Access to Adventure for People with Disabilities

Do you see it? Do you feel it? I certainly do! 

What a year of change and surprise. They’ve occurred within the community we serve and here at Waypoint Adventure as well! I am thrilled to have many exciting updates to share with you and to highlight some of what we hope to accomplish in 2023.  

However, before sharing any exciting news, I want to make clear that none of this would have been possible without your support.  Everything we do, from adventures made accessible to the lives changed, is only possible because of your commitment, generosity, and investment. So, from all of us at Waypoint and on behalf of our constituents, we say ‘THANK YOU’. 

At the close of 2021, I reported that Waypoint facilitated 269 annual programs (130 of which were private lessons). Our goal of hosting 200 programs for groups was still out of reach… (drumroll please) until this year! 

In 2022, Waypoint led 201 adventures exclusively for groups! In addition, we continue to facilitate private outdoor lessons for individuals and families, while also providing the option to ‘create your own adventure experience’ through our popular Equipment Rental Program, offering access to our fleet of off-road wheelchairs. 

This year, a new series of adventures was launched and dubbed the ‘Waypoint Adventure Club’ (WAC). WAC excursions are uniquely open to anyone (with or without a disability) desiring to join as a program participant. How does it work? 

• Each person pays a standard $20 registration fee.
• Everyone is encouraged and challenged to contribute their strengths/abilities to the group.
• Space is created for each person to receive support from a united and diverse community.

This year the WAC community kayaked, hiked, and rode tandem bikes all over eastern Massachusetts. Way to go WAC crew! 

And there is more…
As we look to the future, I find myself asking the question: ‘How do we continue meeting the needs of our community while extending Waypoint’s reach to a broader demographic of people with disabilities?’ We know there’s a growing demand for the services we offer; however, we’re aware that our capacity to meet these needs has been exceeded. Programs are currently booking out eight months in advance, and we’re continuing to move people onto our wait lists for open enrollment excursions. 

A few points for you to consider: 

• Support from the community comprises 75% of Waypoint’s Operating Budget.
• We remain committed to offering our programs at a price point in alignment with what anyone from the public might pay for similar adventure experiences.
• To mitigate monetary barriers, we never want to inflate program fees for those requiring additional support due to a disability.
• The reality is that the services we provide are indeed costly, and this is where YOU come in!

Let’s chat… Have you appreciated time outside with friends this past year? 

Will you consider helping make similar opportunities available for others? 

With a donation today, you will become a Waypoint partner, helping to make transformative Adventure Education experiences accessible for people, regardless of any physical or cognitive disability. 

We couldn’t have accomplished anything noted above without YOU, and we’re incredibly grateful to our phenomenal donor base. From the bottom of my heart (and on behalf of the Waypoint team), THANK YOU for your support. It’s 100% essential, humbling, and appreciated more than I’m able to express in this letter. 

We hope you’ll join us for what promises to be another wild ride this coming year! 

Sincerely, 

Dan Minnich 

Waypoint co-founder and Executive Director

PS - Everything you give right now will go towards making adventure education opportunities accessible for youth and adults with disabilities in the new year! 

Links:

• Check out our article in the Boston Globe!
• Help us head into 2023 strong! Consider partnering with us?

I heard someone refer to August as the 'Sunday of the Summer' and that's definitely what it feels like. We're starting to wind down our summer kyaking programs and get ready for the fall ahead - but what a year has it been!

So how have we been doing? Waypoint made it through the last two years of the pandemic without having to furlough or let go any staff members. In fact, it was quite the opposite; we brought on three new part time program staff, and two full time program staff members. We also created a team of 10 Per Diem program staff from our volunteer community allowing us to increase the number of people served. As a result, in 2021 we ran the greatest number of programs and served the largest number of people in the organization’s 12-year history, and the demand for programming now far surpasses capacity. To quantify that, in 2021 we ran 269 programs, serving 1,606 participants (for reference, in 2020 we ran 148 programs and served 549 participants).

Moving to this year, demand has not slowed down. Waypoint offers programs in two formats: ‘open enrollment’ for individuals from the general public, and ‘custom’ for groups from schools, group homes or social service agencies. This summer when we opened our ‘open enrollment’ summer kayaking program on June 17^th, 2022, two days later we already had a wait list, and we had 240 seats in boats to offer. Participants for these open enrollment programs are only charged a $20 registration fee, though the actual cost to Waypoint is closer to $150 - $200 per participant and is subsidized by our foundations, sponsors, and individual donors.

Not only has demand not slowed down, but requests for financial aid to participate in our programs have doubled since the pandemic – and they aren’t subsiding. Waypoint Adventure’s clients are primarily low- and moderate-income families, with 60% receiving financial aid to attend Waypoint Programs (again, subsidized by Waypoint donors and foundations). No one is ever turned away, regardless of what they can pay.

Waypoint Adventure effectively removes the physical barriers to adventure – but a financial barrier still exists. Participants on programs are asked to pay ~20% of what it costs to run a Waypoint adventure, as we strongly believe that someone with a disability should not have to pay more than someone without a disability experiencing the same activity. This is Waypoint policy, even though the equipment costs and preparation/program customization time needed for our participants are significantly higher. This increase has forced us to lean more heavily on our foundations and donors to help subsidize the additional cost – and so far, – we are on track to hit our 2022 budgeted income and expense targets.

The pandemic affected us all. When many places shut down or went virtual, Waypoint remained open. Now that we’re two years into the pandemic, it is clear that there are lasting changes. The demand for programming and financial aid is not slowing down. To help meet demand, Waypoint is looking for program support to help us increase the number of ‘open enrollment’ programs that we run.