Empowering People With Disabilities Through Nature

While this summer has certainly been a hot one here in Lewisboro, New York, we were lucky enough to find some good days to run a few successful Access Nature programs. We organized a fun educational walk for adults with disabilities who attend Community Based Services' day habilitation program. Also, our local seniors enjoyed two programs--a relaxed and safe meadow meander in May and an educational visit to the Bedford Audubon in July. 

In addition, much of our work these past few month has been behind the scenes as we focused on our outreach to other nature-based organizations to support them in either starting or expanding their own programs for disabled and disadvantaged populations in their localities. We are thrilled to report that many other organizations are launching or expanding their programs to greater impact the wellness of underserved populations by breaking down barriers to provide increased opportunities to access nature.

Just like that, spring has arrived and we are excited to get outside with our local partner organizations for some fun, educational nature outings.

We are especially looking forward to getting to know our local Special Education PTO families even better this season with a series of programs designed to prioritize educating them about outdoor resources available in our community, and about the important benefits that spending time in nature can provide them as individuals and as a family. Building confidence and a love for being outside will provide a lifelong tool for success that we hope will have a meaningful impact on their lives.

Additionally, our mission to teach other organizations how to implement similar programs remains a priority so that our goal to exponentially grow the reach of nature-based programs for underserved populations can be accomplished, little by little.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us in this work!