February 24, 2025 • 58 mins
Arlene Grasso’s inspiring journey reveals the importance of creating accessible living spaces for seniors wishing to age in place. Through her work with Access and Design, she empowers individuals and their families to prepare proactive modifications that ensure safety and independence at home.
• Aging in place as a desire for over 95% of seniors
• Importance of home modifications to maintain independence
• AARP’s HomeFit program and its significance
• The Falls Free Florida Coalition and falls prevention strategies
• The role of community and resources in supporting seniors
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I started my business when I was 70 years old.
Okay, and getting aconstruction license in the
state of Florida is just noteasy.
I had to bring two hugesuitcases with me filled with
books.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's an open.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
They wait until they fall, break their hip, yep.
And then they're in rehab andthey say the doctor is releasing
me tomorrow.
Can you help me?
And you can get between $2,500and well over $100,000 to
remodel your home, and youdeserve it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
And it's one of the let's Get Comfy podcast.
I'm your host, norman Harris.
This is the home for love,peace, joy, but, most of all,
comfort.
Today I have a special guestfor you, wonderful guest,
someone that is doing amazingwork for our senior citizens,
our senior community, but alsobringing awareness to healthcare
(01:14):
in general.
A pioneer, as I like toconsider her as well, ms Arlene
Grasso.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you so much, ma'am.
Thank you so much.
It's really nice to'am.
Thank you, yes, it's an honorfor me to have you miss grosso
one.
I want to say this on camera Iam very grateful for your time
today.
This is a saturday, right, ourshow is aired on.
(01:35):
We shoot them on a saturday, sothis is her time out of her
busy schedule to do this with me.
So I'm very grateful, but alsoI connect with you.
Months back, you took the timewithout hesitation to set up a
call with me, right to listen tomy goals, my vision and what I
wanted to become and welcome mewith open arms.
(01:57):
Everybody doesn't do that andpeople will try.
You won't think so, but I'mlearning slowly as I'm on this
journey of entrepreneurship andsort of trying to live out, I
believe, god's vision for me.
Everyone doesn't have your bestinterests, and so when I meet
people like you, I always wantto take my time and show
(02:18):
gratitude and gracefulness toyou, but also to God as well,
because I know that God put youpart of my journey for a purpose
and a reason, and to me I'malways indebted for you giving
me that opportunity.
So I mean that from the bottomof my heart.
Yes, ma'am, thank you, thankyou, but if I want to sell, so I
(02:38):
gave that little spill there,right, but I want to start out
with you just telling theaudience who you are and what
you provide and your servicesokay again.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
My name is arlene grasso and, together with my
daughter, denise tommy, Istarted m d enterprises of fl
inc.
Which does business as accessand design.
As Access and Design, I'm alicensed building contractor and
we provide solutions for, andalternatives for, people with
(03:10):
physical challenges andbusinesses that have to adhere
to the ADA requirements set bythe statutes.
Do you want me to tell how Igot started?
Do you want me to tell how Igot started?
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah Well, no, just tell the little bit of your
history.
You said you're an AARPambassador.
Yes, right, you promote homefit programs offering no cost,
low cost solutions to helpseniors age in place.
That's a huge thing that peopledon't probably don't even know
(03:48):
that there's ambassadors foraarp.
They hear arp and just thinklike, oh, it is not for me, you
know.
But if you could just expand onthat, just how you became a
part of the aip program well, um, when I started my business, I
took a um course uh, actually anaccelerator course.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Uh, thatarp put on for budding entrepreneurs to see
if their business would beviable or not.
Wow, so it was a great exerciseand I guess it proved to be
viable because we've been inbusiness eight years now.
But I met such wonderful peopleat AARP and I said what is this
(04:24):
HomeFit program that I saw onyour website?
And they said, oh, we don't dothat anymore because the person
who used to do that, theoccupational therapist, moved to
Tennessee.
And I said, oh, I'll do it.
There we go.
It's wonderful you can go toAARPcom slash HomeFit.
No, I'm sorry, aarpcom slashhome fit no, I'm sorry, aarporg
(04:50):
slash home, fitorg, yesorg, andyou can order this booklet or
you can view it online.
It'll take you room, room toroom and it'll show you all the
things you can do to age inplace safely.
And there's a lot of fallsprevention that I put into my
presentation, but I do thepresentation for people in
mobile home parks, 55 pluscommunities just at large, like
(05:15):
the Retired Teachers Association.
I just did a caregiver withLinda Burhans.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I was part of her caregivers.
Hey, Linda.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
She's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Amazing yes.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
And so I was the opening segment for her
caregivers conference and didthe HomeFit program for that
conference.
But it's an amazing program andit gives people an idea of what
they can do to safely age inplace.
Yes, ma'am, and they don't know.
You don't come out of the wombknowing how you're going to be
living when you get to be 80.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Oh no, and that's why we bring awareness with
platforms like this, and I wantto mention because I think you
probably are a modest person,that's what I'm feeling right
now, but I'm not going to lether get away with it.
So she also serves as chair ofthe St Petersburg Mayor's
Commission on Aging and hasserved on the Affordable Housing
Advisory Council of the City ofLargo in 2022.
(06:14):
She was honored to be inductedinto the St Petersburg Senior
Hall of Fame for her volunteerwork and helping people to
safely age in place, along withaccessibility solutions for
people with disabilities.
She founded and chairs theFalls Free Florida Falls
Prevention Coalition, bringingtogether senior service
(06:37):
professionals dedicated toreducing falls through education
, awareness and resources.
And, as you know, one missionof Comfort Managers Consulting
is empowering people withknowledge and resources, and I
have one of the best a Hall ofFamer, a Hall of Famer for us
today.
So let's-.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Oh yes, that was a huge honor.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yes, ma'am, yes, ma'am.
So let's get into what we knowabout you.
And I always find itinteresting when I see
abbreviations.
So after Arlene Grosso there isCAPS, then there's S-R-E-S and
(07:20):
then E-C-H-M.
If you can sort of break downwhat those abbreviations mean.
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I'm very proud of those.
It's a range of study and thenthey provide you with a
designation.
The CAPS is the Certified Agingand Play Specialist from the
National Association of Builders, gotcha.
You take a series of coursesand then you're awarded that
designation.
I wanted to take that to to uhbring some professionalism to
(07:48):
this industry.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Do you remember the year at all?
Speaker 1 (07:51):
It was uh actually 2016, 2016.
That's when I started mybusiness.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Gotcha.
So that was the time snap, andwas that the catalyst and the
reason why you went for that?
Absolutely Okay, understood.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Because there's so many contractors out there that
don't study home modification,gotcha, and we actually rip out
a lot of things.
People do wrong, okay, and thenhomeowners have to pay for it
twice.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And that's with access and the design, correct,
yes, yes, all right.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yes, so it's a great course.
I recommend it for anyone anycontractor you know that wants
to be in this.
In my class I had more uhdesigners, which I thought was
interesting, than contractors.
I wish there were morecontractors there contractors
uh-huh come on guys gotta getdesignation yeah, I gotta get
(08:43):
professional, so which I wasglad to see that designers were
getting into helping people withhome modification too, because
it's a big thing, it's a comingthing.
You know, there's more peopleaging right now.
I always say we're reigningseniors, you know, 10,000 a day
(09:04):
are turning 65.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Wow, 10,000 a day turn 65.
That's the some statisticsright.
So with the caps designation,you have earning that.
Just how has that, you think,impact the growth of your
organization, your business?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
well, I'm I'm not so sure, because a lot of people
don't know what it is.
I did it mainly for my myself,so that I would be confident and
I would feel good that I amlearning my trade with all the
tools that I could findinvesting, investing in yourself
right, so that I could helppeople the best that I could.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Understood, understood.
So when you deal with accessand design, you have someone
that has invested in theirknowledge, right, invested in
the dedication even further, sothat when you approach, when
she's approaching you andworking with her clients, she's
coming from a perspective whereshe has the knowledge base and
information to successfully, youknow, provide the service, so
that's very important, andinformation to successfully
(10:04):
provide the service, so that'svery important.
So, from there, that was 2016,.
Right, mm-hmm, 2016,.
You started Access Design.
Correct, wow, access Design.
And what was the catalyst andthe motivation to start Access
Design?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
My mom passed away at the age of 100.
She had a beautiful, blessedlife, wow, and she lived in an
assisted living facility forover 25 years so you can imagine
that the assessments totaledway over a half a million
dollars during her lifetime, andthen, when she was unable to
stay in her apartment, they hadthe nursing facility attached so
(10:43):
she was standing like a CCRC.
Yes, so she went into the memorycare unit and they really
didn't help her.
They really were not.
She was the only sundowner.
There were only 14 people onher floor and I mean I stayed
there many, many nights.
This was in Chicago, in theChicagoland area, in Lombard
Illinois, and I constantly wasgoing back and forth and forth
(11:07):
and back and forth and back.
I would just leave, and by thetime I got home there was a
voicemail saying she won't eat.
You have to come back and Ithought why are you charging me
$6,800 a month if you're notgoing to take care of her?
Wow, okay, $6,800.
Yeah, plus other things hundreddollars a month if you're not
going to take care of them?
Wow, okay, sixty eight hundred,yeah, plus other things like
getting your hair done, and then, if you want to go on a trip or
(11:30):
whatever you know, it's anextra charge and everything's.
You know, oh, can you give usmore money?
You know we'd like, we'd like,we'd like a piano for our, our,
our, our conference area.
Would you like to donate?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
no, honestly, I really wouldn't take care of my
mother, you take care of mybrother and, of course, she
hated leaving her apartment.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
And you know when, when you go into memory care
units, they everyone will alwayssay can you take me home?
Is it time for me to go home?
Can?
you take me home because theyjust they.
They, their surroundings andenvironment were severely
disrupted.
And when you see people thatare older, okay, and I'm gonna
(12:16):
say 60s and up, they reallydon't wanna leave their home.
They've had their childrenraised through that home.
It's probably too big for them.
There's a lot more room thanwhat they need, but they don't
want to leave that home.
That's their safe haven andthat's where they feel right,
right.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
That's something that they worked for for years to
actually, you know, possess ownoutright own right.
Yeah, save for, you know thatsort of.
They had that planned out froma budget standpoint to not have
that bill anymore, and so, ofcourse, they want to stay in
their home, right?
Especially when you're you getto that age where your income is
(12:52):
sort of subsidized or itchanges as well, right?
So, yes, ma'am, I don't blamethem right to wanting to age in
place right night.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
More than 95% of people want to stay in in their
homes.
And when I do the AARP HomeFitpresentations I'll say, does
anybody want to go to a nursinghome?
And no one raises their hand.
They want to stay in theirhomes.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yes, ma'am, yep, so that's a amazing story of how
Access Design actually wasstarted.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
So, and you said your part owner is Is my daughter,
your daughter.
Yeah, give her a big shout outDenise.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yes, she's fabulous actually.
Hey, denise and all thecustomers love her.
She does the operations for ourcompany now and she's doing a
fantastic job.
She does a lot of work with theVA.
We have a lot of a lot of workthat comes through from the VA
and helping our veterans issomething we really take to
heart.
So we do the grants and ifanyone out there, okay, is
(13:53):
having some physical challengesand wanna stay in their home but
they find it really difficultto maintain their independence
because of those challenges, andif you're getting benefits
through your VA, you can go tothe prosthetics department
through your doctor.
Okay, if you have a disability,and you can get between $2,500
(14:17):
and well over $100,000 toremodel your home and you
deserve it.
So, and it's one of the bestkept secrets that the VA has-
Our veterans out there Accessand Design.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
If you'd like to know more, arlene Grosso is your
resource for that right.
