The November Update

NOV. 28: Support Easy Does It on Giving Tuesday

Every day, Easy Does It’s team works to provide seniors and people with disabilities the services they need to live independently in their homes. We strive to keep our service costs as affordable as possible for our clients and rely on your support to keep prices low. We'll host an all-day give-a-thon to celebrate our team's accomplishments and encourage you to show your support with a donation of any amount.

Make a Donation

Holiday Office Hours

With the holiday season approaching, our team looks forward to connecting with friends and family over the next few months. Please remember that, although we’ll have emergency attendants, dispatchers, and drivers on call during the holidays, our office will be closed in observance of Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.

EDI at the Downtown Berkeley Farmers Market

Easy Does It will return to the Ecology Center’s Farmers Market, tabling at the Downtown market on Saturday, December 2nd. Pop by our booth to win one of our tote bags and reusable produce bags to help you reduce your reliance on single-use plastics and spread the word about our Independent Living services.

Accessibility Awareness Day

It was a pleasure representing Easy Does It at Chabot College’s Accessibility Awareness Day. Trevor was there all afternoon to connect students with our Wheelchair Roadside Assistance Program. Throughout much of Northern Alameda County, if your power chair or scooter breaks down, you can call EDI for our FASTER roadside assistance service and a technician will come to your location and attempt to repair your device on the spot. If they can’t, they will then transport you to a safe place. This service is free and made possible by the Alameda County Transportation Commission. We look forward to seeing Chabot College’s students again next semester for another successful Accessibility Awareness Day.

Comprehensive Training Days for our Attendants

As we improve our services, we are also investing in our team. Over the next few months, our Emergency Attendants will participate in comprehensive training sessions that will help them build upon the skills which are needed to work for our clients. In our first session, they participated in multiple hands-on workshops that taught them how to properly administer medication, to replace male and female catheters, and other procedures our clients may require. We are incredibly proud of their dedication to continuing to learn as team members to serve our clients better.

The CIL’s Brand New Website and Attendant Registry

The Center for Independent Living recently launched a brand-new website to make accessing the wealth of resources they offer even easier. As the first Independent Living Center with a 50-year history of caring for youth, adults, and seniors with disabilities, they needed a website that honored their legacy while easily connecting new clients with needed resources. The brand-new website excels on every front, and if that wasn’t enough, they also launched an online registry for personal care attendants. Congratulations to our friends at The CIL on a very successful launch! If you haven’t already, check out their new site.

Visit thecil.org

Our Fall Website Feature Update

We are excited to announce that we have just launched an updated version of our website. All of Easy Does It’s Services are now live on their own pages, and we have created all new custom forms, including an equipment donation form, as well as enhanced page design and site navigation to improve user experience. Finally, we have integrated The Userway Accessibility Widget to ensure everyone with a disability can gain access to the information they need.

Asbestos.com’s Guides to Cancer Care

California has the most asbestos-related deaths in the country and some of the largest deposits of asbestos in the world. Numerous work sites and geological areas have posed serious risks for employees and residents. From 1999 to 2013 alone, asbestos exposure caused thousands of cases of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases in the state.

Older adults are learning more about cancers and other health risks that might affect them. Age is the most significant risk factor for developing cancer.

People 65 and older comprise 60% of all cancer patients. To raise awareness, Asbestos.com recently published a Seniors Guide to Cancer that covers topics like wellness tips, the importance of seeing a doctor, and preventive measures:

Because seniors make up around 80% of those diagnosed with mesothelioma and it takes anywhere from 20-50 years after exposure to occur, they have created a great guide for mesothelioma as well:

The Emerge 2024 Application Opens This Friday!

The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University is now accepting applications for its 2024 cohort.

The cohort will consist of scholars, artists, filmmakers, or activists whose work enriches the field of Disability Studies with projects that explore disabled people’s experiences intersecting with further marginalization by race, gender, sexuality, incarceration, or immigration. The cohort will engage in an intensive summer workshop to collectively cultivate their respective projects and build community with other disabled scholar-activists. The summer will culminate in a virtual symposium presenting their finished works to the broader Disability Studies community.

Applications are due Friday, January 5, 12pm PT

View Submissions

Note: if you applied last year and are looking to reapply, please read the details carefully, as the framing of who we are looking for has shifted slightly. 

December 9: Hello Winter Weather! Preparedness Workshop at Strawberry Creek Park

Bomb Cyclones 🌀? Atmospheric Rivers 🌧️? Pineapple Expresses 🍍? Oh My!

The City of Berkeley invites you and your whole family to get ready for everything Winter 2024 may have in store. Join their Hello Winter Weather! Preparedness Workshop at Strawberry Creek Park on Saturday December 9, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Start the morning by learning about Berkeley’s winter weather outlook for the year and add your voice to the 2024 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan at 10:00 am at Berkeley Corporation Yard at 1326 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94702. After a short winter weather talk, stick around for hands-on demos and activities with City of Berkeley Public Works team.

• Learn how to Adopt a Storm Drain
• Fill and place sandbags to protect your home and take some home for free!
• Check out our diorama of a mini-Berkeley to learn about how stormwater travels through our city and how you can protect our watershed
• See flood fighting equipment in action
• Staff will lead guided walks of Strawberry Creek throughout the event, where you can learn more about how to be a friend to Berkeley’s precious stormwater infrastructure and the broader ecosystem of the Bay.
• Get resources and information from other partners to get prepared for winter storms

All activities and training are designed to be accessible and engaging for people of all ages.

Parking is available at the Berkeley Corporation Yard at 1326 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94702. Most of the demos and activities will take place on West Street, just north of the park.

For more information or questions, please email the Office of Emergency Services at oes@berkeleyca.gov

That’s everything there is to know about Easy Does It in November. Despite the holidays being on the horizon, we are still committed to connecting Berkeley residents with our safety net services that help seniors and people with disabilities live independently in their homes. We hope you will help us continue to make that possible with support on November 28, Giving Tuesday, and have yourself a safe and festive Thanksgiving Holiday.