? Yes, he bid on contracts and how to win those contracts. But, like most things in life, it's who you're connected to, who's looking out who the relationship with, not to say things, were handed to him by any means. But it's that grit, that tenacity and those connections that is really, in my opinion, what separates those who win from
00:46:00.780 --> 00:46:04.350 Tommy DiMisa: from those who lay on the couch all day. You know I'm saying, man.
00:46:04.520 --> 00:46:08.420 Chris Rosa: He he is. The epitome of that principle at work.
00:46:08.420 --> 00:46:09.420 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, yeah.
00:46:09.420 --> 00:46:10.540 Chris Rosa: 100%, right.
00:46:10.540 --> 00:46:40.440 Tommy DiMisa: I love that. Let's let's take a quick break. We're gonna come back. I want to talk programs and stuff like that. I want to send programs, and then we get to what's upcoming. I can't tell you how excited I am about the the museum situation. Like I I just I want to know how I could be part of that and the whole thing. So let's let's split to a quick commercial break. We come back. What like? Let's dive into. We have this. We have that we have that kind of like rapid fire, and then how somebody a family can get connected to services. How's that?
00:46:40.790 --> 00:46:42.159 Chris Rosa: Fantastic. Thank you.
00:46:42.446 --> 00:46:44.450 Tommy DiMisa: You are welcome. We'll be right back.
00:48:26.280 --> 00:48:32.339 Tommy DiMisa: The attic. Join your boy in the attic, but don't like physically, show up on my porch. The attic is not that big of a place. It's just it's
00:48:32.340 --> 00:48:56.740 Tommy DiMisa: when we say, Join me. It means Show up and pay attention to the show. A couple of things I want to point out Chris, my cousin, Linda Cunningham. She passed away about 12 years ago, and in Linda's memory Linda had special needs cognitively, and you know now we would say intellectual developmental disabilities. And you know, when Linda passed at 31, my aunt, my cousins, founded the Lindy Lou Foundation. So since then, yeah. And since then we've
00:48:56.740 --> 00:49:08.740 Tommy DiMisa: taken in and put right back out almost $900,000 to organizations. You know we we have a big bowling event every year. We raise, you know, roughly, 80 to a hundred grand each, you know, each year. And
00:49:08.740 --> 00:49:31.219 Tommy DiMisa: you know, I just think about this because so much of the work that I get to do is partly connected to Lindy Lou, and in memory and legacy of my cousin Linda. But I think about I bring this up specifically because I'm on the Board of Horse ability because of Linda. I'm on the Board of Spirit of Huntington Arts Center because of Linda. It's how I met these people, and as you might know this in life.
00:49:31.220 --> 00:49:56.050 Tommy DiMisa: being, as you say, a couple more years older than I am when you call someone you have a check for them. It is a great way to make a friendship. People want to meet you when you tell them you have a check for them less so when you have an invoice for somebody. But I understand that difference really. But Michael Katakis, spirit of Huntington, my friend Katie Mcgowan, horse ability, and so many others that we support Christine Fitzpatrick at League of. Yes, there's so many different organizations. But I bring it up to say.
00:49:57.230 --> 00:50:19.200 Tommy DiMisa: when I think about vocation and jobs and career for people. It's it is such a part of of our identity in ways right. And I was just pulling up the website, and I know vocation is is so important to the viscardi system as well. I always say, when I think about that spirit of Huntington is, it's about
00:50:19.440 --> 00:50:20.640 Tommy DiMisa: access.
00:50:20.670 --> 00:50:45.569 Tommy DiMisa: not ability, but it's about access or accessibility to jobs. And I know it because our marketing team who redid this logo and redid our website for vanguard benefits is a neurodiverse marketing team at spirit of Huntington through the artworks program. So I want to just set that up and sort of say to you. You know we think about the life cycle, from from someone being a child and then coming through the system at risk guardian
00:50:45.570 --> 00:50:51.080 Tommy DiMisa: and go to okay, well, higher. Ed, as you talked about with your relationship with John Kemp and all that sort of stuff.
00:50:52.120 --> 00:50:54.349 Tommy DiMisa: Look, can you talk to me about like.
00:50:54.410 --> 00:51:22.800 Tommy DiMisa: am I right? You know I'm a guy who wakes up every morning, and I don't say this as a joke at all. I wake up grateful that I have vision and my eyes and I have legs, and I can walk. And I have no mobility issues. Right? John Kemp told me on this program that the majority of folks who are disabled will become disabled are not born disabled. Right? So I got to know every single day. I don't have any vision issues. I don't have any mobility issues. I am grateful for that. So, but I say it from somebody as not quote unquote in the community.
00:51:23.300 --> 00:51:26.050 Tommy DiMisa: Am I right about access.
00:51:26.380 --> 00:51:29.646 Chris Rosa: You, you absolutely are. I I think that
00:51:30.590 --> 00:51:34.120 Chris Rosa: when we, the Ada, the Americans with Disabilities Act
00:51:34.130 --> 00:51:59.719 Chris Rosa: was named appropriately because it sort of captures people with disabilities, aspirations, as Americans. Right? It's called the Americans with Disabilities act Americans. First, st because 1st and foremost people with disabilities are Americans with the same hopes, dreams, fears, and aspirations as all other Americans. But the disability part with disabilities is important.
00:51:59.720 --> 00:52:22.220 Chris Rosa: because, increasingly, they're fiercely proud of their identity as people with disabilities because it connects them to a community. The community that I described that's quite literally remaking the face of contemporary American life, and who we expect to encounter in the new American workforce. And increasingly, we're
00:52:22.330 --> 00:52:42.859 Chris Rosa: working to empower people with disabilities to take their rightful place in the new American workforce. You're right about how central work is to all of our identities. Right? Like when when somebody asks you, Tommy, who are you? You say I'm the nonprofit sector connector, and that's certainly what you do. But it is
00:52:43.000 --> 00:53:02.410 Chris Rosa: who you are right. It's it's so so woven into your identity. And and the way that you understand the world around you, and that goes for all of us, and people with disabilities want that same opportunity. And when we summarily cut 2 thirds of people with disabilities out of the workforce.