She'll be able to assist youwith that.
Thank you for sharing that withthe audience.
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yes, so we do a lot of zero entry showers for people
who are contained in awheelchair.
We do a lot of door widening.
We put in lifts.
We do stair lifts, we do whatwe call hybrid elevators up to
three stories tall, and thenjust the porch lifts to get
(15:03):
people.
You know, the mobile homes nowhave been getting higher and
higher and higher over time, andnow, after these latest storms,
are going to be even higher.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Might be on stilts or something like that.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Right yeah, and to be able to get in the home when
you're having physicalchallenges.
If you used a ramp, it would becurling back and forth all
throughout your carport and thenyou wouldn't be able to park on
the street, and you can't parkin the street on most mobile
homes.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Right, you're right.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So you would really have to park at the clubhouse
and then get in your wheelchairin the rain and come home.
That's not convenient, okay.
So that's why they make thesesort of vertical platform lifts,
which is a small footprint soyou can still pull your car in
the garage and then utilize that.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
At Comfort Measures Consulting, we're here to help
you navigate the complexity ofhealth care.
If you're caring for a lovedone as a caregiver, you don't
have resources, you don't knowwhat questions to ask.
You need to have options right.
Give Comfort Measures a call.
Give us a chance.
First consultation is free.
(16:12):
Speak with me Comfort MeasuresConsultant 850-879-2182.
You can also visit our websiteat
wwwcomfortmeasuresconsultingcom.
Talk to you soon.
That's amazing.
So I want to something youmentioned that I want to make
sure we speak about, because, ofcourse, I always want to make
(16:34):
sure we have information andinsight for our caregivers out
there.
You were a caregiver yourselfwith your mother.
Now, did that impact your sortof motivation to you know, begin
Access and Design and sort ofhelp people that were sort of
wanting to be at home?
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yes, that's the real reason I started my business was
because of my caregivingexperience, and I didn't know
what to do to keep my mom in herapartment, and she was always
so anxious and so sad.
She kept on saying I just wantto go home, I just want to go
home.
(17:14):
And had I known then what Iknow now, it would have been
very simple.
So I made it my life's goal tofind out how to keep people in
their homes so that they wouldbe able to stay there no matter
what.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
That is beautiful.
That is beautiful, and we knowthat this comes from a place of
experience, right, a place ofpassion and also care and
knowing that in a path.
This is the thing that amazed meabout Ms Grasso, um, and this
is really personal for me isbecause, the same way you have
(17:50):
the passion for your mom, youyou're able to to share that,
that feeling, with others aswell correct right and I could
just I could feel it through thephone calls that we had, a
virtual call that we had likeyou could easily that that you
mean this from the bottom ofyour heart and it comes from a
place of experience andknowledge, so you know what
(18:12):
those caregivers out there aregoing through and you know how
to sort of address it, becauseyou've been through it and you
were there in that time periodwhere you didn't know what to do
, right, right, so that'samazing.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
So when I started my business, my daughter, denise,
said you know how about if I goin business with you?
I said well, she had a verylarge job.
She was a big executive with atextbook company that then was
going to virtual learning, okay.
And she said it just makes meso sad, mom, that they're
charging the same amount ofmoney for textbooks that they
(18:45):
are, for, you know, pluggingsomething into the computer.
She said and that's not right.
So you know, these professorsmake a lot of money by writing a
textbook.
So she was an editor and aregional sales director,
actually for the southeasternregion of the United States.
Wow.
So she had a really big job.
(19:06):
And I said do you really wantto give all that up?
She said I'm just not happy.
Wow.
So she has put her heart andsoul into the business and the
customers understand that.
I mean she's had customers cometo her home overnight when
their loved ones are in rehaband they feel uncomfortable
being alone and they're very sad.
(19:27):
So she'll invite them over fordinner and then have them stay
at her house because her kidsare in college and she's got
extra bedrooms.
So she, you know she really wego way above the call of duty, a
lot of the times.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I would like for you to introduce me at some point to
miss Denise.
Yes, I mean, I love to hearmore of her story as well.
That's amazing, and a lot ofthe times I would like for you
to introduce me at some point tomiss denise.
Yes, I mean, I love to hearmore of her story as well.
That's amazing and right, appledon't fall far from the tree,
they say.
You know that's right yeah, so,uh, so s-r-e-s correct.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
All right, what?
What are your real estatespecialists?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
senior real estate specialist.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Now, I know that was a milestone for you as well what
was the story behind that well,I've been in real estate since
I was 21 and I'm going to be 80in July, so it's been a long
time, long, long long realestate career and when I saw the
opportunity to get someeducation on how to deal with
(20:24):
seniors.
Sometimes, if people want tosay, ok, well, this is how much
it's going to cost to remodelyour home so that you can stay
here safely.
Now, if you don't want to spendthat, maybe you want to try to
find a situation if you wantthat's smaller, you you know you
(20:44):
can downsize and certainly getsomething that's easier to
manage, like a zero entry home,so they they're able to weigh
the difference.
That's why I keep my realestate license.
So.
But I have to say, most of thepeople end up staying at their
own home.
They just don't want to leave.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
They just don't want to leave.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah and it makes us feel so good that they're so
happy when the modifications aredone, that their environment
has changed so that they canindependently continue doing
what they love to do.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
That's amazing.
So with your real estatelicense, do you have it invested
in properties or anything likethat?
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Well, I don't take on a lot of new clients, I only do
referrals.
So, people that I've sold to inthe past.
I was an international brokerfor a property in Costa Rica for
a while when my mom was firstdiagnosed with dementia and she
also had colon cancer, and whenI was in the waiting room I was
(21:45):
doing, I continued to dobusiness, because I was doing
business with brokers literallyall around the world.
So at two o'clock in themorning I was often speaking to
someone in different parts ofthe world.
Yeah, so the person I reportedto said what's all that noise?
I said, oh, it's just I'm rightby the emergency room because
(22:06):
my mother's having surgery andthat's where the waiting room
was.
And he said well, you can't dothat.
He said you have to take aleave of absence.
And I said well, I don't need aleave of absence.
I said because I work probablyaround the clock most of the
time, I don't really sleep.
And he said no, you can't dothat.
(22:29):
So I got fired, what?
And?
And I I was on a draw as acommissioned salesperson broker.
But uh, if you don't, you don'tget the back end of it unless
you're there when the propertycloses.
So obviously I wasn't going tobe there when the property
closes, so I lost hundreds ofthousands of dollars?
Yeah, because I was the solebroker on that property.
So, anyway, so you fired, so Igot fired, yeah because you were
(22:53):
with your mom because I waswith my mom in the hospital and
I was on the computer working.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Your job was mostly remote.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Yes, yes 100% I wasn't gonna fly to Australia,
to somebody in Australia,exactly, yeah.
So some people are notcompassionate, and that's why
employers need to learnespecially that caregivers need
a little wiggle room in theirjob.
Yes, yes, and they'll probablybe the best employees, because
(23:21):
they would so appreciate anextra hour off here and there
and then they would certainlymake that up yeah, yeah you know
, what year was that?
Speaker 2 (23:29):
would it happen?
Speaker 1 (23:30):
oh gosh, that was uh.
That was before I opened mybusiness before you right, was
it right so it was like 2000,early 2015, yeah wow, wow.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
yeah, I look at that from a motivational piece, a
stepping stone, and I know,probably at that time, like,
were you thinking like, why me,like, why me, god, why, why is
this happening at this point intime?
No, you didn't.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
No it was a very difficult man to work with and
you know, and I did a lot forthat company and I felt that I
was doing a really good job andif someone didn't have that
respect for me then you know, Icertainly could go elsewhere.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yes, thank you.
She had options.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Well, when you work for yourself, you always have an
option.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
So then my mom died Mother's Day of 2015.
And that's when, shortlythereafter, I said I really I
did spend a lot of my retirementgoing back and forth for my mom
because she refused to leaveher place and come to Florida.
I did bring her here and I wasgoing to try to get her into an
(24:43):
assisted living in Florida, butshe wanted absolutely nothing to
do with that, and she would.
She was crying all the time,and so I had to take her back to
Chicago and and and put her inher place and she said, you know
, even though she wasn't thathappy there, she wanted to be in
her apartment, she didn't wantto be in the member care unit,
but she didn't want to be inFloridaida either so 2015 was
(25:05):
pretty.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
It was a tough year.
Yeah, that was a year for youyeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
So then I decided I had to go back to work.
I didn't really want to go backinto real estate, uh, full time
, um.
So I really wanted to keeppeople in their home.
That was my goal yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Well, thank Well.
Thank you for that.
Thank you for sharing thatstory too.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
So, e well, now we're at the ECHM, the Executive
Certificate of Home Modification.
Okay, that's through theLeonard Davis School of
Gerontology, one of the oldestgerontology schools and one of
the best in the world, actuallythe University of Southern
California, berkeley, and that'san online course that you take.
You take several courses forthe designation and I have to
say it's one of the best, bestcourses on home modification out
(25:56):
there, and I met people fromall around the world that were
taking that course too.
Wow, online, yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
And what?
What year was this?
Do you remember the year?
Speaker 1 (26:05):
um, that was probably 2017 2017 what was so.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Was there a story behind this milestone?
Speaker 1 (26:13):
no, just that.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I wanted to further, you know, my education okay, all
right, educational and growthis very important to you.
I see that right, so that's,that's really good.
Uh, so what would you say?
Um, is your was your biggestpivot in life?
I know you've mentioned things,but I still want to hear it.
What was your biggest pivot inlife?
Speaker 1 (26:35):
you would say um, probably, uh, when I had to
raise my children all by myself.
My husband was a drug addictand I went through some very
difficult times, but we becamesuch close, such a close family.
(26:59):
I have a son and two daughtersSon and two daughters.
Right and my mother helped metremendously because I had to go
out from home.
I was, we were in theconstruction business, okay, so
I was able to run the businessthrough the home and he would be
golfing all the time.
Yeah, he was quite the golfer.
(27:19):
He was even invited by the Kingof Morocco to golf on his
private golf course because hewas such a big gambler.
But it was very difficultbecause he left me in a huge
debt because of his drugaddiction.
So I worked out of that andnever asked for any assistance
(27:40):
from the government.
You know, I just went to workand my mom watched my kids while
I started out working why?
Speaker 2 (27:46):
why didn't you ask for assistance, is it?
Speaker 1 (27:49):
because, you wasn't, you didn't know well, I just
didn't feel, I thought that Iwas able-bodied, and if you're
able-bodied and if you have helpwith with babysitting, so that
you can go out to work, I thinkpeople, it's a matter of
principle.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
It's a matter of principle.
Okay, I just want that to besaid, that's all.
Wow, there's always a journeyand a story that people go
through and I bet that was tough.
You know you having three kids.
Was there large age gaps withtheir?
With the kids?
Speaker 1 (28:24):
well, my, my two girls are 18 months apart.
But then my son was two yearslater, two, two and a half years
later, wow, yeah, then the nextone.
So he took me a little while toget pregnant.
You know I was we were tryingfor that boy at the time.
If you're having two girlswhere your kids now?
Speaker 2 (28:41):
where are they?
Where they living?
Are they in florida, close toyou?
Speaker 1 (28:44):
no, my son is in san francisco, my middle daughter is
in uh chicago area, riverforest illinois, and then my
daughter, of course, is here insaint petersburg I'm normal man,
well, uh, so you have amazingmother, uh, and you can see a
sacrifice here.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
So, but thank you for sharing that.
I always have ultimate respect,definitely with me.
Working in skilled nursing asan administrator.
