Latest news with #disabilities
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fun for everyone: Tampa Bay Sun Foundation hosts first "Pros and Pals" event
The "Pros and Pals" event is geared towards making soccer more accessible for children who have physical or sensory disabilities
Washington Post
a day ago
- General
- Washington Post
A nonprofit grew on a beautiful manor, rent-free. The deal is ending.
The Arc of Loudoun, a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities, had an oasis for 16 years, rent-free. Tucked off a neighborhood road in Leesburg, Virginia, the campus complex of clinics and schools offered children, adults and families from throughout the state and beyond the space for walks and views of open fields. The land and a mansion on it had been left in a trust more than 100 years ago by a family of wealthy iron industrialists, who dedicated the property to serve 'children in need.' But the Arc and the landlord, the Margaret Paxton Memorial for Convalescent Children, have spent years in negotiations over a lease to no resolution. Now, the Arc says it plans to downsize on the campus and shutter or move operations from that location. Next month, it will close a behavior clinic that provides therapy for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities and a preschool that serves young children. It will move its Ability Fitness Center — specially designed to help people gain mobility, strength and confidence as they deal with strokes, brain injuries, cerebral palsy and other conditions — to another space for 18 months and will then have to find a more permanent home. The fate of the Arc's Aurora School, a private, year-round special education school that draws students from as far as D.C. and West Virginia, remains uncertain. Arc officials said they plan to consolidate the school into fewer buildings on the campus until they can find another place to go, but officials with the trust said the school should not start another academic year there. Mary Lou Leipheimer, a trustee for the Paxton trust since 2022, said the organization has negotiated for four years with the Arc and been in mediation since October, but the two sides can't come to an agreement. In June, the trust pulled out of mediation talks. 'From our perspective, the Arc wants to continue to use the campus without change,' Leipheimer said. 'It wants to use the campus as is, rent-free, without sharing it with other tenants, indefinitely. The trust believes the campus can do more.' She said the trust wants to construct 'new buildings and renovate old ones on the site and lease to multiple tenants and serve a greater number of children in different and complementary ways.' The Arc's move will allow the trustees to make way for a new complex that will include one or two anchor tenants, as well as spots for start-ups, a park, a coffeehouse, a welcome center and an amphitheater. Lisa Max, the chief executive of the Arc, said that she and her board of directors have gone to see about a dozen properties in the area as potential new sites but that most did not meet the zoning requirements for the Arc's special education school and preschool. 'It's not that we don't have money,' said Max, whose group has an $8 million annual budget from grants, donations, fundraising, private-paying clients, medical insurance payments and state funding. 'It's a question of finding space that's suitable for our needs.' The changes will mean job losses for some of the Arc's 101 employees and a disruption or loss of services for many of its roughly 250 clients, children and adults with profound and complex needs. For those who depend on the Arc, news of the coming changes has created nervousness and uncertainty, according to interviews with clients, their families, employees, local officials and local residents. Many have described it as a loss of a sense of community. A grandmother is scared she won't be able to find another preschool for her grandson who has behavioral challenges. A mom frets that her teenage autistic son will have to be home-schooled. A wife knows she will have to drive farther to get her husband to rehabilitation services. 'We're devastated,' said Debbie Wheeler, 69, of Leesburg, whose 4-year-old grandson has attended the Arc's preschool, the Open Door Learning Center, for several years. 'My grandson wasn't using his words and communicating and having tantrums. Here, he's learned so much. He uses his vocabulary, he plays well with others, he shares. We cried when we heard it's closing. We don't have anywhere to go.' The Paxton property, where the Arc has made a home, has a unique history. In 1869, Charles R. Paxton and his wife, Rachel, came to Leesburg and paid $50,000 for roughly 700 acres. As a young man, Paxton had worked as a civil engineer on what was once known as the Erie Railroad. He later moved to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, where he made a fortune in the iron business, according to Rachel Paxton's papers located at the Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg. He hired a New York architect to design a 32-room Victorian manor house, and a local builder constructed it. Historians have described the mansion, called Carlheim, as one of the few houses in the area to show a distinctive architectural style after the Civil War — a time when Virginia was in terrible economic shape. Over the years, much of the Paxton property was sold off, but 16 acres and the mansion remained. The Paxtons had one daughter, Margaret, who married Bolivar Christian, a lawyer and lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army, and they had one child, Charles Paxton Christian, who died of diphtheria at age 5. Margaret fell into a deep depression and her marriage ended, according to Stacy Harrison, parish historian at St. James' Episcopal Church in Leesburg, where the Paxtons were members. Margaret died at 50. 