By Elanah Sherman, Avalonia board member According to the Sierra Club, the environmental justice movement was a response in the 1980s to the dumping of toxic waste in a Black North Carolina community. This event led to the publication…
While the words "exciting" and "infrastructure" are not commonly used together, Avalonia's stewardship once again leans towards the uncommon in both word and deed. Over the last month and a half, we have been uncommonly busy, with the initiation of…
Story and photos by Elanah Sherman, Avalonia board member “Hey, what’s a gneiss vug?” Okay, let’s back up! Avalonia has begun using a multi-sense approach on all of our walks ever since an event held last year in collaboration…
By Elanah Sherman A workshop sponsored by our collaborative partner, South East Connecticut Community Center of the Blind, will enhance Avalonia’s capacity to improve accessibility for people who have, in the words of the announcement, hearing or/and vision loss.…
Our passive listening devices recorded several species of ground-nesting birds last spring in the Preston Nature Preserve. Since many of these are birds of conservation concern, we are trying something new and are closing the Preserve to visitors for this…
By Elanah Sherman Over the past three years, Avalonia has been incrementally installing accessible parking on preserve parking lots. These spaces look quite different from the accessible spaces we’re used to seeing throughout Connecticut. That’s because those spaces conform…
By Elanah Sherman Featured Image: Chad Frost of Kent + Frost Landscape Architects presents the plan The year 2024, the third year of Avalonia’s ongoing accessibility initiative, was bookended by efforts to establish a highly accessible trail at Cedar…
Story and Photos by Elanah Sherman When people linger after a party, the event is considered a success. The same applies to a hike. Avalonia’s hike for people with visual disabilities and their friends, held on September 22, 2024 at…
This month, Opening Spaces' editor Elanah Sherman, interviews Melissa Marshall. A graduate of UConn School of Law and a person with a lifelong mobility disability, Melissa is an esteemed trainer in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other disability-related…
Big News! Avalonia has received a $26,000 award from the State’s competitive Recreational Trails Grants Program. The award will fund most of the $32,000 cost of a design plan for a highly accessible trail in the meadow section of the…