A lot of my staff probablymaybe like 95% of them are women
, and so you see the strugglesin their stories of how they've
been having to be independentand working hard and still
providing at home, schoolwork,cooking, all of those duties
(29:26):
12-hour shift on their feet andthen still come back to work the
next day.
And so for me, I always used tosay, man, women are stronger
than men.
I said it all the time, likementally maybe I don't know if
you want to say muscle-wise, butmentally women are very strong,
because a man can't put up withthat.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
well, I'll just say me, I can't yeah, it never fails
when you've really had theworst day of the week and you
come home and they say, mom, wehave to go to walgreens, I need
notebook paper.
Okay, okay, let's get in thecar the car.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
wow, yeah, that's so, um, as far as uh for a
caregiver, I want to highlightsomething, uh, but from your
perspective, if you can speak tosomeone that maybe is 50, 55
you know, age, adult and givethem an example of the best way
how to prepare their home, sortof, against falls, Well, this is
.
And they have the money.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
I thought that you came up with that.
After we were in business for awhile, my daughter and I had a
discussion saying if we couldonly educate and reach the
people who are 50, their kidshave just finished possibly
college, okay, and now it's timefor them to think do we want to
stay here or do we want todownsize?
(30:49):
What do we want to do?
And let's try to find ourforever home.
If you can possibly come tothat point in your life where
you can make that decision, itwould be so easy.
Then, when it comes time, or ifit comes time that you need to
have a universally designed home, which is something designed
(31:09):
that can be used by anyone ofany ability, okay, so, uh, but
people don't, they.
They wait until they fall,break their hip.
Yep, uh, you know.
And then then they're in rehaband they say the doctor's
releasing me tomorrow, can youhelp me?
And we say I'm sorry, we need alittle bit more lead time.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Right right, right right.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
But if people would, the nicest thing to do would be
to explain if they have anyhistory of degenerative diseases
in there, if they have beendiagnosed with anything that
hasn't really made them have anyphysical challenges yet.
These are the things that youcan do in increments as your
(31:54):
disease further degenerates you.
So, yeah, if we could get awhole of people when they're 50
and do a little consulting withthem, that would be great.
They would be able to know, and10 years from that point in
time the materials you know aregoing to be more expensive than
they would be at that time.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
And will you still be working 10 years from that
point so that you can affordthese improvements?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Afford those improvements.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Exactly, or be able to qualify for a loan at that
point in time.
You know, things happen topeople when they get older and
sometimes the rug gets pulledout from underneath them and
it's very difficult for them tomake these modifications.
That's why we develop so manyresources for people.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
That is really interesting.
It's like almost can be seen aspreparing for retirement.
You know you have yourretirement savings plan, your
401k or your savings investments.
This is a part of that process,but a fall one fall because you
(33:06):
didn't prepare in that area.
Now you end up in a skillednursing facility for the next
remaining 20, 25 years of yourlife.
You prepare financially but youdidn't prepare for as the
safety measures to prevent someof those Falls Falls are one of
the lead leading tragedy leadingcauses for people.
Older adults.
Er visits one of the leadingcause for death and injury death
(33:28):
and injuries.
Yes, ma'am, so we're going totake a pause and we have.
I have a special surprise foryou.
So somebody when they wereyounger uh, I found this out.
Uh was a cheerleader, was acheerleader.
So, uh, just tell me, I'mactually still a cheerleader.
It wasn't?
Speaker 1 (33:44):
cheerleading.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
So, uh, just tell me, actually you're still chilling
okay, so I wanted to dosomething for the audience here.
Um, back in high school youshared in high school, right?
Uh, can you give us yourfavorite chant for the audience,
your favorite chant?
Speaker 1 (34:02):
well, my favorite would be because it's my alma
mater.
It's uh, give me an o, give mean a, give me a k, give me a p,
give me an a, give me r, give meanother k, and that's what's it
spell oak park louder, oak parklouder.
I couldn't do that now.
So, yeah, because it's a, itwas.
(34:24):
It was just because it meantsomething to you, you know your
school name.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Your school name.
All right Oak Park.
What?
Was your mascot, huskies, husky, oak Park, huskies, and did you
cheer for basketball football?
All the sports, yes, yes andthen.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
I had knee problems and then I was a wrestling
cheerleader, because you sit onthe floor when they wrestle
because otherwise you blocksomebody's view.
Oh wow, I never knew aboutwrestling cheerleaders.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Yeah, oh, so you cheered year round.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Well, yeah, we did.
But then my sophomore, that wasmy sophomore year.
You can't be a cheerleader whenyou're a freshman, so you learn
the things and then you try outfor your sophomore year.
You can't be a cheerleader whenyou're a freshman.
Oh, so you learn the things andthen you try out for your
sophomore year and then myjunior year.
I was a wrestling cheerleaderand then my knee just got so bad
that I became a synchronizedswimmer.
Okay, so I was on that team.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Great Wow.
So did your daughters pick upany cheerleading as well?
Speaker 1 (35:22):
No, no, they didn't, but I played the cello in the
orchestra and, of course, myfather was in the piano business
.
He was a piano tuner and apiano technician, so we always
took piano lessons and I tookcello lessons, besides being a
cheerleader and all these otherthings I was involved in, but I
was always busy.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
You were always busy.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Always a busy person.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Always busy.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
You were always busy, always a busy person, and I
always say, if you wantsomething to get done, ask a
busy person, because they'll doit.
Oh, okay, alright, and that'swhy I asked her to join the show
.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Well, that's good, but thank you for sharing that.
That's why I sort of give youthose, I guess, questionnaires
to learn a little bit about you.
And I said look at, look at,she was a cheerleader and a
swimmer as well.
So those are wonderful, uhactivities to be a part of, and
I'm actually getting my kidsinvolved, and my daughter won't
play tennis now, so I said hey,if she interested in it, I'll
(36:14):
let her try it out.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
So yeah, my kids all played an instrument.
They were in all types ofsports and um, it's just
something that it.
It gives them, though somerounding in their life, they're
so well-rounded, you know.
So they might.
They might find something thatthey really love doing and
they'll pursue for the rest oftheir life.
Or, you know, being involved ona team too it's just good
(36:36):
experience.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Good experience my dad, learn how to lose gotta
learn how to lose my dad alwayssaid uh, he'd always like give
advice to men like that are thatare fathers.
He would say you know, ifyou're raising a son, put him in
sports.
He said that's a good start.
Right there, put them in sports, give them something to do,
keep them busy.
And because sports teach themthings and, uh, different
(36:57):
attributes that you can't justteach at home right, you know,
you can't teach at home while so, and it takes a village.
They always say you can't justteach at home.
Right, you know, you can'tteach at home and it takes a
village.
It does.
They always say you can't teacheverything, you're going to
miss some things.
But putting them in the rightenvironments and the right
things can actually benefit alot.
And I learned a lot fromplaying sports.
I played sports when I was likefour years old, so that was
great, but that ends our segmentof fun.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
the cheerleading, I ends our segment of fun uh, the
cheerleading, um, I was like,okay, miss grasso was a
cheerleader, all right.
I just want to say thank youfor not making me try to do a
split.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
No, no, no, I don't think your kids watching they
would appreciate me doing that,right?
Uh, they'd be upset with me, uh.
So, uh, I want to go into fallsfree, florida, uh, the
coalition, um, the origins of it, if you just share with the
audience there and actually, ifwe can entice them to join us.
Absolutely yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
We would love to further expand.
We have 186 people in theoriginal group that get the
emails.
Not everybody attends all themeetings because I know that
they're busy and they have othercommitments, but they love
getting the meeting minutes fromJennifer Trevino, who was on
your show.
She is such a fastidious notetaker and it's like just being
(38:13):
there.
You get the information.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
She's very smart, very smart Very smart, Very
smart gal.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
I love working with her too.
She does great consultations asan occupational therapist and
she's taken it upon herself toget a lot of designations too.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Functioned out of lease for life.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Yes, yes, I really.
She's a very, very wonderfulperson also.
So we actually were just inPinellas County.
I was a member of the betterliving for seniors organization,
which is an arm of the uh aging, I'm sorry.
(38:50):
Uh, the triple a, the areaagency on aging every county has
one yep, uh and uh that's.
That's like the fundraising armfor the Area Agency on Aging.
So when I first joined and Istarted my business, somebody
said why don't you join BetterLiving for Seniors?
(39:11):
And I said, ok, I did and itwas a great networking
experience and I signed up to beon the Falls Prevention
Committee where I met Carol Wareand Christine Haumacher and
Carol Ware was the chair andthen I think Christine was the
vice chair at that time.
Then she left to do Sages andCarol said do you want to be
(39:32):
vice chair?
So that's what happened thenwhen Carol left because she was
really had more duties at theSunshine Center in St Petersburg
, then I became the chair andthen I expanded it.
I left the Better Living forSeniors with that committee
because I wanted to do a truecoalition so that we could get
(39:52):
other than just members.
The fire department educatorsreally don't wanna spend $60 a
year to an organization thatthey can't take advantage of.
They're too busy and there werea lot of people that just would
have no value of the BetterLiving for Seniors networking.
So I expanded it so that peoplewouldn't have to pay a
(40:16):
membership fee.
It's absolutely free.
I don't know how we do it orhow we stay in existence with
having no money coming in.
I'm not a 501c3, but amthinking about it.
But through the graciousness ofPinellas County EMS and
Regional 911, they were givingus a lot of money for printed
materials.
(40:36):
Each fire department gives us alot of money, not us a lot of
money.
They spend a lot of money doinga lot of education and passing
out of materials.
So we've produced a lot ofdifferent things under the arm
of that coalition.
I have to say the PinellasCounty is probably one of the
(40:57):
most creative counties inprevention.
We have a senior activitycoloring book.
My grandson told me that if Iwanted people to, this is when
he was about you know, 13, 14years old grandma if you want
people to learn about fallsprevention because I was
complaining that people run awayfrom me when I try talking to
(41:19):
them about it he, you have tohave the grandkids tell their
grandparents about it.
And I said well, you know, max,that really makes a lot of good
sense and that's my daughter,denise's son, max.
Hey, max, he's now at FloridaState University.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
He writes school.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Yeah, but so we have this flower project that we do
in the schools.
It originally started out forGrandparents Day, because that
happens to be a hallmark holidayin September, which is Falls
Prevention Month, and we helpthe children construct this base
with petals that has the sixsteps of falls prevention from
(41:59):
the National Coalition on Aging.
So it's a very rewarding thingand people love it and they love
getting something that theirkids colored.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
So that's just one of the things we did.
And then one of the members ofmy coalition that I was dealing
with retired from the Departmentof Elder Affairs and she said
why don't you take over thecoalition for the state?
She said because there's peoplein tallahassee that could
benefit from all the wonderfulthings that you're doing in
(42:30):
pinellas county.
So I did so.
Now our coalition is statewide.
We have the florida departmentof health.
We have the florida departmentof elder affairs.
We have a lot of differentphysical therapy people,
occupational therapists.
We have a lot of differentphysical therapy people,
occupational therapists.
We have a lot of differentsenior service businesses that
would benefit from all of theeducation and resources that we
(42:53):
have.
We have most of the AAAs in thestate of Florida are very, very
in tune with our coalition andwe had.
Now we can.
We can say that we do so manythings and we reach so many
people and we really are a greatsupport to one another.
But my big thing is to havesome form of education every
(43:14):
month, okay, via a speaker.
Just this past, this month, wehad, from a recommendation from
American Bone Health.
I've been wanting to getsomebody to speak on
osteoporosis and she wasexcellent Dr Kathleen Camp from
University of North Texas HealthScience Center.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
I made that one.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Yeah, and she had.
She graciously shared herslides so that people who
couldn't attend the meetingcould also get that important
information, becauseosteoporosis is becoming very
critical.
