Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports Brochure
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Vermont Adaptive has evolved since 1987 into a leader in year-round adaptive sports, providing over 60,000 activities for individuals with disabilities, supported by dedicated volunteers and donors. To expand its reach and capabilities, the organization aims to build two permanent facilities in Burlington and Sugarbush Resort, coupled with establishing an endowment for future sustainability. The vision includes increased program capacity, enhanced user experience, and fostering a strong community connection for individuals with disabilities.
Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports Brochure
- 1. BUILDING FACILITIES ON THE BURLINGTON WATERFRONT AND AT SUGARBUSH RESORT YOU Make Sports Possible for EVERY Body
- 3. Spring 2017 Dear Friends of Vermont Adaptive, Our programs began in 1987 on a small ski hill at Ascutney Mountain. By 2017, thanks to donors like you, Vermont Adaptive is now a national leader in year-round adaptive sports and recreation. Your support over the past 30 years allowed us to provide thousands of sports outings and lessons to people of all abilities and integrates environmental learning, holistic wellness, competitive training philosophies, veterans initiatives, and much more. All of these opportunities are possible with your help. Vermont Adaptive is a diverse organization that found great success by sticking to core values and by growing our base of volunteers and support — volunteer instructors and guides donate more than 24,000 hours of time and talent each year to fulfill programming needs. More than 3,000 outings are provided on a year-round basis annually. Because of your support, we have provided approximately 60,000 adventures. That is simply incredible. Two of our greatest limitations to providing adaptive sports and recreation to EVERY body are our lack of physical spaces and having a healthy endowment to sustain us in the future. Please give today. Without you, we can’t share the passion of sports and recreation with others. Sincerely, Erin Fernandez, Executive Director
- 4. NJ PA NY NH VT MA CT Disabilities Served: Autism: 21% Blind/Visually Impaired: 12% Emotional/Behavioral: 10% Cerebral Palsy: 9% Developmental: 9% Down Syndrome: 7% Other: 7% Spinal Cord Injury: 4% Muscle Weakness: 3% Paraplegia: 3% Traumatic Brain Injury: 3% Spina Bifida: 2% Stroke: 2% Amputation: 2% Deaf or Hard of Hearing: 1% Multiple Sclerosis: 1% Quadraplegia: 1% Disabilities: Physical: 41% Developmental/Cognitive: 36% Emotional Behavioral: 13% DD/Cog & Physical: 10% Vermont: 49% Massachusetts: 15% New York: 12% Connecticut: 7% Other: 7% New Jersey: 6% Pennsylvania: 2% New Hampshire: 2% 29 other states & countries Our Participants Hail From: Volunteer Hours Annually: 24,000 Year-Round Outings: 3,000 People served Since 1987: Approximately 10,000 different people of all ages and abilities Adults Youth SERVED
- 5. VERMONT ADAPTIVE’S THREE-PHASE PERMANENT HOMES CAMPAIGN AN ENDOWMENT FOR THE FUTURE As we celebrate our 30th anniversary year, the leadership at Vermont Adaptive is set to embark on building and completing our second and third permanent homes in Vermont as well as to establish a healthy endowment to sustain our future. Through an annual operating budget of approximately one million dollars, our successes derive from passionate partnerships with our host mountains, the State of Vermont and local and state organizations, leveraging special events and fundraisers, through the diversity of our volunteers, corporate, private and federal grants, and donors like you. Phase I – The Andrea Mead Lawrence Lodge at Pico Mountain, Killington – Completed November 2013 Phase II – New Permanent Home on the Waterfront and Bike Path of Lake Champlain, Burlington Phase III – New Permanent Home in Central Vermont, Sugarbush Resort, Warren/Waitsfield Endowment Fund – Leave a Powerful Legacy with Your Gift. The powerful resource you can give. Our most important goal is to have a lasting and long-term impact on the people we serve, so that sports, recreation and wellness become a daily habit in the lives of people with disabilities. Through organizational goals like focusing on health and wellness programs, serving our military veterans, and increasing programming to reach all areas of the state through permanent homes and mobile programs, we set the stage for organizational stability and better experiences for our participants. Ultimately these collective efforts empower individuals through access and instruction to sports and recreational activities. “There is no question, with your help, the future is very bright for Vermont Adaptive and for those we serve.” Henry Erickson, President, Vermont Adaptive Board of Directors
- 6. SUCCESS FOR EVERYONEVermont Adaptive the youth camp from the Vermont Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired; Hiking on Killington Peak
