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Safe Routes director finds pride, challenges
in work
By Margo O'Hara
Safe
Routes to School has become an integral part of the Chicagoland
Bicycle Federation’s work, thanks to Melody Geraci.
Geraci, who had been working in the nonprofit sector for about five
years when she became director of Chicagoland Bicycle Federation
Safe Routes to School two years ago, was first drawn to the environmental
aspect of the work.
"None of the organizations I had worked for had struck a nerve
with me," she said. "All the work I've done in the past
is extremely important work, but I kind of feel like the planet
is at this tipping point. It feels more urgent."
Geraci, a mother of three who lives in South Shore, has an eclectic
background. To start, she can often be seen playing the Irish
fiddle in area pubs. From her time as a professional dancer
and then teaching dance for 12 years to her work in affordable housing
and issues related to people with disabilities, Geraci began her
Safe Routes to School work with a broad range of experiences.
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| Melody Geraci |
Since diving into Safe Routes to School, Geraci has
had both professional and personal opportunities she otherwise wouldn't
have had. Geraci has become an avid cyclist. Plus, she is now the
Safe Routes to School expert in Northeast Illinois.
"I've learned more in the last two-and-a-half years than I
can ever remember," she said.
Geraci has traveled throughout the country as a consultant for the
Federal Highway
Administration through the National Center for Safe Routes,
holding training sessions for audiences from the state level to
a very localized, community level. "I've had the opportunity
to help influence policy and implementation of federal funds in
Illinois," she said.
Geraci has high hopes for Chicagoland when it comes
to getting children to walk and bike to school.
"In Chicago, kids are already walking to school," she
said. So, instead of using Safe Routes to School for encouragement
programs, it should focus on public safety and traffic calming issues
in order to "preserve that cherished tradition of walking to
school," she said.
Suburbs have different barriers that Safe Routes to School is looking
to overcome. She said a cultural paradigm shift is necessary in
order to get suburban children walking and biking to school.
"There you have a generation of parents who never walked to
school. They don't have that memory," she said, adding that
many suburban communities are not designed for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Geraci sees a value in Safe Routes to School not only because it
gets children to school in an active way: Teaching children alternate
forms of transportation and giving them a chance to be pedestrians
and bicyclists means they will be safer drivers, she said.
"Part of why Safe Routes is a great program is that it acknowledges
that if these kids are never going to be a pedestrian or bicyclist
and they travel only in the back seat of their car, what kind of
drivers will they be?" she said.
Margo O'Hara is the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation's
Communications Manager.
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