It's almost.
It's not near crisis yet, butit's.
It's very, very.
It happens too often thatpeople break bones before they
fall.
You know, which is an unusualthing.
(43:57):
We think that when you fall,you break a bone, but people are
walking down the stairs andthey break their hip because
it's so brittle, and then theyfall, which is a bone.
But people are walking down thestairs and they break their hip
because it's so brittle, andthen they fall, which is a maybe
a hairline fracture or a modest
Speaker 2 (44:09):
yep, it's a much harder fall then, and it takes a
much longer recuperation and,of course, has a much greater
chance of death, because after abroken hip, people develop
pneumonia and then they passright, I didn't do more research
on that myself because I'veread it before about the impact
(44:29):
of a hip surgery and a hipfracture, but I don't know why
it's so impactful to the body,right?
but that's something interestingto learn about you know,
because there's a lot offatality that happens after a
hip fracture, like really, itreally is like people not aware
of that you wouldn't reallyassociate the hip with the lung
(44:51):
Right, you know.
I know that's.
That's what is so intriguingfor me, like how the how that
has anything to do with whatmaybe have resulted after the
fact.
Right, I don't, I really don'tknow.
Um know, so I need toinvestigate that myself as well.
So, but Falls Free FloridaCoalition do you remember the
year?
What you took over?
Speaker 1 (45:10):
just it'll be.
It will be two years two yearsin January yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
So I mean there are so many people that are involved
, from state agencies to countylevel, individuals, people of
nonprofit organizations, peoplethat are business owners that
are part of Falls Free Florida,and I just think that it would
be very impactful to see, Iwould say, falls Free Florida
(45:39):
join more of, I guess, a lot ofthe Chamber of Commerce as well,
throughout the state of Floridaas well you know, throughout
the state of Florida as well tobecome members of that, so that
way we can sort of integrateinto the communities and I think
that'll be a great step for youknow, members of the Chamber of
Commerce for each city tobecome a part of Falls Free
Florida as well.
Speaker 1 (45:59):
And I'm looking for universities, different
universities to come in too,that's really good.
Because when I I was actuallyinvited by the National
Coalition on Aging recently toin early September to go to
Arlington for their 10-yearconference.
It happens every year and theyonly invite specific people from
(46:19):
the United States to do theplanning for their false
prevention campaigns for thenext 10 years.
Wow, so it was really an eyeopening.
It was just a fantastic.
I met people from all aroundthe United States and it was
just really an eye opener onwhat we need to do.
(46:43):
We're still light and peoplecouldn't believe that we have
monthly meetings.
They say, oh, we meet quarterly, we meet every six months and I
thought, well, that's great.
I think you need to meetmonthly because there's so many
things that happen every day inour particular, in at least my
physical realm of business.
Somebody is inventing somethingnew that's going to help
(47:03):
somebody.
There are young people comingin with terrific minds wanting
to be prosthetic engineers andthey're developing prosthetics
now for people that are so muchlike your own hand, your own
foot, your own leg, and it'sjust really so amazing to me
that it is changing every singleday.
Speaker 2 (47:25):
That's good, always advancement, and what
advancements and future growththat you have that you're
excited about when it pertainsto access and design.
Speaker 1 (47:38):
Well, I think our growth.
You know we consistently domore volume.
I love now putting in thehybrid elevators.
It's a vertical platform liftthat goes up three stories high.
It's especially so wonderfulfor coastal communities
(47:59):
Elevators.
To maintain an elevator is veryexpensive on an elevator
contract.
It's $5 to $750 a month.
Elevator companies don't makemoney putting in the elevator.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
They make the money on the maintenance okay um, and
typically right, if I'm notmistaken, you can only use, like
the company that actuallyinstalled it, or maybe built the
, the elevator as well, right?
Speaker 1 (48:23):
well, that's another thing.
If you install something, youshould service that.
And I have to tell you we areservicing everybody else's
installations because there'snot as much money in service as
there is in sales andinstallation.
So a lot of the companies outthere want to sell you something
(48:46):
but they won't service you.
And then they call us.
Oh well, you can call Accessand Design of St Petersburg, you
know they'll come out to,they'll come down to Fort Myers
to help you.
Well, when we have to go to theVA in Fort Myers or Sanibel,
okay, to redo a lot of thethings that happened with the
(49:07):
hurricane, nobody else wanted togo down there and we said, do
we really?
You can't find anybody else.
But we do only because we loveour servicemen, we love our
veterans, okay, and we want todo something to help them
because they deserve that.
But it really angers me, okay,that these companies will not
(49:28):
spend the time and trouble toservice what they install and so
many times it's not installedcorrectly, which makes me even
more angry, because people haveto get more rails or something,
or, or sometimes on an outsideunit they put in an inside unit.
They're especially made andspecially sealed against salt
(49:50):
water, corrosion and theelements.
So if you have an outsidesituation of a vertical platform
lift, you need to have theoutside package on your
equipment and that's just very.
You know they'll do that inorder to get the contract, but
because they don't care, andthat just makes me angry.
Shortcut If you're helpingpeople with disabilities, you
(50:12):
should never take advantage ofthem.
Right?
You should want to help themand that's what we primarily do,
and I have to tell you, thepeople that work for us feel
good at the end of every day.
Speaker 2 (50:24):
That's good.
Speaker 1 (50:25):
They feel good when they come home.
They really accomplishsomething.
And I talked to my grandson.
Um, he said, you know, grandma,I think I'm going to take over
access and design when Igraduate college.
I said, okay, that would begreat, max, yeah and he says
because there's just nothinglike it, because he works for us
when he doesn't have school anduh says it's just it's just so
(50:46):
amazing to feel so good that youhelp people.
Speaker 2 (50:49):
Right, and it has to feel good too that the work that
you're doing your lineage, youknow, your kids' kids recognize
it, honors it and actually wantsto follow sort of in your
footsteps and sort of helppeople as well.
Like that has to be veryfulfilling for you, you know,
and more rewarding as well.
Like that, that has to be veryfulfilling for you, you know,
and more rewarding as well, youknow so.
(51:11):
But I think it attributes to um, how impactful you are as a
person.
Not only you're impactful inyour household, as a mother, a
person that really just took, uh, her family by you know herself
and you know, along with yourmother, and raise your kids,
instilled in them commitment toothers, right and just.
(51:33):
Your journey is amazing and I'mglad that we're able to share
it here on the let's GetComfortable podcast.
And as we wrap up, do you haveany final messages out there,
whether it's to say to family ofcaregivers, whether it's say to
your own family, anything you'dlike to share?
Speaker 1 (51:50):
I started my business when I was 70 years old.
Okay, and getting aconstruction license in the
state of Florida is just noteasy.
I had to bring two hugesuitcases with me filled with
books.
It's an open book exam forseveral hours, but it's very
grueling and most people have totake it three, four, five times
(52:12):
.
Okay, I did fail the operationportion because it was a lot of
math and I asked for help withmy instructor so I could go take
it again.
And he said oh, I'm just toobusy.
My wife has me doing stuff onSaturday and that'd be the only
time I would have.
(52:33):
So I went on YouTube and this12 year old boy taught me pi r
square, how to figure thetrapezoid volume to dig and then
haul away in trucks of acertain volume, so that I would
be able to pass that exam.
And I did, and thank you tothat little kid out there who
(52:55):
made a lot of sense because hetalked my language and I totally
could understand him.
So if you ever get stuck,there's always someone who's
going to help you find your way.
And people said, oh, oh, whywould you want to go into
business?
So, my friends, oh, that's justsilly, why don't you just take
it easy.
You're 70 years old.
(53:15):
Why would you want to start abusiness at 70.
And I went well, why wouldn't I?
Why wouldn't?
Because right now, at that time, nobody was really doing aging
in place.
Okay, and since then there'sbeen a lot of more companies
that have popped up that aredoing that.
But I wanted to do it correctlyand I wanted to do it so that
it would be good for people, andI wanted to be able to build an
(53:40):
arsenal of resources so thatpeople that couldn't afford the
modifications would be able toget them in some way.
Sometimes we get only $500,like from the Diabetes
Association, towards a ramp, butthen we have to go to another
source to get a little bit here,a little bit there, but we're
going to make sure that thatperson gets the ramp by hook or
(54:02):
by crook.
So there's always a way toovercome something.
Just don't give up and don'tlisten to all the noise that
people give you.
Do what you think is right fromyour heart.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
Yes, yes yes, right, and that's why, honestly, it's
so impactful to have a networkof associates, people that can
empower you and motivate you,because if you keep your circle
small sometimes and not branchout, and those type of people
can deter you and keep youcomplacent as well and not not
knocking your friends, by theway, but um, it's just, uh, the
(54:35):
truth.
Yeah, yeah, but um, but I thankyou for being, uh, the pioneer
that you are.
Uh, so we're sitting here todaywith the pioneer and legendary
person, could I say.
You started Aging in Place inFlorida.
Speaker 1 (54:56):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (54:57):
too cocky to say that .
Speaker 1 (54:58):
It's always been there.
Speaker 2 (54:59):
It's always been okay , always been there, aarp.
Speaker 1 (55:02):
AARP all right Is really trying to bring it to the
forefront with the Aging inPlace booklet.
And again, aarporg slash homefit.
That'll give you a ton ofinformation because this is a
big deal it's a big deal To beable to remodel your home to be
able to stay in it.
But you have to understand.
And what do you want tocontinue doing?
(55:24):
That's what I always tellpeople.
Number one what do you want tocontinue doing?
You want to continue gardening?
Well, you can do raisedgardening beds so that if you're
in a wheelchair, you cancontinue to garden and do
something that you love there'salways a way to do something got
it.
Speaker 2 (55:38):
What do you want to continue doing?
Speaker 1 (55:40):
right and how can you do?
Speaker 2 (55:42):
that long term right, when you are no longer able to
have allability, how can you putyourself in place in
positioning your home inposition to be able to have
those functions that do thethings you enjoy continuously?
That's an amazing way to put itand on that note, I'm going to
(56:03):
say in my mind I have thelegendary pioneer of aging in
place.
He is right here on the let'sGet Comfy podcast, ms Arlene
Grosso.
To you and your family, yourkids, I commend you all for your
mission and how they were ableto honor their mother.
That's in the Bible as well.
(56:24):
Honor their mother and provideback to caregivers and help
people each and every day.
So thank you for joining theshow.
My pleasure it's my honor againand I look forward to having
many more years with you as anassociate, a friend of someone
that I can learn from, mentorand I know, and I hope people
(56:45):
out there uh, take an anopportunity and visit a website
and, if you don't mind, beforewe wrap up, if you can share
where people can find yourinformation, your website,
whether it's on social media,any of those things, where can
they find you?
Speaker 1 (57:00):
It's wwwaccessanddesignflcom.
Speaker 2 (57:07):
All right.
Speaker 1 (57:07):
And is spelled out because you can't have the
ampersand in there.
So it's access and design, flor floridacom, and it's
727-233-4900 all right, um,knowledge and resources, access
and design.
Speaker 2 (57:25):
Uh, please go on to youtube at the let's Get Comfort
podcast.
Please subscribe to the channel.
Comment If you have anyquestions.
Use the comment section therebelow to make sure you share
your thoughts in regards to thisepisode.
If you have any questions, msArlene Grosso gave you her
(57:45):
contact information.
Also, you can visitwwwcomfortmeasuresconsultingcom.
I'd love to have a conversationwith you if you need any
assistance with healthcarenavigation or to reach out.
If you don't feel socomfortable reaching out Either
one, I'm going to connect youwith Ms Grosso for sure, and as
well, check out my Facebook.