- 7. SERVING MORE PEOPLE, MORE OFTEN, IN MORE PLACES Vermont Adaptive is a statewide organization with multiple recreational and sporting locations throughout Vermont. Winter program locations are rooted at Pico Mountain, Sugarbush Resort, and Bolton Valley with satellite and request-based skiing and snowboarding at other mountains. Summer programs are offered across the state — on waterways, bike paths, through the woods, and up and over mountains. Need for Autonomous Space As we continue to grow and serve more people, our “borrowed” space puts limits on the types of programs we offer and the number of people we can serve. Partners including the Community Sailing Center in Burlington and Sugarbush Resort have been generous in extending free space for us to have a home base yet our vision is greater. Autonomous facilities will allow Vermont Adaptive to expand the scope and scale of our operations to fulfill the growing demand for our programs statewide. With greater spaces comes greater capacity and greater autonomy to offer more experiences within our current programs and for what we dream of next. Our permanent homes will be year-round spaces that will bring immediate program expansion as well as centralized equipment storage and repair space. Our board and staff are highly mindful of how space will be utilized and understand the opportunities these spaces bring to local communities and partners. “This team has made such a huge impact on our lives: for Cate, who is increasingly independent on the slopes; for her brother who sees that his sister can be more and live a better life and for us as her parents – words can’t describe it. Thank you to all!” - Anonymous
- 8. The Andrea Mead Lawrence Lodge at Pico Mountain
- 9. The Challenge When Vermont Adaptive arrived at Pico Mountain in 1999, resort officials provided loaned space on the ground level of the main base lodge. For the next 10+ years, this space served as a home for participant and volunteer check-in, reservations, equipment storage and upkeep. An older out-building provided minimal storage for seasonal equipment. As we grew, it was evident that we were at maximum capacity in this space. The base lodge did not meet ADA requirements in many areas including the lack of an elevator to reach the cafeteria and lounge. Options were limited. Each year we saw an increase in demand for programming, both during the winter and summer months. We needed to address the lack of efficient facility space in order to continue to move the organization forward. What We Needed It was time to develop a plan that would create a place for everyone — a place that the community as a whole could support and be proud of, a welcoming facility with ski-in, ski-out access for any ability, year-round space for programs and administration, storage, meetings, and functions, a volunteer room, an educational library, a quiet room, a privacy room and more — simply put: a layout of a state-of-the-art facility that would address the needs of everyone in the community. The Solution In November 2013, Vermont Adaptive opened the doors to our first permanent home in Vermont — the Turtle Ridge Center at the Andrea Mead Lawrence Lodge at Pico Mountain. Vermont Adaptive partnered with the Pico Ski Education Foundation to build the flagship, four-season headquarters for their athletes, programs, participants, volunteers, and events. The 6,000 sq. ft. facility is the first of its kind in Vermont. Vermont Adaptive now owns the first floor (3,000 sq. ft.) with access to the second floor, owned by the Pico Ski Education Foundation. Designed as ADA-compliant, the building has an elevator, which now provides access for all to the Pico Ski Club, our building, and the second level of the main base lodge, cafeteria, retail shops, and deck. The accessible design allows for better program flow, easy fit-up inside the lodge prior to skiing, private space for participants, a break area for volunteers, a place for training and events, and an overall better experience for everyone. THE ANDREA MEAD LAWRENCE LODGE AT PICO MOUNTAIN COMPLETED NOVEMBER 2013
- 11. ON THE BURLINGTON WATERFRONT TODAY — BORROWED SPACE For 15 years, the Community Sailing Center in Burlington has been a devoted partner to Vermont Adaptive, providing a space for an administrative desk, shared storage and access to the lake and bike path. From this spot, Vermont Adaptive offers more than 300 sailing, paddling and cycling lessons every summer. However, we have outgrown this shared and borrowed space. Challenges now include lack of facility and classroom space, lack of storage space for our ever-growing fleet of bikes, boats and equipment and a need for ADA-compliant rooms to grow programs with an eye on the future needs of the people in Northwest Vermont. Vision For The Future The new Permanent Home in Burlington will be Vermont Adaptive’s year-round office and facility for northern Vermont and the hub of year-round adaptive sport programs in the northern part of the state. Approximately 2,000 sq. ft. of total indoor space is necessary to meet current demand with additional shared outdoor space on the waterfront plus shared storage. Programs based at the new facility will include: cycling, sailing, paddling, rock climbing, Nordic skiing, Veterans Programs, C.O.R.E. Connections, EcoAble Adventures and special events. To meet existing programming needs, immediate access to the Burlington Bike Path and the Waterfront are required, as are facilities like parking and accessible bathrooms. Having space that is warm and efficient in the winter while being convertible to inside/outside space to welcome a bigger audience in the summer is ideal. Our greatest goal is to be located near and around other community programs and activities, increasing the social and recreational contact and inclusion for people with disabilities and the community at large.
