Just in time for Earth Day, Chris Widmaier, Executive Director of Rochester Ecology Partners, joins the show to talk about what it means to help all people find nature where they live, work and play across the nine county greater Rochester region, and why that mission has never felt more urgent.

Discover the Nature Rx movement, a growing practice where doctors and mental health practitioners prescribe time in nature as a medical intervention, with 70% of participants completing their prescriptions and reporting measurable improvements in wellbeing. Chris shares how Rochester Ecology Partners partnered with the Harley School and the Brown CRT Pediatric Research Foundation for a week long exploration of the health benefits of nature, including a trip to Cornell, a public lecture on mental health and outdoor research, and a family Vitamin N Day at the park complete with kite flying, creek critters and nature scavenger hunts.

Chris also shares three Rochester nature gems worth visiting right now, Braddock Bay for the spring raptor migration and owl woods, Genesee Gateway Park downtown where 72 bird species have been documented throughout the year, and Black Creek Park on the southwest side, a hidden gem that feels far away even though it is not.

Registration for the Growing Good summer youth program in collaboration with Food Link opens today at 5pm. A Finding Nature Friday drop in event takes place next Friday at the Rochester Ecology Partners office on Mount Hope, with book, plant and seed swaps and Earth Day activities. A free community fundraiser picnic is also coming in early June.

Sign up for the newsletter and explore all summer programming at rochesterecologypartners.org.

When Julianne Groff was asked to apply for the Executive Director role at Webster Comfort Care Home in 2021, her first reaction was that she was a social worker, not a business person. Today she is the Webster Chamber of Commerce 2026 Business Person of the Year, and her story is a reminder that leading with your heart is its own kind of business strategy.

Discover how Julianne went from making referrals to Webster Comfort Care as a hospice social worker to running the organization, and why she believes that if your heart is truly in the work, the rest falls into place. Learn about the depth of her community involvement across church groups, the Webster Health and Education Network, Soul Sisters, Free Mom Hugs, the Greater Rochester Area Partnership for the Elderly, the women's club, the food pantry and her recent advocacy work for people living with long haul COVID.

Julianne also shares a deeply personal story about how the Webster Museum became a monthly refuge for her and her father during his battle with dementia, a place where his long term memories came alive and connected them in ways nothing else could. That experience deepened her love for Webster and for the kind of community that makes those moments possible.

Barry Howard, President and CEO of the Webster Chamber of Commerce, explains the criteria behind the Business Person of the Year award and why Julianne embodies everything the honor is meant to recognize. In keeping with chamber tradition a donation has been made in Julianne's name to a charity of her choice, the Webster Museum.

Learn more about the Webster Chamber and upcoming volunteer and membership opportunities at websterchamber.com.

Most people picture addiction as something that happens to someone else. Jennifer Faringer, Director at DePaul's National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Rochester Area, joins the show to explain why prescription medications have made that assumption more dangerous than ever, and what every Rochester family can do right now to reduce the risk.

Discover how the opioid crisis was fueled not by street drugs but by overprescribed pain medications, and how a legitimate post-surgery prescription can quietly become a pathway to dependence for everyday people with no history of substance use. Learn the critical difference between acute pain and chronic pain when it comes to medication risk, and why the conversation with your medical team about duration and alternatives matters more than most patients realize.

Jennifer also addresses what to do when someone you love is ready for help, why the answer is right now and not tomorrow, and how Monroe County's Open Access program at Delphi Rise provides 24 hour assessment and referral for anyone who needs it. Recovery community resources including ROC Recovery and the CORE Center downtown are also available for those who are not yet ready for formal treatment.

Unused medications sitting in your medicine cabinet are a risk not just to you but to everyone who enters your home, including children and visitors. Jennifer walks through two safe disposal options available locally including the Detour pouch for small quantities and Eco Park on Paul Road, which accepts any amount at no cost and no questions asked.

Free harm reduction resources including safe medication lock boxes, disposal kits and Narcan are available through NCADD-RA at community health fairs throughout the region or by request at ncadd-ra.org.

Founded in 1946, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Rochester Area is one of the three oldest addiction councils in the country, and this May it is celebrating 80 years of uninterrupted service to Monroe County. Jennifer Faringer, Director at DePaul NCADD-RA, joins the show to reflect on that history and look ahead at the work still to be done.

