A guide to making your home safe,
comfortable and accessible for
every generation

A hand-drawn sketch of a house with the words 'FLOURISHING AT HOME' written across the roof and a red heart below the doorway.

Dr. Debbie Popielarczyk, Physical Therapist

Close-up of an elderly woman with short gray hair, light blue eyes, and a warm smile, wearing a pearl necklace and a blue lace dress, outdoors with a blurred green background.

I spent 33 years practicing as a pediatric physical therapist and 15 years as a health educator. Now, I’m sharing what I’ve learned so you can create a home that is accessible and safe for every generation. Visit the Blog page to start learning!

Hi,I’m Debbie!

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Safe and accessible homes using the principles of Universal Design

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Kitchens

Front porch of a house with a concrete walkway, surrounded by well-maintained bushes and plants, leading to a black front door with two large planters on either side containing greenery, and a wall-mounted house number 7216 to the right of the door.

Start Here

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  • The blog will introduce you to Universal Design and how it can be used in home and work spaces so all can function safely and easily. Examples of “Best Options” or modifications will be given to support healthy living for all.

  • Use the principles and practices you’ve learned from the blog to make your home a space that works for you.

  • With the use of these Universal Design principles and methods, your home allows you to rest, imagine, grow and heal.

Everyone, no matter age or ability, can use Universal Design to make their homes safe, comfortable & improve their independence.

Start flourishing at home in just 3 steps

Improving health and wellbeing for people of all ages and abilities

Our Story

Our family has several members who are affected by Vascular Ehlers Danlos Syndrome or VEDS. In fact, Walk with Deco was started by Mike DeCoursey or Deco as he is known, after Mike had several aneurysms rupture in his abdomen and leg due to VEDS. Luckily his leg was saved, which encouraged him to walk 4 million steps and raise $40,000 for VEDS research in 2021.

Our non profit, Walk with Deco, continues to raise funds for research with our newest initiative of building a humanized mouse model with Georgia Tech and Emory University.

A humanized mouse is the first step in finding treatments and cures for any collagen disease which can affect our skin, bones, muscles, nerves, autoimmune and vascular systems.

This new mouse model will be available to any researcher expanding the field and utility of the mouse not only in VEDS but any collagen disease. It will speed up the process of treatments and cures. This is important as there are no cures for a collagen disease.

My desire is to find a cure. Yes, it’s personal because my grandson is about to enter puberty which is a high-risk period due to rapid growth and hormonal changes that can stress collagen tissue.

Current treatments focus on prevention, like avoiding trauma and managing blood pressure, but there needs to be a cure.

Get in touch!

if you have any questions along your journey to begin flourishing at home, or if you would like to request a topic, feel free to send a message!