That’s How He Rolls: Chaz Southard

What’s Chaz Southard, a man who’s just about to launch his own web design business, doing spending hours visiting Trustees properties, taking notes on his iPad? Well, making the world a better place, of course! Specifically, helping make our special places more welcoming and accessible – for folks of all abilities.

After a surfing accident ten years ago, Chaz Southard – an avid hiker and skier – helped heal himself by revisiting what made him happy before: the outdoors. Now, he’s helping others do the same. Volunteering his time to The Trustees as an on-the-ground investigator, Chaz makes site visits and offers detailed analyses of both challenges that may face a physically impaired individual – and opportunities we have to offer universal access on our properties. “I get so much joy out of being outdoors, I really want to share that with others.”  

For Southard – who has a degree in environmental science from University of New Hampshire and graduate degree in psychology from Lesley University – the inspiration to volunteer came in a few forms. One is Ron Mace, a polio victim who devoted his life as an architect and industrial designer to devising environments suitable for all people regardless of age or condition, which he coined “universal design.”  Southard’s other inspiration? His own father, a building contractor.

“There are so many baby boomers who are getting older now, and my father has seen a big interest from that group wanting aesthetically pleasing modifications to their own homes – nice graded walkways instead of ugly ramps added on as afterthoughts,” he explains. “The trend is for people to age in place, and thoughtful design can help them do that.”

He continues on the subject of a recent Trustees property visit, ”Appleton Farms did an amazing job to help make the new Visitor Center universally accessible. There’s a beautiful new brick walkway that meanders around a curve – for someone in a wheelchair or with a knee injury, it’s a great example of universal design.”

For all that’s he’s accomplished so far, this passionate volunteer and outdoorsman isn’t one to slow down. His newest project? He’s currently developing a nonprofit website that would create a searchable database for all of the universally accessible trails in Massachusetts. “Whether you’re in a wheelchair or you have a hard time walking because of age or illness, you should be able to enjoy nature,” he says. We couldn’t agree more.

Published June 2012

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Submitted by aek2013 on: July 22, 2012

What a challenge to take on all of the Trustees properties - I'm grateful in a selfish way. To E's comment - World's End, a Trustees property, was landscaped by Olmsted, as was Boston's Emerald Necklace. The Olmsted house/worksite is a National Park Service Historic Site in Brookline, and the rangers offer many Olmsted centric walking tours of area sites. I hope the Boston Harbor Islands get similar assessment for universal accessibility in the future. As a BHI volunteer, I know that some of the islands most likely won't ever be very accessible to most of the population, just by nature of their composition and historic use, but of those that have been made more visitor friendly, this would be essential knowledge to have in planning for extant upkeep and future planned use.

Submitted by E on: June 19, 2012

Thank you for doing this. My daughter broker her foot this summer, and we are looking for places to go outside which are wheel chair accessible. By the way, the man who designed both Central Park in NYC, and lots of other great outdoor walking spaces was in a wheelchair. His name was Frederick Law Olmstead. He lived from 1822-1903!!

Submitted by SandyS on: June 17, 2012

In my 70s and love being outdoors in every season. The occasional well-placed bench makes all the difference on arthritis-flare days. GO CHAZ!

Submitted by Beth on: June 16, 2012

This is such an upbeat, positive story! Good luck on your website, Chaz--you're doing a great service for people who don't want to give up doing what they love.

Submitted by KatyR on: June 15, 2012

What a great article, and a great story! So happy to read this, and know about this good work. We ALL need the outdoors. Thank you! (Go, Chaz!)