(58:05):
If some people don't accessYouTube, we're also available on
Facebook at Comfort MeasuresConsulting there, as well as
Instagram, comfort MeasuresConsulting.
So we thank you for tuning into another episode of the Less
Than Comfy Podcast.
See you next show.
Alright.
I started my business when I was 70 years old.
Okay, and getting aconstruction license in the
state of Florida is just noteasy.
I had to bring two hugesuitcases with me filled with
books.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's an open.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
They wait until they fall, break their hip, yep.
And then they're in rehab andthey say the doctor is releasing
me tomorrow.
Can you help me?
And you can get between $2,500and well over $100,000 to
remodel your home, and youdeserve it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
And it's one of the let's Get Comfy podcast.
I'm your host, norman Harris.
This is the home for love,peace, joy, but, most of all,
comfort.
Today I have a special guestfor you, wonderful guest,
someone that is doing amazingwork for our senior citizens,
our senior community, but alsobringing awareness to healthcare
(01:14):
in general.
A pioneer, as I like toconsider her as well, ms Arlene
Grasso.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you so much, ma'am.
Thank you so much.
It's really nice to'am.
Thank you, yes, it's an honorfor me to have you miss grosso
one.
I want to say this on camera Iam very grateful for your time
today.
This is a saturday, right, ourshow is aired on.
(01:35):
We shoot them on a saturday, sothis is her time out of her
busy schedule to do this with me.
So I'm very grateful, but alsoI connect with you.
Months back, you took the timewithout hesitation to set up a
call with me, right to listen tomy goals, my vision and what I
wanted to become and welcome mewith open arms.
(01:57):
Everybody doesn't do that andpeople will try.
You won't think so, but I'mlearning slowly as I'm on this
journey of entrepreneurship andsort of trying to live out, I
believe, god's vision for me.
Everyone doesn't have your bestinterests, and so when I meet
people like you, I always wantto take my time and show
(02:18):
gratitude and gracefulness toyou, but also to God as well,
because I know that God put youpart of my journey for a purpose
and a reason, and to me I'malways indebted for you giving
me that opportunity.
So I mean that from the bottomof my heart.
Yes, ma'am, thank you, thankyou, but if I want to sell, so I
(02:38):
gave that little spill there,right, but I want to start out
with you just telling theaudience who you are and what
you provide and your servicesokay again.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
My name is arlene grasso and, together with my
daughter, denise tommy, Istarted m d enterprises of fl
inc.
Which does business as accessand design.
As Access and Design, I'm alicensed building contractor and
we provide solutions for, andalternatives for, people with
(03:10):
physical challenges andbusinesses that have to adhere
to the ADA requirements set bythe statutes.
Do you want me to tell how Igot started?
Do you want me to tell how Igot started?
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah Well, no, just tell the little bit of your
history.
You said you're an AARPambassador.
Yes, right, you promote homefit programs offering no cost,
low cost solutions to helpseniors age in place.
That's a huge thing that peopledon't probably don't even know
(03:48):
that there's ambassadors foraarp.
They hear arp and just thinklike, oh, it is not for me, you
know.
But if you could just expand onthat, just how you became a
part of the aip program well, um, when I started my business, I
took a um course uh, actually anaccelerator course.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Uh, thatarp put on for budding entrepreneurs to see
if their business would beviable or not.
Wow, so it was a great exerciseand I guess it proved to be
viable because we've been inbusiness eight years now.
But I met such wonderful peopleat AARP and I said what is this
(04:24):
HomeFit program that I saw onyour website?
And they said, oh, we don't dothat anymore because the person
who used to do that, theoccupational therapist, moved to
Tennessee.
And I said, oh, I'll do it.
There we go.
It's wonderful you can go toAARPcom slash HomeFit.
No, I'm sorry, aarpcom slashhome fit no, I'm sorry, aarporg
(04:50):
slash home, fitorg, yesorg, andyou can order this booklet or
you can view it online.
It'll take you room, room toroom and it'll show you all the
things you can do to age inplace safely.
And there's a lot of fallsprevention that I put into my
presentation, but I do thepresentation for people in
mobile home parks, 55 pluscommunities just at large, like
(05:15):
the Retired Teachers Association.
I just did a caregiver withLinda Burhans.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I was part of her caregivers.
Hey, Linda.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
She's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Amazing yes.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
And so I was the opening segment for her
caregivers conference and didthe HomeFit program for that
conference.
But it's an amazing program andit gives people an idea of what
they can do to safely age inplace.
Yes, ma'am, and they don't know.
You don't come out of the wombknowing how you're going to be
living when you get to be 80.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Oh no, and that's why we bring awareness with
platforms like this, and I wantto mention because I think you
probably are a modest person,that's what I'm feeling right
now, but I'm not going to lether get away with it.
So she also serves as chair ofthe St Petersburg Mayor's
Commission on Aging and hasserved on the Affordable Housing
Advisory Council of the City ofLargo in 2022.
(06:14):
She was honored to be inductedinto the St Petersburg Senior
Hall of Fame for her volunteerwork and helping people to
safely age in place, along withaccessibility solutions for
people with disabilities.
She founded and chairs theFalls Free Florida Falls
Prevention Coalition, bringingtogether senior service
(06:37):
professionals dedicated toreducing falls through education
, awareness and resources.
And, as you know, one missionof Comfort Managers Consulting
is empowering people withknowledge and resources, and I
have one of the best a Hall ofFamer, a Hall of Famer for us
today.
So let's-.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Oh yes, that was a huge honor.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yes, ma'am, yes, ma'am.
So let's get into what we knowabout you.
And I always find itinteresting when I see
abbreviations.
So after Arlene Grosso there isCAPS, then there's S-R-E-S and
(07:20):
then E-C-H-M.
If you can sort of break downwhat those abbreviations mean.
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I'm very proud of those.
It's a range of study and thenthey provide you with a
designation.
The CAPS is the Certified Agingand Play Specialist from the
National Association of Builders, gotcha.
You take a series of coursesand then you're awarded that
designation.
I wanted to take that to to uhbring some professionalism to
(07:48):
this industry.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Do you remember the year at all?
Speaker 1 (07:51):
It was uh actually 2016, 2016.
That's when I started mybusiness.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Gotcha.
So that was the time snap, andwas that the catalyst and the
reason why you went for that?
Absolutely Okay, understood.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Because there's so many contractors out there that
don't study home modification,gotcha, and we actually rip out
a lot of things.
People do wrong, okay, and thenhomeowners have to pay for it
twice.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And that's with access and the design, correct,
yes, yes, all right.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yes, so it's a great course.
I recommend it for anyone anycontractor you know that wants
to be in this.
In my class I had more uhdesigners, which I thought was
interesting, than contractors.
I wish there were morecontractors there contractors
uh-huh come on guys gotta getdesignation yeah, I gotta get
(08:43):
professional, so which I wasglad to see that designers were
getting into helping people withhome modification too, because
it's a big thing, it's a comingthing.
You know, there's more peopleaging right now.
I always say we're reigningseniors, you know, 10,000 a day
(09:04):
are turning 65.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Wow, 10,000 a day turn 65.
That's the some statisticsright.
So with the caps designation,you have earning that.
Just how has that, you think,impact the growth of your
organization, your business?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
well, I'm I'm not so sure, because a lot of people
don't know what it is.
I did it mainly for my myself,so that I would be confident and
I would feel good that I amlearning my trade with all the
tools that I could findinvesting, investing in yourself
right, so that I could helppeople the best that I could.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Understood, understood.
So when you deal with accessand design, you have someone
that has invested in theirknowledge, right, invested in
the dedication even further, sothat when you approach, when
she's approaching you andworking with her clients, she's
coming from a perspective whereshe has the knowledge base and
information to successfully, youknow, provide the service, so
that's very important, andinformation to successfully
(10:04):
provide the service, so that'svery important.
So, from there, that was 2016,.
Right, mm-hmm, 2016,.
You started Access Design.
Correct, wow, access Design.
And what was the catalyst andthe motivation to start Access
Design?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
My mom passed away at the age of 100.
She had a beautiful, blessedlife, wow, and she lived in an
assisted living facility forover 25 years so you can imagine
that the assessments totaledway over a half a million
dollars during her lifetime, andthen, when she was unable to
stay in her apartment, they hadthe nursing facility attached so
(10:43):
she was standing like a CCRC.
Yes, so she went into the memorycare unit and they really
didn't help her.
They really were not.
She was the only sundowner.
There were only 14 people onher floor and I mean I stayed
there many, many nights.
This was in Chicago, in theChicagoland area, in Lombard
Illinois, and I constantly wasgoing back and forth and forth
(11:07):
and back and forth and back.
I would just leave, and by thetime I got home there was a
voicemail saying she won't eat.
You have to come back and Ithought why are you charging me
$6,800 a month if you're notgoing to take care of her?
Wow, okay, $6,800.
Yeah, plus other things hundreddollars a month if you're not
going to take care of them?
Wow, okay, sixty eight hundred,yeah, plus other things like
getting your hair done, and then, if you want to go on a trip or
(11:30):
whatever you know, it's anextra charge and everything's.
You know, oh, can you give usmore money?
You know we'd like, we'd like,we'd like a piano for our, our,
our, our conference area.
Would you like to donate?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
no, honestly, I really wouldn't take care of my
mother, you take care of mybrother and, of course, she
hated leaving her apartment.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
And you know when, when you go into memory care
units, they everyone will alwayssay can you take me home?
Is it time for me to go home?
Can?
you take me home because theyjust they.
They, their surroundings andenvironment were severely
disrupted.
And when you see people thatare older, okay, and I'm gonna
(12:16):
say 60s and up, they reallydon't wanna leave their home.
They've had their childrenraised through that home.
It's probably too big for them.
There's a lot more room thanwhat they need, but they don't
want to leave that home.
That's their safe haven andthat's where they feel right,
right.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
That's something that they worked for for years to
actually, you know, possess ownoutright own right.
Yeah, save for, you know thatsort of.
They had that planned out froma budget standpoint to not have
that bill anymore, and so, ofcourse, they want to stay in
their home, right?
Especially when you're you getto that age where your income is
(12:52):
sort of subsidized or itchanges as well, right?
So, yes, ma'am, I don't blamethem right to wanting to age in
place right night.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
More than 95% of people want to stay in in their
homes.
And when I do the AARP HomeFitpresentations I'll say, does
anybody want to go to a nursinghome?
And no one raises their hand.
They want to stay in theirhomes.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yes, ma'am, yep, so that's a amazing story of how
Access Design actually wasstarted.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
So, and you said your part owner is Is my daughter,
your daughter.
Yeah, give her a big shout outDenise.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yes, she's fabulous actually.
Hey, denise and all thecustomers love her.
She does the operations for ourcompany now and she's doing a
fantastic job.
She does a lot of work with theVA.
We have a lot of a lot of workthat comes through from the VA
and helping our veterans issomething we really take to
heart.
So we do the grants and ifanyone out there, okay, is
(13:53):
having some physical challengesand wanna stay in their home but
they find it really difficultto maintain their independence
because of those challenges, andif you're getting benefits
through your VA, you can go tothe prosthetics department
through your doctor.
Okay, if you have a disability,and you can get between $2,500
(14:17):
and well over $100,000 toremodel your home and you
deserve it.
So, and it's one of the bestkept secrets that the VA has-
Our veterans out there Accessand Design.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
If you'd like to know more, arlene Grosso is your
resource for that right.
She'll be able to assist youwith that.
Thank you for sharing that withthe audience.
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yes, so we do a lot of zero entry showers for people
who are contained in awheelchair.
We do a lot of door widening.
We put in lifts.
