About
Our Vision
A world where every person with a disability is able to direct their own care to live as they choose.
Our Mission
Provide seniors and people with disabilities non-medical emergency services and other essential support to enable and enhance independent living.
Our Services
Easy Does It Emergency Services provides emergency assistance to seniors and people with disabilities including: accessible transportation, in-home attendant care, case management, and equipment repair for wheelchairs and other mobility devices.
Our Team
Attendants
Our attendants are dedicated professionals, one of which is always on call to assist our clients.
Kyle Eminger
Working as an EDI attendant has been a great opportunity for Kyle to serve people. Over the past 20+ years, he's gained many valuable skills. He's also a fine art watercolorist who paints landscapes, streetscapes, and architectural landmarks of the Bay
Area and beyond.
Maricela Scheel
Born and raised in Berkeley, California. Maricela is an attendant who's been working with disabled people for approximately 18 years. She loves working at EDI because she gets to help amazing and unique people. She feels good knowing that she's one of the people that is making a difference for the disabled community. Hobbies are swimming, Art, and fixing old-school cars.
Andrew Fusco
From Long Island, NY, living in Berkeley since 1993, Andrew has been an attendant for over 25 years. Outside of work, he spends most of his time at home or out hiking around Berkeley. But whenever he can, he goes camping in the desert, backpacking in the mountains, and touring National Parks.
Eliza Liu
Eliza is a Doctoral Student at the UC Berkeley Wright Institute, studying clinical psychology. She has worked as a CNA in a long-term care facility and as a hospice worker. Eliza joined Easy Does It because she loves being able to help people in any way she can. When not working or in class, she loves hiking with her dog, gardening, and listening to music.
Courtney Haynie
Bio Coming Soon...
Angelica Franco
Bio Coming Soon...
Laurie Alarab
Bio Coming Soon...
Dispatchers
Easy Does It's dispatchers work around the clock to connect callers with the team members/resources they need.
Flor de Maria
Flor de Maria Chahua was born and raised in Lima, Peru, making Spanish her first language. She joined EDI in 1997 when the EDI home base was Cece Weeks' living room. Flor has worked as an attendant, driver, weekend manager, and now dispatcher. Throughout the years, she has made many friends in the disabled community and is always happy to bring help when needed.
Rosa Genet
Rosa joined EDI in 2001 and has held many roles within the agency. She is grateful for all she has learned while working at EDI. Her focus is always trying to fulfill the program's mission, which is to serve the disabled community and help people in need.
Aaron Nelson
Bio Coming Soon...
Shaviya Watson
Bio Coming Soon...
Transportation
Our Transportation Coordinator and Drivers work throughout the week to safely transport our clients in/around the city of Berkeley.
Eduardo Guiza
driver
Ed has been with EDI since 2000. He feels it is a great place to work and loves being able to help clients who genuinely appreciate his efforts. He’s also an avid photographer, many of our best photos are done by Ed, but to him, it’s more of a hobby. Other hobbies include travel and good food, so long as said food doesn’t involve cheese.
Drew Tynes
Driver
Bio Coming Soon...
Ernie Vegas
Driver
Bio Coming Soon...
Felix Velasquez
Driver
Bio Coming Soon...
Jolene Emerson
Driver
Bio Coming Soon...
Wheelchair & Equipment Repair
Our experienced repair technicians are responsible for keeping our client's devices functional for a fraction of the cost of service at for-profit repair shops.
Levan Talakhadze
transportation & repair program manager
Bio Coming Soon...
Rodney Alainz
repair tech
Bio Coming Soon...
Rick Hamilton
Repair Tech
Bio Coming Soon...
Office Staff
The team that operates behind the scenes to make sure that the rest of the agency can excel at their work.
Bruce Curtis
Acting EXECUTIVE director
Bruce Curtis, is a disability rights activist, a spinal cord injury quadriplegic who uses a wheelchair and has been working internationally to build the organizational capacity of disability NGOs since 1980. Mr. Curtis began working internationally in Nicaragua in 1980, six months after the Sandinista revolution, in order to transfer independent living skills and disability inclusion policy from the Independent Living Movement in the United States. From 1980-1984 he worked to build the organizational capacity of disability organizations in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Grenada and Jamaica.
Beginning in November 1992, Mr. Curtis worked for the World Institute on Disability for 22 years and served as their International Program Director until June 2014. From 1992-2004, Mr. Curtis was building the capacity of disability NGOs in many regions of Russia and in other post-Soviet countries such as, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Uzbekistan. From 2004-2016 he helped to build the capacity of the Coalition for Independent Living in the Republic of Georgia. Between 2009 and 2014 in the Republic of Georgia, Mr. Curtis successfully managed a USAID funded 5-year, $5 million project to set up a small factory: to produce high-quality, appropriate technology, adult and children’s, manual and electric Roughrider wheelchairs.
Since 2015, Mr. Curtis has been the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Whirlwind Wheelchairs International. Since 2019, Mr. Curtis has been a member of the Board of Directors of Easy Does It and is currently the acting Executive Director.
