Head of Rochester OASIS talks about what makes her program great for those who want to learn, stay active

By Mike Costanza

Under her leadership, Rochester OASIS has grown from an educational non-profit with a membership of just over 1,800 to one that counts about 8,500 on its rolls. In the fall trimester alone, about 1,300 members signed up for a total of 165 courses on subjects that ranged from the films of Alfred Hitchcock to sign language. The director of Rochester OASIS works her magic in its Monroe Avenue offices with only one full-time employee, over 100 volunteers, and a 2010 budget of just under $265,180.

Q. Before we get to the details, I have to ask: what does “OASIS” stand for?
A. It doesn’t stand for anything, except “OASIS,” anymore. When it first began about 30 years ago, it was an acronym. Since then, they’ve (the nationwide organization) discovered it was pretty inaccurate, so they dropped it.

Q. What does Rochester OASIS do for older adults?
A. The whole OASIS concept, as it was started here, and everywhere, has been to offer challenging interesting courses to older adults. Our emphasis has always been on education, and on challenging people. Our classes are not considered recreational. They’re considered educational. A recreational class would probably be bingo, or something like that, or a kazoo band.

Q. OK, no kazoo bands. Can you tell us about some of the fall trimester’s classes?
A. One of them is offered by Donald Hall, the retired director of the Strasenburgh Planetarium. He’s doing a program on theater organs. It will be at the Auditorium Theater, and will feature the organ that used to be in the RKO theater downtown. Don is going to do a lecture and demonstration of all the different parts of the organ, and how they work, and the history of this particular organ. A famous west coast organist, Jerry Nagano, is going to do a concert. We also have a wonderful relationship that I have built up over the years with the [Rochester] Philharmonic Orchestra. We get tickets to the concerts at much discounted rates that we can offer to our members. A lot of our members take advantage of that. Our members have fun coming to our classes and meeting people. There’s a lot of laughter here, and people have a great time but they’re doing that with educational classes.

Q. Before you came to OASIS, you were president and owner of a local company, Precision Design Systems. Can you tell us about that?
A. We made mostly identification signs for submarines and locomotives. We had four or five employees, but we did quite a lot of business. We did government contract work—I came to hate military specs. I turned my business over to my husband, because he had sold his business.

Q. What do you like most about your job?
A. Trying to find more, better, and more exciting classes for our members. I don’t stop and think, “Would older people like this?” It’s just, “Is this a neat class? Is this fun?” It’s creative, and I get to work with some wonderful people. I just so much enjoy the instructors and the members.

Q. Was Rochester OASIS different when you took over in 1991?
A. Yes, very. The main change has been growth. When I came, we were located in Midtown Plaza. Our physical facility was much smaller, and there were much fewer classes. Right now, we have four classrooms here, and three offices, and a lobby area. I’m thinking that we take up a little less than 4,000 square feet. We also weren’t computerized.

Q. What is Rochester OASIS’ relationship with Lifetime Care?
A. When OASIS started they [the local organization] were all sponsored by different sponsors. One partner locally was identified as the administrative partner. They administered the program on behalf of other partners. Ours still follows the original pattern, and it works well here in Rochester.  I’m a Lifetime Care employee.

Q. What do you do for fun?
A.  I am a professional calligrapher. Mostly I do the calligraphy for fun, or for charity, or for friends. I also love to read. Novels. I always have a book that I’m reading, and a book that I’m listening to in the car. I don’t think that my car would move if I didn’t have a book in it. I also love to travel.