We do stair lifts, we do whatwe call hybrid elevators up to
three stories tall, and thenjust the porch lifts to get
(15:03):
people.
You know, the mobile homes nowhave been getting higher and
higher and higher over time, andnow, after these latest storms,
are going to be even higher.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Might be on stilts or something like that.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Right yeah, and to be able to get in the home when
you're having physicalchallenges.
If you used a ramp, it would becurling back and forth all
throughout your carport and thenyou wouldn't be able to park on
the street, and you can't parkin the street on most mobile
homes.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Right, you're right.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So you would really have to park at the clubhouse
and then get in your wheelchairin the rain and come home.
That's not convenient, okay.
So that's why they make thesesort of vertical platform lifts,
which is a small footprint soyou can still pull your car in
the garage and then utilize that.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
At Comfort Measures Consulting, we're here to help
you navigate the complexity ofhealth care.
If you're caring for a lovedone as a caregiver, you don't
have resources, you don't knowwhat questions to ask.
You need to have options right.
Give Comfort Measures a call.
Give us a chance.
First consultation is free.
(16:12):
Speak with me Comfort MeasuresConsultant 850-879-2182.
You can also visit our websiteat
wwwcomfortmeasuresconsultingcom.
Talk to you soon.
That's amazing.
So I want to something youmentioned that I want to make
sure we speak about, because, ofcourse, I always want to make
(16:34):
sure we have information andinsight for our caregivers out
there.
You were a caregiver yourselfwith your mother.
Now, did that impact your sortof motivation to you know, begin
Access and Design and sort ofhelp people that were sort of
wanting to be at home?
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yes, that's the real reason I started my business was
because of my caregivingexperience, and I didn't know
what to do to keep my mom in herapartment, and she was always
so anxious and so sad.
She kept on saying I just wantto go home, I just want to go
home.
(17:14):
And had I known then what Iknow now, it would have been
very simple.
So I made it my life's goal tofind out how to keep people in
their homes so that they wouldbe able to stay there no matter
what.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
That is beautiful.
That is beautiful, and we knowthat this comes from a place of
experience, right, a place ofpassion and also care and
knowing that in a path.
This is the thing that amazed meabout Ms Grasso, um, and this
is really personal for me isbecause, the same way you have
(17:50):
the passion for your mom, youyou're able to to share that,
that feeling, with others aswell correct right and I could
just I could feel it through thephone calls that we had, a
virtual call that we had likeyou could easily that that you
mean this from the bottom ofyour heart and it comes from a
place of experience andknowledge, so you know what
(18:12):
those caregivers out there aregoing through and you know how
to sort of address it, becauseyou've been through it and you
were there in that time periodwhere you didn't know what to do
, right, right, so that'samazing.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
So when I started my business, my daughter, denise,
said you know how about if I goin business with you?
I said well, she had a verylarge job.
She was a big executive with atextbook company that then was
going to virtual learning, okay.
And she said it just makes meso sad, mom, that they're
charging the same amount ofmoney for textbooks that they
(18:45):
are, for, you know, pluggingsomething into the computer.
She said and that's not right.
So you know, these professorsmake a lot of money by writing a
textbook.
So she was an editor and aregional sales director,
actually for the southeasternregion of the United States.
Wow.
So she had a really big job.
(19:06):
And I said do you really wantto give all that up?
She said I'm just not happy.
Wow.
So she has put her heart andsoul into the business and the
customers understand that.
I mean she's had customers cometo her home overnight when
their loved ones are in rehaband they feel uncomfortable
being alone and they're very sad.
(19:27):
So she'll invite them over fordinner and then have them stay
at her house because her kidsare in college and she's got
extra bedrooms.
So she, you know she really wego way above the call of duty, a
lot of the times.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I would like for you to introduce me at some point to
miss Denise.
Yes, I mean, I love to hearmore of her story as well.
That's amazing, and a lot ofthe times I would like for you
to introduce me at some point tomiss denise.
Yes, I mean, I love to hearmore of her story as well.
That's amazing and right, appledon't fall far from the tree,
they say.
You know that's right yeah, so,uh, so s-r-e-s correct.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
All right, what?
What are your real estatespecialists?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
senior real estate specialist.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Now, I know that was a milestone for you as well what
was the story behind that well,I've been in real estate since
I was 21 and I'm going to be 80in July, so it's been a long
time, long, long long realestate career and when I saw the
opportunity to get someeducation on how to deal with
(20:24):
seniors.
Sometimes, if people want tosay, ok, well, this is how much
it's going to cost to remodelyour home so that you can stay
here safely.
Now, if you don't want to spendthat, maybe you want to try to
find a situation if you wantthat's smaller, you you know you
(20:44):
can downsize and certainly getsomething that's easier to
manage, like a zero entry home,so they they're able to weigh
the difference.
That's why I keep my realestate license.
So.
But I have to say, most of thepeople end up staying at their
own home.
They just don't want to leave.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
They just don't want to leave.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah and it makes us feel so good that they're so
happy when the modifications aredone, that their environment
has changed so that they canindependently continue doing
what they love to do.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
That's amazing.
So with your real estatelicense, do you have it invested
in properties or anything likethat?
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Well, I don't take on a lot of new clients, I only do
referrals.
So, people that I've sold to inthe past.
I was an international brokerfor a property in Costa Rica for
a while when my mom was firstdiagnosed with dementia and she
also had colon cancer, and whenI was in the waiting room I was
(21:45):
doing, I continued to dobusiness, because I was doing
business with brokers literallyall around the world.
So at two o'clock in themorning I was often speaking to
someone in different parts ofthe world.
Yeah, so the person I reportedto said what's all that noise?
I said, oh, it's just I'm rightby the emergency room because
(22:06):
my mother's having surgery andthat's where the waiting room
was.
And he said well, you can't dothat.
He said you have to take aleave of absence.
And I said well, I don't need aleave of absence.
I said because I work probablyaround the clock most of the
time, I don't really sleep.
And he said no, you can't dothat.
(22:29):
So I got fired, what?
And?
And I I was on a draw as acommissioned salesperson broker.
But uh, if you don't, you don'tget the back end of it unless
you're there when the propertycloses.
So obviously I wasn't going tobe there when the property
closes, so I lost hundreds ofthousands of dollars?
Yeah, because I was the solebroker on that property.
So, anyway, so you fired, so Igot fired, yeah because you were
(22:53):
with your mom because I waswith my mom in the hospital and
I was on the computer working.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Your job was mostly remote.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Yes, yes 100% I wasn't gonna fly to Australia,
to somebody in Australia,exactly, yeah.
So some people are notcompassionate, and that's why
employers need to learnespecially that caregivers need
a little wiggle room in theirjob.
Yes, yes, and they'll probablybe the best employees, because
(23:21):
they would so appreciate anextra hour off here and there
and then they would certainlymake that up yeah, yeah you know
, what year was that?
Speaker 2 (23:29):
would it happen?
Speaker 1 (23:30):
oh gosh, that was uh.
That was before I opened mybusiness before you right, was
it right so it was like 2000,early 2015, yeah wow, wow.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
yeah, I look at that from a motivational piece, a
stepping stone, and I know,probably at that time, like,
were you thinking like, why me,like, why me, god, why, why is
this happening at this point intime?
No, you didn't.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
No it was a very difficult man to work with and
you know, and I did a lot forthat company and I felt that I
was doing a really good job andif someone didn't have that
respect for me then you know, Icertainly could go elsewhere.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yes, thank you.
She had options.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Well, when you work for yourself, you always have an
option.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
So then my mom died Mother's Day of 2015.
And that's when, shortlythereafter, I said I really I
did spend a lot of my retirementgoing back and forth for my mom
because she refused to leaveher place and come to Florida.
I did bring her here and I wasgoing to try to get her into an
(24:43):
assisted living in Florida, butshe wanted absolutely nothing to
do with that, and she would.
She was crying all the time,and so I had to take her back to
Chicago and and and put her inher place and she said, you know
, even though she wasn't thathappy there, she wanted to be in
her apartment, she didn't wantto be in the member care unit,
but she didn't want to be inFloridaida either so 2015 was
(25:05):
pretty.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
It was a tough year.
Yeah, that was a year for youyeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
So then I decided I had to go back to work.
I didn't really want to go backinto real estate, uh, full time
, um.
So I really wanted to keeppeople in their home.
That was my goal yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Well, thank Well.
Thank you for that.
Thank you for sharing thatstory too.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
So, e well, now we're at the ECHM, the Executive
Certificate of Home Modification.
Okay, that's through theLeonard Davis School of
Gerontology, one of the oldestgerontology schools and one of
the best in the world, actuallythe University of Southern
California, berkeley, and that'san online course that you take.
You take several courses forthe designation and I have to
say it's one of the best, bestcourses on home modification out
(25:56):
there, and I met people fromall around the world that were
taking that course too.
Wow, online, yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
And what?
What year was this?
Do you remember the year?
Speaker 1 (26:05):
um, that was probably 2017 2017 what was so.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Was there a story behind this milestone?
Speaker 1 (26:13):
no, just that.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I wanted to further, you know, my education okay, all
right, educational and growthis very important to you.
I see that right, so that's,that's really good.
Uh, so what would you say?
Um, is your was your biggestpivot in life?
I know you've mentioned things,but I still want to hear it.
What was your biggest pivot inlife?
Speaker 1 (26:35):
you would say um, probably, uh, when I had to
raise my children all by myself.
My husband was a drug addictand I went through some very
difficult times, but we becamesuch close, such a close family.
(26:59):
I have a son and two daughtersSon and two daughters.
Right and my mother helped metremendously because I had to go
out from home.
I was, we were in theconstruction business, okay, so
I was able to run the businessthrough the home and he would be
golfing all the time.
Yeah, he was quite the golfer.
(27:19):
He was even invited by the Kingof Morocco to golf on his
private golf course because hewas such a big gambler.
But it was very difficultbecause he left me in a huge
debt because of his drugaddiction.
So I worked out of that andnever asked for any assistance
(27:40):
from the government.
You know, I just went to workand my mom watched my kids while
I started out working why?
Speaker 2 (27:46):
why didn't you ask for assistance, is it?
Speaker 1 (27:49):
because, you wasn't, you didn't know well, I just
didn't feel, I thought that Iwas able-bodied, and if you're
able-bodied and if you have helpwith with babysitting, so that
you can go out to work, I thinkpeople, it's a matter of
principle.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
It's a matter of principle.
Okay, I just want that to besaid, that's all.
Wow, there's always a journeyand a story that people go
through and I bet that was tough.
You know you having three kids.
Was there large age gaps withtheir?
With the kids?
Speaker 1 (28:24):
well, my, my two girls are 18 months apart.
But then my son was two yearslater, two, two and a half years
later, wow, yeah, then the nextone.
So he took me a little while toget pregnant.
You know I was we were tryingfor that boy at the time.
If you're having two girlswhere your kids now?
Speaker 2 (28:41):
where are they?
Where they living?
Are they in florida, close toyou?
Speaker 1 (28:44):
no, my son is in san francisco, my middle daughter is
in uh chicago area, riverforest illinois, and then my
daughter, of course, is here insaint petersburg I'm normal man,
well, uh, so you have amazingmother, uh, and you can see a
sacrifice here.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
So, but thank you for sharing that.
I always have ultimate respect,definitely with me.
Working in skilled nursing asan administrator.
A lot of my staff probablymaybe like 95% of them are women
, and so you see the strugglesin their stories of how they've
been having to be independentand working hard and still
providing at home, schoolwork,cooking, all of those duties
(29:26):
12-hour shift on their feet andthen still come back to work the
next day.
And so for me, I always used tosay, man, women are stronger
than men.