Discover how the face of addiction has shifted dramatically over eight decades, from single substance dependence to polysubstance use, from the opioid crisis and the trajectory from prescription painkillers to heroin to fentanyl, to the return of cocaine, the rise of synthetic drugs and the often overlooked challenge of problem gambling. Learn why the legalization of marijuana created what Jennifer calls a tsunami of misinformation, and why legal and safe are not the same thing when it comes to driving, pregnancy or youth development.

NCADD-RA does not provide treatment directly but maintains an updated treatment provider directory every six months and connects individuals and families to the right resources. If someone you love is not yet ready for treatment, Jennifer shares what you can do right now to be prepared for the moment they are, including peer support groups, recovery community organizations and the resources available at ncadd-ra.org.

The 80th Anniversary Luncheon is Thursday May 15th at the DoubleTree by Hilton on Jefferson Road. Register now at ncadd-ra.org.

Just in time for Earth Day, Lindsay Kremers, Community Engagement Coordinator, and Lindsay Kaya, Youth Engagement Coordinator at the Smoking and Health Action Coalition of Livingston and Monroe Counties, join the show to talk about something most people never connect to environmental health, tobacco waste.

Cigarette butts are the single most littered item worldwide and the filters inside them are made from cellulose acetate, a plastic that does not biodegrade under normal conditions. When they end up in soil and waterways, they leach toxic chemicals that harm wildlife and ecosystems. Add to that the staggering statistic that the tobacco industry cuts down roughly 600 million trees every year for paper and packaging, and the environmental footprint of smoking becomes impossible to ignore.

The conversation also covers the growing environmental challenge of e-cigarettes, which combine lithium ion batteries, plastic casings, nicotine cartridges and packaging into a disposal nightmare, and the rise of Zyn pouches, a highly concentrated synthetic nicotine product whose long term effects are still largely unknown. Monroe County's vape disposal program through Eco Park is one of the few such programs in the state.

On Wednesday April 22nd at 6pm the coalition is hosting a tobacco litter pickup at Ontario Beach Park, meeting at the historic carousel. Gloves, bags and buckets will be provided. Anyone looking to quit can call the New York State Quit Line or text the Drop the Vape program for anonymous cessation support.

Peter Soufleris, founder of IngenID and University of Rochester alum, pulls back the curtain on one of the most quietly important technologies being developed right here in Rochester, voice biometrics and deep fake detection that protects millions of people from identity fraud every day.

Discover what voice biometrics actually is, how companies like Spectrum use the sound characteristics of your voice to verify your identity during a call, and why the rise of deep fake audio technology has made that process both more urgent and more complex. Learn why Peter believes the battle between AI fraud and AI defense looks a lot like the early days of computer viruses and antivirus software, a constant cycle of measures and countermeasures that requires real time updates and relentless vigilance.

Peter shares the story of a Wall Street career path that took an unexpected turn when he discovered voice biometrics as an investor 20 years ago and never looked back, and explains why he deliberately chose Rochester over Silicon Valley to build his company, hiring only locally and leaning on the deep tech talent ecosystem surrounding the University of Rochester and RIT.

Peter also offers practical advice on what individuals and companies can do right now to protect themselves from deep fake voice scams, including what call center agents should be listening for and why multifactor authentication is your best defense.

To learn more or start a conversation about protecting your organization visit ingenid.com.

Albert Nocciolino, producer and presenter for the Rochester Broadway Theater League, joins the show fresh off the big reveal of the 2026 to 2027 M&T Bank Broadway Season at West Herr Auditorium Theater, and the crowd reaction said everything.

Discover the full lineup for next season, including four Rochester premieres. Boop the Musical, the brand new Betty Boop stage production directed by Jerry Mitchell, launches its entire national tour right here in Rochester, with over 100 cast and crew members spending four weeks in the city, generating thousands of hotel nights and meals and significant economic impact before the show hits the road. Hells Kitchen, Alicia Keys' acclaimed Broadway musical based loosely on her own life and powered by her greatest hits, brings an entirely different kind of energy to the stage. The Outsiders rounds out the new arrivals alongside a beloved classic returning after years away, The Sound of Music, which drew one of the loudest reactions of the entire announcement night.

The Lion King returns for three weeks, with over 60,000 people expected through the doors, and Albert reminds Rochester that the show was choreographed by none other than Rochester's own Garth Fagan. Jersey Boys also returns to the delight of the crowd.