00:53:02.800 --> 00:53:10.289 Chris Rosa: We're not only denying them access to be economically self-sustaining and self-sufficient.
00:53:10.500 --> 00:53:15.760 Chris Rosa: but we cut them off from the opportunity to develop fully develop their sense of self.
00:53:16.030 --> 00:53:38.330 Chris Rosa: They're not given the same opportunity to answer the questions like you and I are fortunate to do. Somebody says, who are you? I say I'm proud to be the CEO of the Viscardi center, and people with disabilities want that same opportunity for self actualization. And more than that. I feel like they deserve it.
00:53:39.160 --> 00:54:03.370 Tommy DiMisa: I love that. Thank you so much. You know what's great about this program is like, I know where we want to go. And I. And we get there, you know, like we didn't really. We did a prep call for you know, we ended up on the call, maybe like 1215 min it was, you know, is Chitter Chatter. And then, Chris, here's how the show works in 30 seconds, you know. And my point of saying that is. This is so great we're getting to everywhere. We need to go from my perspective. That said.
00:54:03.470 --> 00:54:10.539 Tommy DiMisa: I want to make sure you get what you need to talk about, as it relates to this network of organizations and and what is available.
00:54:10.680 --> 00:54:16.540 Chris Rosa: We, we really appreciate it. And just to talk a little bit about our programs they're all geared towards
00:54:17.200 --> 00:54:29.989 Chris Rosa: when it comes to abilities to giving people with disabilities the opportunities and the skill they need to take their rightful place. Living lives
00:54:30.260 --> 00:54:57.399 Chris Rosa: fully included as leaders in their communities, and then beyond that for pursuing their dreams by aspiring to employment and the remuneration and the self actualization that that provides. So we have an arc of career programs that range from skill, assessment and career exploration
00:54:57.410 --> 00:55:14.640 Chris Rosa: all the way through, connecting people with internships, working on preparing themselves as candidates for jobs so that they'll be competitive, including working on interview skills.
00:55:14.640 --> 00:55:30.060 Chris Rosa: helping them to navigate the tricky part about self-disclosure, their identity of people with disabilities and the timing of all that, and assessing the risk reward of doing those things.
00:55:30.680 --> 00:55:50.740 Chris Rosa: some when it comes to helping them through job development, to get them placed in in the place that will optimize their chances for success with some individuals, job coaching to help provide them the scaffolding. They need to have enduring careers at a place.
00:55:50.830 --> 00:56:12.549 Chris Rosa: And so it's really a remarkable set of assets that really makes a pivotal difference in people with disabilities, efforts to pursue careers. You had mentioned people with intellectual disabilities, and we're really focused on supporting them in their aspirations to live fully included in their communities.
00:56:12.550 --> 00:56:41.960 Chris Rosa: And so we have a debilitation without walls program which is remarkable. It's based here at Viscardi, but more than 51% of their time each and every day is spent out in the community. It's almost like at homeroom here, where we do some development about the skills that they're going to build that day that will ultimately help them to live independent lives in the community, and then we go out into the world where they get to put them to work.
00:56:42.700 --> 00:56:58.330 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, I love that. I mean, it's so great. And you know, we're gonna have to have you come back. We're gonna have to do more stuff. You should just come on the show. I do in the studio called Long Island Change Makers, because you certainly are a Long Island changemaker. If somebody said, they want to come for a visit, what do they do?
00:56:59.047 --> 00:57:07.350 Chris Rosa: They can. They can either email us at our website. You can find the email there or call us
00:57:07.670 --> 00:57:28.860 Chris Rosa: a number is also available on our website, www.viscardicenter.org and we would love to have you in just to see all the dimensions of our remarkable campus and our remarkable facility, and find the program that might be right for you or someone you love.
00:57:28.860 --> 00:57:38.469 Tommy DiMisa: I love that. I love that. The website is Viscardi VISC. A, RDI center.org the number (516) 465-1400
00:57:38.470 --> 00:58:03.450 Tommy DiMisa: 516-46-5140. And you can send an email to info@viscardicenter.org. And if you want to talk to me, the kid, apparently, as they call me, behind my back, if you want to send me an email, it's Tommy D. At philanthropyandfocus.com, you know, in focus productions. The whole thing got some exciting stuff coming up in the spring and into the summer. Dr. Rosa, I appreciate your friendship. I appreciate all the work you've done and continue to do, and I
00:58:03.450 --> 00:58:28.050 Tommy DiMisa: know it isn't just you. It's about the hundreds of people that serve with you on the front lines at Viscardi that are doing the great work I mentioned Lauren Marzo. I think I did. I love Lauren. She's been a friend of mine for many years, handling development, and I mentioned Mike Caprera, Kim Brussell, and you know my very good friend, Christine Deska and Frank Orzo have a great affiliation with your organization, so they always have great things to say. We're out of time. But that's how the show works.
00:58:28.090 --> 00:58:29.679 Tommy DiMisa: Chris, thank you very much.
00:58:29.850 --> 00:58:37.250 Chris Rosa: Thank you, Dr. Kidd. Tommy. It was an honor for me to be here. Thank you. You're a wonderful colleague and a terrific friend.
00:58:37.250 --> 00:58:40.310 Tommy DiMisa: Right back at you right back at you. Thanks, everybody. We'll see you next week.
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