I said it all the time, likementally maybe I don't know if
you want to say muscle-wise, butmentally women are very strong,
because a man can't put up withthat.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
well, I'll just say me, I can't yeah, it never fails
when you've really had theworst day of the week and you
come home and they say, mom, wehave to go to walgreens, I need
notebook paper.
Okay, okay, let's get in thecar the car.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
wow, yeah, that's so, um, as far as uh for a
caregiver, I want to highlightsomething, uh, but from your
perspective, if you can speak tosomeone that maybe is 50, 55
you know, age, adult and givethem an example of the best way
how to prepare their home, sortof, against falls, Well, this is
.
And they have the money.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
I thought that you came up with that.
After we were in business for awhile, my daughter and I had a
discussion saying if we couldonly educate and reach the
people who are 50, their kidshave just finished possibly
college, okay, and now it's timefor them to think do we want to
stay here or do we want todownsize?
(30:49):
What do we want to do?
And let's try to find ourforever home.
If you can possibly come tothat point in your life where
you can make that decision, itwould be so easy.
Then, when it comes time, or ifit comes time that you need to
have a universally designed home, which is something designed
(31:09):
that can be used by anyone ofany ability, okay, so, uh, but
people don't, they.
They wait until they fall,break their hip.
Yep, uh, you know.
And then then they're in rehaband they say the doctor's
releasing me tomorrow, can youhelp me?
And we say I'm sorry, we need alittle bit more lead time.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Right right, right right.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
But if people would, the nicest thing to do would be
to explain if they have anyhistory of degenerative diseases
in there, if they have beendiagnosed with anything that
hasn't really made them have anyphysical challenges yet.
These are the things that youcan do in increments as your
(31:54):
disease further degenerates you.
So, yeah, if we could get awhole of people when they're 50
and do a little consulting withthem, that would be great.
They would be able to know, and10 years from that point in
time the materials you know aregoing to be more expensive than
they would be at that time.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
And will you still be working 10 years from that
point so that you can affordthese improvements?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Afford those improvements.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Exactly, or be able to qualify for a loan at that
point in time.
You know, things happen topeople when they get older and
sometimes the rug gets pulledout from underneath them and
it's very difficult for them tomake these modifications.
That's why we develop so manyresources for people.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
That is really interesting.
It's like almost can be seen aspreparing for retirement.
You know you have yourretirement savings plan, your
401k or your savings investments.
This is a part of that process,but a fall one fall because you
(33:06):
didn't prepare in that area.
Now you end up in a skillednursing facility for the next
remaining 20, 25 years of yourlife.
You prepare financially but youdidn't prepare for as the
safety measures to prevent someof those Falls Falls are one of
the lead leading tragedy leadingcauses for people.
Older adults.
Er visits one of the leadingcause for death and injury death
(33:28):
and injuries.
Yes, ma'am, so we're going totake a pause and we have.
I have a special surprise foryou.
So somebody when they wereyounger uh, I found this out.
Uh was a cheerleader, was acheerleader.
So, uh, just tell me, I'mactually still a cheerleader.
It wasn't?
Speaker 1 (33:44):
cheerleading.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
So, uh, just tell me, actually you're still chilling
okay, so I wanted to dosomething for the audience here.
Um, back in high school youshared in high school, right?
Uh, can you give us yourfavorite chant for the audience,
your favorite chant?
Speaker 1 (34:02):
well, my favorite would be because it's my alma
mater.
It's uh, give me an o, give mean a, give me a k, give me a p,
give me an a, give me r, give meanother k, and that's what's it
spell oak park louder, oak parklouder.
I couldn't do that now.
So, yeah, because it's a, itwas.
(34:24):
It was just because it meantsomething to you, you know your
school name.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Your school name.
All right Oak Park.
What?
Was your mascot, huskies, husky, oak Park, huskies, and did you
cheer for basketball football?
All the sports, yes, yes andthen.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
I had knee problems and then I was a wrestling
cheerleader, because you sit onthe floor when they wrestle
because otherwise you blocksomebody's view.
Oh wow, I never knew aboutwrestling cheerleaders.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Yeah, oh, so you cheered year round.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Well, yeah, we did.
But then my sophomore, that wasmy sophomore year.
You can't be a cheerleader whenyou're a freshman, so you learn
the things and then you try outfor your sophomore year.
You can't be a cheerleader whenyou're a freshman.
Oh, so you learn the things andthen you try out for your
sophomore year and then myjunior year.
I was a wrestling cheerleaderand then my knee just got so bad
that I became a synchronizedswimmer.
Okay, so I was on that team.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Great Wow.
So did your daughters pick upany cheerleading as well?
Speaker 1 (35:22):
No, no, they didn't, but I played the cello in the
orchestra and, of course, myfather was in the piano business
.
He was a piano tuner and apiano technician, so we always
took piano lessons and I tookcello lessons, besides being a
cheerleader and all these otherthings I was involved in, but I
was always busy.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
You were always busy.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Always a busy person.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Always busy.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
You were always busy, always a busy person, and I
always say, if you wantsomething to get done, ask a
busy person, because they'll doit.
Oh, okay, alright, and that'swhy I asked her to join the show
.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Well, that's good, but thank you for sharing that.
That's why I sort of give youthose, I guess, questionnaires
to learn a little bit about you.
And I said look at, look at,she was a cheerleader and a
swimmer as well.
So those are wonderful, uhactivities to be a part of, and
I'm actually getting my kidsinvolved, and my daughter won't
play tennis now, so I said hey,if she interested in it, I'll
(36:14):
let her try it out.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
So yeah, my kids all played an instrument.
They were in all types ofsports and um, it's just
something that it.
It gives them, though somerounding in their life, they're
so well-rounded, you know.
So they might.
They might find something thatthey really love doing and
they'll pursue for the rest oftheir life.
Or, you know, being involved ona team too it's just good
(36:36):
experience.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Good experience my dad, learn how to lose gotta
learn how to lose my dad alwayssaid uh, he'd always like give
advice to men like that are thatare fathers.
He would say you know, ifyou're raising a son, put him in
sports.
He said that's a good start.
Right there, put them in sports, give them something to do,
keep them busy.
And because sports teach themthings and, uh, different
(36:57):
attributes that you can't justteach at home right, you know,
you can't teach at home while so, and it takes a village.
They always say you can't justteach at home.
Right, you know, you can'tteach at home and it takes a
village.
It does.
They always say you can't teacheverything, you're going to
miss some things.
But putting them in the rightenvironments and the right
things can actually benefit alot.
And I learned a lot fromplaying sports.
I played sports when I was likefour years old, so that was
great, but that ends our segmentof fun.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
the cheerleading, I ends our segment of fun uh, the
cheerleading, um, I was like,okay, miss grasso was a
cheerleader, all right.
I just want to say thank youfor not making me try to do a
split.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
No, no, no, I don't think your kids watching they
would appreciate me doing that,right?
Uh, they'd be upset with me, uh.
So, uh, I want to go into fallsfree, florida, uh, the
coalition, um, the origins of it, if you just share with the
audience there and actually, ifwe can entice them to join us.
Absolutely yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
We would love to further expand.
We have 186 people in theoriginal group that get the
emails.
Not everybody attends all themeetings because I know that
they're busy and they have othercommitments, but they love
getting the meeting minutes fromJennifer Trevino, who was on
your show.
She is such a fastidious notetaker and it's like just being
(38:13):
there.
You get the information.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
She's very smart, very smart Very smart, Very
smart gal.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
I love working with her too.
She does great consultations asan occupational therapist and
she's taken it upon herself toget a lot of designations too.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Functioned out of lease for life.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Yes, yes, I really.
She's a very, very wonderfulperson also.
So we actually were just inPinellas County.
I was a member of the betterliving for seniors organization,
which is an arm of the uh aging, I'm sorry.
(38:50):
Uh, the triple a, the areaagency on aging every county has
one yep, uh and uh that's.
That's like the fundraising armfor the Area Agency on Aging.
So when I first joined and Istarted my business, somebody
said why don't you join BetterLiving for Seniors?
(39:11):
And I said, ok, I did and itwas a great networking
experience and I signed up to beon the Falls Prevention
Committee where I met Carol Wareand Christine Haumacher and
Carol Ware was the chair andthen I think Christine was the
vice chair at that time.
Then she left to do Sages andCarol said do you want to be
(39:32):
vice chair?
So that's what happened thenwhen Carol left because she was
really had more duties at theSunshine Center in St Petersburg
, then I became the chair andthen I expanded it.
I left the Better Living forSeniors with that committee
because I wanted to do a truecoalition so that we could get
(39:52):
other than just members.
The fire department educatorsreally don't wanna spend $60 a
year to an organization thatthey can't take advantage of.
They're too busy and there werea lot of people that just would
have no value of the BetterLiving for Seniors networking.
So I expanded it so that peoplewouldn't have to pay a
(40:16):
membership fee.
It's absolutely free.
I don't know how we do it orhow we stay in existence with
having no money coming in.
I'm not a 501c3, but amthinking about it.
But through the graciousness ofPinellas County EMS and
Regional 911, they were givingus a lot of money for printed
materials.
(40:36):
Each fire department gives us alot of money, not us a lot of
money.
They spend a lot of money doinga lot of education and passing
out of materials.
So we've produced a lot ofdifferent things under the arm
of that coalition.
I have to say the PinellasCounty is probably one of the
(40:57):
most creative counties inprevention.
We have a senior activitycoloring book.
My grandson told me that if Iwanted people to, this is when
he was about you know, 13, 14years old grandma if you want
people to learn about fallsprevention because I was
complaining that people run awayfrom me when I try talking to
(41:19):
them about it he, you have tohave the grandkids tell their
grandparents about it.
And I said well, you know, max,that really makes a lot of good
sense and that's my daughter,denise's son, max.
Hey, max, he's now at FloridaState University.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
He writes school.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Yeah, but so we have this flower project that we do
in the schools.
It originally started out forGrandparents Day, because that
happens to be a hallmark holidayin September, which is Falls
Prevention Month, and we helpthe children construct this base
with petals that has the sixsteps of falls prevention from
(41:59):
the National Coalition on Aging.
So it's a very rewarding thingand people love it and they love
getting something that theirkids colored.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
So that's just one of the things we did.
And then one of the members ofmy coalition that I was dealing
with retired from the Departmentof Elder Affairs and she said
why don't you take over thecoalition for the state?
She said because there's peoplein tallahassee that could
benefit from all the wonderfulthings that you're doing in
(42:30):
pinellas county.
So I did so.
Now our coalition is statewide.
We have the florida departmentof health.
We have the florida departmentof elder affairs.
We have a lot of differentphysical therapy people,
occupational therapists.
We have a lot of differentphysical therapy people,
occupational therapists.
We have a lot of differentsenior service businesses that
would benefit from all of theeducation and resources that we
(42:53):
have.
We have most of the AAAs in thestate of Florida are very, very
in tune with our coalition andwe had.
Now we can.
We can say that we do so manythings and we reach so many
people and we really are a greatsupport to one another.
But my big thing is to havesome form of education every
(43:14):
month, okay, via a speaker.
Just this past, this month, wehad, from a recommendation from
American Bone Health.
I've been wanting to getsomebody to speak on
osteoporosis and she wasexcellent Dr Kathleen Camp from
University of North Texas HealthScience Center.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
I made that one.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Yeah, and she had.
She graciously shared herslides so that people who
couldn't attend the meetingcould also get that important
information, becauseosteoporosis is becoming very
critical.
It's almost.
It's not near crisis yet, butit's.
It's very, very.
It happens too often thatpeople break bones before they
fall.
You know, which is an unusualthing.
