Empowering People With Disabilities Through Nature

Our outings are all outdoor experiences for people with disabilities or those who are disadvantaged, so we do not do too many outings during the winter, athough we did just take our Special Education Parent-Child Organization for a very well-attended maple sugaring adventure. The group, comprised of parents and kids, went to Ward Pound Ridge Reservation where a county naturalist explained the process of tapping the sugar maple trees and using the sap to make maple syrup. Everyone got to learn the step-by-step process, see it happen, and taste the results. Also over the winter, we plan our upcoming sping-summer-and-fall events and we also contact organizations in our area to see if they are a match for our program and could be added to our schedule.

We had a very good season (Spring, Summer, Fall) providing outdoor experiences for many of our regular groups. It is so rewarding to see their reactions to the joys of nature. Also importantly, we reached out to 100 other ourdoor organizations to offer them our handbook and guidelines for creating "Access Nature" programs of their own -- and we are very delighted to see many of them beginning to pop up in our area. They are being perfectly tailored to the organization and the potential clientele. This is the perfect way to multiply the benefits of the program and make it relevant to more individuals.