- 12. 227 sq. ft. of borrowed space at Sugarbush
- 13. AT SUGARBUSH RESORT TODAY — BORROWED SPACE In 1991, Vermont Adaptive opened our second winter location at Sugarbush Resort’s Mount Ellen and has continued to partner with the resort ever since. From donated space for our operations, to underwriting, supportive space on the mountain, and more, Sugarbush continues to be one of the most important partners to our continued growth and success of these high quality programs. Operating out of a part of the Mount Ellen base lodge of just 227 sq. ft. for programming, fit-up, volunteer management, plus 80 sq. ft. of storage, there is no question that our program at Sugarbush is bursting at the seams. On a busy Saturday, this small space will host more than 100 people and their families for lessons and instruction plus the Race Team and coaches. Challenges are similar to those at our Burlington space: lack of facility space, lack of storage space, the need for expanded growth to offer summer programs and outings, and ADA-compliant access for all. Vision For The Future Vermont Adaptive has the opportunity to partner with the resort as Sugarbush enters their next phase of development and expansion. Vermont Adaptive will offer new, year-round accessible recreation to the entire mountain community based out of a larger, universally inclusive accessible program space, designed and built to state-of-the-art accessibility standards similar to those at the Andrea Mead Lawrence Lodge at Pico Mountain. Our commitment to Sugarbush and the Mad River Valley is showcased by our year-round program- ming, one of the first adaptive mountain biking programs on the East Coast, increased participation in our specific Veterans programs, and an expanded, year-round staff presence in the region.
- 14. “Most ordinary people like us don’t usually think that they can leave a legacy. Well, here’s a way that you can by making a donation... For us, we find great joy in having an impact and making a difference in whatever ways that we can while we are here.” – Eileen John Siminger, Vermont Adaptive volunteers and planned giving donors to Vermont Adaptive
- 15. THE NEXT 30 YEARS - WITH YOUR SUPPORT Building the final two phases of Vermont Adaptive’s Permanent Homes Campaign and Endowment is critical to our growth and future sustainability. More space and better program capacity will increase participant satisfaction and staff efficiency. These new facilities will allow us to meet increasing demand for adaptive sports and programs and for us to serve more populations. This campaign will propel Vermont Adaptive into our next 30 years and will represent the realization of the long-term strategic plan, dreams and a commitment to our values. What’s Next? In order to secure the future stability of Vermont Adaptive, for every dollar raised for brick and mortar, the equivalent will be placed into our endowment fund now established with The Vermont Community Foundation. Two More Permanent Homes and Lifetime Legacy A unified campaign of four millions dollars will secure the needs for building two more permanent homes as well as establish an endowment for the long-term sustainability and continued impact of Vermont Adaptive’s programs. We estimate approximately two million dollars are necessary for developing these two permanent homes — one on the Burlington Waterfront and one at Sugarbush Resort. The equivalent will go to build an endowment to support ongoing programs and operations and building upkeep into the next three decades. This will provide for a reliable funding source to sustain our innovative programs for generations to come. Special recognition will exist for significant financial gifts including a legacy circle and planned giving opportunities. Inspire. Empower. Give. Gifts of all sizes are appreciated and will be recognized in the new permanent homes, including donations of materials or in-kind donations. Home Sweet Home. Give today and be a part of the Vermont Adaptive Community and our future. Without you, we can’t share the passion of sports and recreation with others.
- 16. MT[V^ MISSION Vermont Adaptive Ski Sports is committed to empowering individuals with disabilities. We promote independence and further equality through access and instruction to sports and recreational activities. STATEMENT OF BELIEF Vermont Adaptive Ski Sports believes that recreation provides a physical, mental, and social experience that is immeasurable in promoting self-confidence and independence in an individual. Therefore, we encourage all ages and disabilities to participate in our year-round recreational sports programs, and provide support for people who need financial assistance in order to participate with Vermont Adaptive. Erin Fernandez Vermont Adaptive Executive Director 802.353.8129 • [email protected] BURLINGTON INQUIRIES: Norm Staunton Campaign Manager, CompassWorks 802.272.4565 • [email protected] SUGARBUSH RESORT INQUIRES: Maggie Burke Vermont Adaptive Managing Director 802.786.4991 ext. 30 [email protected] vermontadaptive.org/permanenthomes