(43:57):
We think that when you fall,you break a bone, but people are
walking down the stairs andthey break their hip because
it's so brittle, and then theyfall, which is a bone.
But people are walking down thestairs and they break their hip
because it's so brittle, andthen they fall, which is a maybe
a hairline fracture or a modest
Speaker 2 (44:09):
yep, it's a much harder fall then, and it takes a
much longer recuperation and,of course, has a much greater
chance of death, because after abroken hip, people develop
pneumonia and then they passright, I didn't do more research
on that myself because I'veread it before about the impact
(44:29):
of a hip surgery and a hipfracture, but I don't know why
it's so impactful to the body,right?
but that's something interestingto learn about you know,
because there's a lot offatality that happens after a
hip fracture, like really, itreally is like people not aware
of that you wouldn't reallyassociate the hip with the lung
(44:51):
Right, you know.
I know that's.
That's what is so intriguingfor me, like how the how that
has anything to do with whatmaybe have resulted after the
fact.
Right, I don't, I really don'tknow.
Um know, so I need toinvestigate that myself as well.
So, but Falls Free FloridaCoalition do you remember the
year?
What you took over?
Speaker 1 (45:10):
just it'll be.
It will be two years two yearsin January yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
So I mean there are so many people that are involved
, from state agencies to countylevel, individuals, people of
nonprofit organizations, peoplethat are business owners that
are part of Falls Free Florida,and I just think that it would
be very impactful to see, Iwould say, falls Free Florida
(45:39):
join more of, I guess, a lot ofthe Chamber of Commerce as well,
throughout the state of Floridaas well you know, throughout
the state of Florida as well tobecome members of that, so that
way we can sort of integrateinto the communities and I think
that'll be a great step for youknow, members of the Chamber of
Commerce for each city tobecome a part of Falls Free
Florida as well.
Speaker 1 (45:59):
And I'm looking for universities, different
universities to come in too,that's really good.
Because when I I was actuallyinvited by the National
Coalition on Aging recently toin early September to go to
Arlington for their 10-yearconference.
It happens every year and theyonly invite specific people from
(46:19):
the United States to do theplanning for their false
prevention campaigns for thenext 10 years.
Wow, so it was really an eyeopening.
It was just a fantastic.
I met people from all aroundthe United States and it was
just really an eye opener onwhat we need to do.
(46:43):
We're still light and peoplecouldn't believe that we have
monthly meetings.
They say, oh, we meet quarterly, we meet every six months and I
thought, well, that's great.
I think you need to meetmonthly because there's so many
things that happen every day inour particular, in at least my
physical realm of business.
Somebody is inventing somethingnew that's going to help
(47:03):
somebody.
There are young people comingin with terrific minds wanting
to be prosthetic engineers andthey're developing prosthetics
now for people that are so muchlike your own hand, your own
foot, your own leg, and it'sjust really so amazing to me
that it is changing every singleday.
Speaker 2 (47:25):
That's good, always advancement, and what
advancements and future growththat you have that you're
excited about when it pertainsto access and design.
Speaker 1 (47:38):
Well, I think our growth.
You know we consistently domore volume.
I love now putting in thehybrid elevators.
It's a vertical platform liftthat goes up three stories high.
It's especially so wonderfulfor coastal communities
(47:59):
Elevators.
To maintain an elevator is veryexpensive on an elevator
contract.
It's $5 to $750 a month.
Elevator companies don't makemoney putting in the elevator.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
They make the money on the maintenance okay um, and
typically right, if I'm notmistaken, you can only use, like
the company that actuallyinstalled it, or maybe built the
, the elevator as well, right?
Speaker 1 (48:23):
well, that's another thing.
If you install something, youshould service that.
And I have to tell you we areservicing everybody else's
installations because there'snot as much money in service as
there is in sales andinstallation.
So a lot of the companies outthere want to sell you something
(48:46):
but they won't service you.
And then they call us.
Oh well, you can call Accessand Design of St Petersburg, you
know they'll come out to,they'll come down to Fort Myers
to help you.
Well, when we have to go to theVA in Fort Myers or Sanibel,
okay, to redo a lot of thethings that happened with the
(49:07):
hurricane, nobody else wanted togo down there and we said, do
we really?
You can't find anybody else.
But we do only because we loveour servicemen, we love our
veterans, okay, and we want todo something to help them
because they deserve that.
But it really angers me, okay,that these companies will not
(49:28):
spend the time and trouble toservice what they install and so
many times it's not installedcorrectly, which makes me even
more angry, because people haveto get more rails or something,
or, or sometimes on an outsideunit they put in an inside unit.
They're especially made andspecially sealed against salt
(49:50):
water, corrosion and theelements.
So if you have an outsidesituation of a vertical platform
lift, you need to have theoutside package on your
equipment and that's just very.
You know they'll do that inorder to get the contract, but
because they don't care, andthat just makes me angry.
Shortcut If you're helpingpeople with disabilities, you
(50:12):
should never take advantage ofthem.
Right?
You should want to help themand that's what we primarily do,
and I have to tell you, thepeople that work for us feel
good at the end of every day.
Speaker 2 (50:24):
That's good.
Speaker 1 (50:25):
They feel good when they come home.
They really accomplishsomething.
And I talked to my grandson.
Um, he said, you know, grandma,I think I'm going to take over
access and design when Igraduate college.
I said, okay, that would begreat, max, yeah and he says
because there's just nothinglike it, because he works for us
when he doesn't have school anduh says it's just it's just so
(50:46):
amazing to feel so good that youhelp people.
Speaker 2 (50:49):
Right, and it has to feel good too that the work that
you're doing your lineage, youknow, your kids' kids recognize
it, honors it and actually wantsto follow sort of in your
footsteps and sort of helppeople as well.
Like that has to be veryfulfilling for you, you know,
and more rewarding as well.
Like that, that has to be veryfulfilling for you, you know,
and more rewarding as well, youknow so.
(51:11):
But I think it attributes to um, how impactful you are as a
person.
Not only you're impactful inyour household, as a mother, a
person that really just took, uh, her family by you know herself
and you know, along with yourmother, and raise your kids,
instilled in them commitment toothers, right and just.
(51:33):
Your journey is amazing and I'mglad that we're able to share
it here on the let's GetComfortable podcast.
And as we wrap up, do you haveany final messages out there,
whether it's to say to family ofcaregivers, whether it's say to
your own family, anything you'dlike to share?
Speaker 1 (51:50):
I started my business when I was 70 years old.
Okay, and getting aconstruction license in the
state of Florida is just noteasy.
I had to bring two hugesuitcases with me filled with
books.
It's an open book exam forseveral hours, but it's very
grueling and most people have totake it three, four, five times
(52:12):
.
Okay, I did fail the operationportion because it was a lot of
math and I asked for help withmy instructor so I could go take
it again.
And he said oh, I'm just toobusy.
My wife has me doing stuff onSaturday and that'd be the only
time I would have.
(52:33):
So I went on YouTube and this12 year old boy taught me pi r
square, how to figure thetrapezoid volume to dig and then
haul away in trucks of acertain volume, so that I would
be able to pass that exam.
And I did, and thank you tothat little kid out there who
(52:55):
made a lot of sense because hetalked my language and I totally
could understand him.
So if you ever get stuck,there's always someone who's
going to help you find your way.
And people said, oh, oh, whywould you want to go into
business?
So, my friends, oh, that's justsilly, why don't you just take
it easy.
You're 70 years old.
(53:15):
Why would you want to start abusiness at 70.
And I went well, why wouldn't I?
Why wouldn't?
Because right now, at that time, nobody was really doing aging
in place.
Okay, and since then there'sbeen a lot of more companies
that have popped up that aredoing that.
But I wanted to do it correctlyand I wanted to do it so that
it would be good for people, andI wanted to be able to build an
(53:40):
arsenal of resources so thatpeople that couldn't afford the
modifications would be able toget them in some way.
Sometimes we get only $500,like from the Diabetes
Association, towards a ramp, butthen we have to go to another
source to get a little bit here,a little bit there, but we're
going to make sure that thatperson gets the ramp by hook or
(54:02):
by crook.
So there's always a way toovercome something.
Just don't give up and don'tlisten to all the noise that
people give you.
Do what you think is right fromyour heart.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
Yes, yes yes, right, and that's why, honestly, it's
so impactful to have a networkof associates, people that can
empower you and motivate you,because if you keep your circle
small sometimes and not branchout, and those type of people
can deter you and keep youcomplacent as well and not not
knocking your friends, by theway, but um, it's just, uh, the
(54:35):
truth.
Yeah, yeah, but um, but I thankyou for being, uh, the pioneer
that you are.
Uh, so we're sitting here todaywith the pioneer and legendary
person, could I say.
You started Aging in Place inFlorida.
Speaker 1 (54:56):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (54:57):
too cocky to say that .
Speaker 1 (54:58):
It's always been there.
Speaker 2 (54:59):
It's always been okay , always been there, aarp.
Speaker 1 (55:02):
AARP all right Is really trying to bring it to the
forefront with the Aging inPlace booklet.
And again, aarporg slash homefit.
That'll give you a ton ofinformation because this is a
big deal it's a big deal To beable to remodel your home to be
able to stay in it.
But you have to understand.
And what do you want tocontinue doing?
(55:24):
That's what I always tellpeople.
Number one what do you want tocontinue doing?
You want to continue gardening?
Well, you can do raisedgardening beds so that if you're
in a wheelchair, you cancontinue to garden and do
something that you love there'salways a way to do something got
it.
Speaker 2 (55:38):
What do you want to continue doing?
Speaker 1 (55:40):
right and how can you do?
Speaker 2 (55:42):
that long term right, when you are no longer able to
have allability, how can you putyourself in place in
positioning your home inposition to be able to have
those functions that do thethings you enjoy continuously?
That's an amazing way to put itand on that note, I'm going to
(56:03):
say in my mind I have thelegendary pioneer of aging in
place.
He is right here on the let'sGet Comfy podcast, ms Arlene
Grosso.
To you and your family, yourkids, I commend you all for your
mission and how they were ableto honor their mother.
That's in the Bible as well.
(56:24):
Honor their mother and provideback to caregivers and help
people each and every day.
So thank you for joining theshow.
My pleasure it's my honor againand I look forward to having
many more years with you as anassociate, a friend of someone
that I can learn from, mentorand I know, and I hope people
(56:45):
out there uh, take an anopportunity and visit a website
and, if you don't mind, beforewe wrap up, if you can share
where people can find yourinformation, your website,
whether it's on social media,any of those things, where can
they find you?
Speaker 1 (57:00):
It's wwwaccessanddesignflcom.
Speaker 2 (57:07):
All right.
Speaker 1 (57:07):
And is spelled out because you can't have the
ampersand in there.
So it's access and design, flor floridacom, and it's
727-233-4900 all right, um,knowledge and resources, access
and design.
Speaker 2 (57:25):
Uh, please go on to youtube at the let's Get Comfort
podcast.
Please subscribe to the channel.
Comment If you have anyquestions.
Use the comment section therebelow to make sure you share
your thoughts in regards to thisepisode.
If you have any questions, msArlene Grosso gave you her
(57:45):
contact information.
Also, you can visitwwwcomfortmeasuresconsultingcom.
I'd love to have a conversationwith you if you need any
assistance with healthcarenavigation or to reach out.
If you don't feel socomfortable reaching out Either
one, I'm going to connect youwith Ms Grosso for sure, and as
well, check out my Facebook.
(58:05):
If some people don't accessYouTube, we're also available on
Facebook at Comfort MeasuresConsulting there, as well as
Instagram, comfort MeasuresConsulting.
So we thank you for tuning into another episode of the Less
Than Comfy Podcast.
See you next show.
Alright.
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