Albert also makes the case for Broadway as an economic engine, sharing that more people see Broadway shows each year than attend all of New York's major sports franchises combined, and that unlike a stadium, theater audiences spend their dollars on Rochester's streets, in its restaurants and in its hotels.

Season tickets, individual show dates and more are available at rbtl.org.

Diabetic eye disease is the leading cause of blindness in working age Americans, and most people do not notice vision problems until something significant has already happened. Dr. Connolly and Margaret Whelehan from Retina Associates of Western New York join the show to talk about why early screening changes everything, and how Rochester is getting its very own free diabetic eye screening event on Saturday April 25th.

Discover how diabetes affects the blood vessels that supply the retina, what diabetic retinopathy actually looks like and why catching it early can mean the difference between a simple treatment and a serious surgery. Dr. Connolly also explains what warning signs to watch for, including crooked lines, floaters and sudden vision changes, and why an abrupt change in vision should always be treated as urgent.

The Rochester Community Diabetic Eye Screening Program runs Saturday April 25th from 8am to 3pm at 160 Sawgrass Drive Suite 200 in Brighton. The screening takes between 30 and 60 minutes and includes a health history review, visual acuity check, eye pressure check, wide field retinal imaging and an OCT scan. Every participant gets a face to face conversation with a retina specialist. Also on site are healthcare navigators from CCSI to help with insurance enrollment, diabetes educators from RADE with free educational resources and a nurse offering free blood sugar checks.

Appointments are required due to high demand. Schedule now at retinaassociatesofwny.com.

In the 1940s a woman named Sylvia Lawry placed a two line classified ad in the New York Times because her brother had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and she had no idea what to do next. That ad became the National MS Society, and Rochester was one of its founding chapters. Andy Yates, Executive Director of the Upstate New York chapter, tells that story and brings it forward 80 years to what the society is doing for the roughly one million Americans living with MS today.

Discover what MS actually is, how damage to the myelin sheath disrupts signals between the brain and the rest of the body, and why the disease presents so differently from person to person that many people struggle to get the right diagnosis. Andy explains why early diagnosis is so critical, how disease modifying therapies have transformed outcomes over the past several decades and why artificial intelligence may hold the key to the next major breakthrough.

Walk MS Rochester is Sunday May 3rd at Genesee Valley Park, starting at the Roundhouse Shelter with the site opening at 8:30am and the walk kicking off at 10. There is no cost to participate, the route is one mile or three miles, and the event is dog friendly. Every walker receives a colored circle, orange for those living with MS, green for those who love or care for someone with the disease and yellow for supporters, and the moment when everyone holds up their circles together is one of the most powerful things the event produces year after year.

Fundraising tools are built into the registration process and can be linked directly to social media, and donations can also be made at any time at nationalmssociety.org. Anyone living with MS can also reach a trained MS Navigator by visiting that site for one on one help with everything from finding the right neurologist to navigating workplace accommodations.

Register for Walk MS Rochester and track local fundraising progress at walkms.org.

Dr. Junior Dillion, President and CEO of Volunteers of America Upstate New York, brings a personal and urgent perspective to the challenges facing Rochester's most vulnerable residents, and explains why the work of VOA has never mattered more than it does right now.

Discover how VOA connects housing, health and human services into a unified continuum of care serving over 10,000 people across Monroe, Broome and Tompkins Counties. Programs range from one of Monroe County's largest family shelters and permanent supportive housing to a children's center, reentry services for people coming out of the criminal justice system, universal pre-K and a hydroponic farm growing fresh produce for people who would otherwise go without.

Dr. Dillion makes a compelling case for permanent supportive housing, a model showing 80 to 90% housing retention after one year, reductions in emergency room visits, hospitalizations and incarceration, and real economic returns as formerly homeless individuals gain employment and become contributing members of the community. He also shares why that model is currently under threat at the federal level and what VOA is doing to protect and grow it locally.

Growing up in England in a low income family with coin operated electricity, Dr. Dillion knows firsthand what it means to struggle, and that experience shapes every decision he makes as the leader of this 130 year old organization.

The VOA Upstate New York Gala is April 16th at the Har East Ballroom, with Indiana Barry from News 10 NBC as MC, live music, food and a chance to learn more about the programs your support makes possible.

Visit voaupny.org to donate, volunteer or learn about upcoming initiatives including Strikeout Poverty with Citizens Bank and the Red Wings and the I Remember Mama senior outreach program.