'It's kind of a tragic, heartbreaking story,' Harrison said. In her will, Rachel Paxton, who died at 95, left the property in a trust in her daughter's name and called for the house and land to be used for caring for 'convalescent' children. She named a board of trustees to oversee the trust and property. She also created a board of visitors from her church to advise the trustees. In the years that followed, the house served as a place for children recovering from tuberculosis, then an orphanage, then a private child care center. In 2004, when the trustees wanted to demolish the house and other buildings on the property, locals launched a 'Save Paxton' campaign. The Leesburg Town Council voted unanimously to include the Paxton property in the town's historic district. A lawyer for the trust, Jay Chadwick, said the property's county tax assessment shows the land is now worth $3.2 million. In 2008, the Arc entered into an initial 10-year lease with the trust and moved onto the campus. But the relationship between the two frayed over the years. Neither side can talk publicly in detail about the latest offer because the mediation was confidential. Leipheimer said the trustees have 'loved the Arc program' and 'would love to continue to support the program.' They tried to make it work, she said, but 'we're at a stalemate.' The trustees said that when they redevelop the site, they expect the new tenants to pay some rent, although they have not set an exact amount. Rev. Chad Martin, the rector at St. James' Episcopal Church, said he was disheartened to hear that the two sides were unable to come to an agreement. He said he believes the Arc does 'some incredible things for Leesburg and the county.' Kristen C. Umstattd, a Loudoun County supervisor who represents the Leesburg District, said the Arc is 'an absolutely wonderful and essential facility for Leesburg. I can't imagine a better group to meet the requirements of the trust and the desires of the original owner of the land.' On a recent day at the Arc, clients who've come to depend on its services worked with therapists and staff members and talked about how the changes at the Paxton campus would affect their lives. Eighteen-year-old Abhay Mysore experienced a traumatic brain injury three years ago when he was the passenger in the front seat of a car going 85 mph in a parking lot before it crashed into a tree, said his mother, Geetha Krishnamurthy. The driver, her son's friend, was not seriously injured, she said. After seven weeks at a local hospital and 12 weeks at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Mysore was referred to the Arc's fitness center. He and his mother have come twice a week for more than a year, making the 30-minute drive from their home in Chantilly for the opportunity to work with the Arc's specialists. 'He wasn't able to do these stretches before he started coming here,' Krishnamurthy said as she watched her son do exercises. 'He's come a long way, and they've cared so much about helping him. We hate to see them move from here but would drive far to get him help from the Arc.' Mark Soiland, a 59-year-old former master carpenter and builder from Purcellville, was referred to the Arc's fitness center after a large tree branch struck his head while he was working in his yard. The accident caused a traumatic brain injury and neck fracture. Doctors rebuilt half of his skull with titanium, and he had to relearn how to talk, walk and feed himself. 'His physicality was stripped from him, and it was really hard to witness,' said Lisa Soiland, his wife. 'The Arc gave us the next chapter in rehabilitation, and it gave us community so you don't feel like an island when you're going through life's challenges.' 'This place gives you hope, encouragement,' she said. 'It gets me up, gets me motivated to keep going,' her husband said. 'It makes me feel like I can do things again and I can accomplish things.' Nadya Osterling's 16-year-old son, Nico, who has autism, has been a student at the Aurora School for almost five years. He arrived after his private school in Alexandria closed during the pandemic. Since her son has been at the Aurora School, Osterling said, she and her family have seen major improvements in his behavior and demeanor. Teachers and instructors have worked with Nico to help him learn how to communicate using an iPad. Osterling said she's worried she won't be able to find another school in the Washington area that doesn't have a waiting list and can meet her son's needs in time for him to start the fall academic year. She may have to home-school him, which she said would mean he would miss out on the camaraderie of classmates — and lose access to the physical, occupational and other therapies that he now gets at the Arc. 'There's no other school that can meet Nico's needs,' she said. 'It would break my kid to leave there. He would be devastated. He's grown up there. They're like his extended family.' One of Nico's therapists, Keira Anderson, recalled how he 'could barely walk' around the Arc's grassy campus when he came. 'He used to sit in his wheelchair and not interact much,' she said. 'Now he walks everywhere and uses his tablet to tell us what he wants and needs.' He goes on outings with his classmates to local restaurants and grocery stores, she said. 'He laughs, he smiles. He participates and communicates. It's been exciting to watch his progress.' Anderson said Nico and other Aurora students could regress in the skills they've developed if they have to leave the Aurora School and go to other places not as well suited to work with them one-on-one. 'Forty-two kids who need consistency, who need a regular schedule and specialized support are getting ready to have no place to go,' Anderson said. 'It's huge and devastating on each of those students' lives. It breaks my heart.'
