This week’s spotlight is on the United States Adaptive Recreation Center (USARC).
The USARC was founded in 1983 in order to help those with disabilities participate in outdoor recreational activities. They work with everything from park and recreation departments to hospitals to reach those with both cognitive and physical disabilities. There are programs for snowboarding, skiing, water skiing, sailing and even bike riding. All of the equipment has been modified to cover a variety of disabilities and trained instructors are always close by working to provide a fun and safe experience.
Their mission statements says that their goals are:
* Facilitating challenging and adventurous recreational programming.
* Enabling achievement with superior instruction and personnel.
* Confronting limitations resolutely and educationally.
* Developing independence through a cooperative reliance on others.
* Providing resources for sustained participation with peers.
* Creating awareness throughout the community.
As we know, living with a disability can seem overwhelming and limiting, but with programs such as this one, both kids and adults can stretch their self perception as they find alternative ways to participate in activities that previously seemed out of reach.