Richard Woolbert
deputy executive director
Richard Woolbert is a dedicated professional who has been working with Easy Does It Emergency Services in Berkeley, California. He started as an Executive assistant and worked his way up to becoming the Operations Manager, eventually being promoted to Deputy Executive Director. Richard’s passion for helping people with disabilities has been a driving force behind his career at Easy Does It.
During his time at Easy Does It, Richard has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills, a strong work ethic, and a commitment to the organization’s mission. As Deputy Executive Director, he is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organization, ensuring that it runs smoothly and efficiently, and that the needs of the people it serves are being met.
Richard has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by people with disabilities and is committed to helping them live independent, fulfilling lives. He is known for his compassion, empathy and dedication to serving the community. Richard’s contributions to Easy Does It have been invaluable, and he widely respected by his colleagues and the people the organizations serves.
Trevor Jacobson
outreach Coordinator
Trevor is a Bay Area native. While new to non-profit work, Trevor has held various creative/marketing roles. He is incredibly excited to apply his knowledge to an organization that’s truly making a difference in the community. Outside of the office, you can catch Trevor cooking or catching up on video games.
Maggie Tenenbaum
bookkeeper
Bookkeeper Maggie Tenenbaum is a Berkeley native, Oakland resident, and graduate of UCSC. She has been with Easy Does It since 2019 and brings 10 years of nonprofit bookkeeping experience to the agency. Outside of work Maggie performs in musical theatre and choirs around the Bay and is mom to two cats.
Ayanna Keeton
Program manager
Bio Coming Soon...
Beth Hanscom
Operations manager
Bio Coming Soon...
Rose Acampora
independent living resources coordinator
Bio Coming Soon...
Marissa Shaw
independent living resources coordinator
Bio Coming Soon...
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors meets regularly to ensure the agency is serving the community as effectively as possible. We encourage community members to voice their opinions at our monthly (temporarily remote) meetings and maybe even consider joining the Board.
Elections are held each fall, but when the Board has openings, qualified applicants may be added any time of the year. EDI bylaws require that a majority of Directors must be legal residents of the City of Berkeley, and a majority of Directors must be physically disabled.
Bruce Curtis
board president
Melissa Male
vice president
A dedicated public servant and advocate for positive social, economic, and environmental change, Melissa brings over 2 decades of experience working in government and the non-profit sector. Currently, she is the Communications Manager for Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson.
Melissa is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where she received both her BA in Political Science and her law degree (JD). She is a member of the State Bar of California.
A native New Yorker, Melissa has called Berkeley home for over 25 years. In her spare time, she enjoys the performing arts, museums, travel, and eating & drinking her way through the Bay Area’s unique gastronomic scene
Janien Harrison
Member
Janien Harrison was born in North Chicago but considers herself a Bay Area Native. She completed her graduate program in Gerontology and finds it fulfilling to assist Bay Area Seniors and advocate for people with disabilities. She is a counselor for a crisis / warm line and is also honored to help oversee Easy Does It and the vital work we do.
Outside of work, Janien loves to cook and has a substantial appreciation for any hue of the color blue.
Larry Rosenthal
SECRETARY
Retired Social Security employee and AFGE Union Representative.
Felix Gutierrez
Member
Bio Coming Soon...
Judi Rogers
MEMBER
Bio Coming Soon...
"Not broken. Not special. Not lesser. Perfect. Perfectly imperfect."
- Adapted from Ashton Applewhite at CA for All Ages & Abilities Day of Action 9/20/22 Scramento, CA
Our Legacy
The City of Berkeley is known worldwide as the birthplace of the Independent Living movement. In the early 1970s, Ed Roberts successfully fought to make the University of California’s Berkeley campus accessible to himself and other students with disabilities. In the process, he started a movement that spread around the globe. Easy Does It was a natural outgrowth of this Independent Living movement.
EDI was incorporated in 1995 when Cecelia Weeks, a long-time advocate for Independent Living and Disability Rights, led a group of people with disabilities and their advocates in creating a nonprofit organization initially aimed at providing emergency backup attendant services.
In 1998, City of Berkeley voters approved Measure E, authorizing a property tax to finance services for “severely physically disabled persons.” To this day, Measure E remains EDI’s principal sponsor, providing the majority of funding for Emergency Services: Attendant Care, Equipment Repair, and Rescue Rides. As the recipient of the first Measure E contract, and everyone after that, EDI would like to thank the City of Berkeley and its citizens for this indispensable support.
Over the years, EDI has expanded services to include Routine Transportation (through a contract with the City of Berkeley, Alameda County Measure B funds) and Roadside Assistance for people who are stranded due to a wheelchair, scooter, or other mobility device breakdown (funded by Alameda County Transportation Commission, Measure B funds).
EDI employs approximately 30 experienced and dedicated attendants, drivers, repair technicians, and dispatchers and is supported by our Executive Director, Human Resources Manager, Program Manager, Independent Living Resource Coordinator, Operations Manager, and Outreach Coordinator.