Lifesteps cuts ribbon on new Assistive Technology Center
BUTLER TWP — In the company of numerous local and state politicians, the social service agency Lifesteps cut the ribbon on its new Assistive Technology Center on New Castle Road in Butler Township on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 10.
The new facility is located just a few blocks from the main Lifesteps office on New Castle Road, and provides training and guidance for individuals on how to use a variety of technologies that can assist them in tasks that may be difficult for them to perform in daily life.
These technologies include everything from voice-activated doorbells, microwaves, and lamps, to tables that can automatically adjust their height, keyboards with large letters to assist those with diminished eyesight, and headsets to relay a person’s commands into a computer as text.
“One hundred years ago, ‘assistive technology’ included, things like braces, crutches, and wheelchairs,” said Lifesteps president and CEO Karen Sue Owens. “Today, A.T. goes far, far beyond those tools.”
According to Owens, the building that houses the new facility was once the home of a Bruster’s Ice Cream parlor, and after that, a home mortgage provider. As of Thursday, it has become what Lifesteps is billing as one of the only facilities of its type in the state of Pennsylvania.
“Everyone from so many departments at Lifesteps worked collaboratively to make this happen and contributed significantly to the AT Center,” said Lifesteps assistive technology director Diana Petschauer after the ribbon cutting. “It really was a significant effort from so many people at Lifesteps to get into where we are today.”
The facility was made possible through an anonymous foundation grant.
After the ribbon cutting, Petschauer gave guests a tour of the new facility and a quick look at all of the technology it has to offer. The ATC offers training, workshops and webinars on how to use some of the technology on display, while also training individuals on how to use some of the assistive features in the technology they may already have, such as their personal computers and cellphones.
Lifesteps can also assist individuals in obtaining the technology for themselves, through funding programs and through lending libraries.
“We do refer folks to resources for funding so that they can acquire assistive technology,” Petschauer said. “The lending libraries that we work with have libraries throughout the state, so no matter where anyone lives, they can get a device or a piece of equipment shipped to them.”
Among the guests who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony were Butler County Commissioners Kim Geyer and Leslie Osche, along with state Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st; Butler Township commissioner Sam Zurzolo, and representatives from the offices of state Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th; and state Rep. Stephanie Scialabba, R-12th.
“I think they did an outstanding job,” Zurzolo said. “It’s just sad that Dan Musko couldn’t be here to see this, because he was very instrumental in Lifesteps, and he would have been proud of everything that’s been accomplished here.”
Musko is the former CEO of Lifesteps who died on Sept. 23.