CBC
a day ago
- General
- CBC
How accessible are the NCC's trails, really? Now there's an app for that
Social Sharing For people with disabilities, finding a trail that's sufficiently accessible can be a challenge. A new web application from the National Capital Commission (NCC) aims to change that. The idea was the brainchild of the Canadian Disabled Outdoor Society, co-founded by Chelsea Ogilvie and Brie Birdsell. They approached the NCC and then partnered with the agency to develop the Inclusive Trails app. In developing the app, Ogilvie said they wanted to see the reality on the ground for themselves. "We actually went out and did some ground-truthing," she explained, referring to the process of verifying information in person. "We went with mobility devices ... to see how easily we could access those trails." We're trying to get rid of that guesswork and just make it so that folks can confidently go out and know exactly what they're getting into. The Inclusive Trails app tells people how steep and wide a trail is, or if there are any surface hazards such as steps or tree roots that might pose a problem. "It'll tell you the grade, and so you can decide for yourself is this is a manageable slope for you," said Ogilvie, who uses a wheelchair. "We really want to increase the amount of information that's available so folks with disabilities can confidently plan their outings." The app also describes what services are available at the trailhead, such as accessible toilets and parking, as well as any other points of interest such as benches, picnic tables and boardwalks. Ogilvie said she has experienced first-hand the disappointment of arriving at a trail only to find barriers. "That's really what fuelled this project with the NCC," she said. "There are so many times I looked on a … website that said a trail was mostly flat, or even trails that were marked as wheelchair-friendly. I would get there and there would be a six-inch bump up onto a boardwalk, or a bunch of roots and rocks right off the start." WATCH | How the app works: Here's how to use the new NCC tool for accessible hiking trails 4 minutes ago The Inclusive Trails app tells people how steep and wide a trail is, or if there are any surface hazards such as steps or tree roots that might pose a problem. Impediments can be a 'deal-breaker' Those are the kinds of unexpected impediments that can ruin an outing, Oglivie said. "That can be a complete deal-breaker for me," she said. "We're trying to get rid of that guesswork and just make it so that folks can confidently go out and know exactly what they're getting into." The trails chosen for the first iteration of the app are considered low-barrier, Ogilvie said. "Because for a lot of people with disabilities, that's enough. Depending on their equipment, their support, their fitness level, their strength, they can access a whole lot of terrain that falls outside of that universal accessibility." Sometimes, those barriers aren't so obvious. For example, Ogilvie points out that some inclines are barely noticeable on foot. "But if you're trying to move yourself with your arms in a wheelchair, or if you have a walker or balance issues, you're very attuned to even the slightest inclines," she said. The app also provides photographs and 360-degree videos of the trails "so you can really explore that obstacle from every direction and decide if it's something you can and want to tackle," said Ogilvie. Six trails totalling 12 kilometres have been mapped using the new app, including paths in Gatineau Park and Ottawa's Greenbelt. More will be added. For Ogilvie, it's about inclusivity as much as it is about accessibility.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Colossal cleanup effort allows summer camp to reopen after Texas floods
Just days after the devastating Texas floods killed 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, another summer camp has reopened its doors 30 miles downstream. A colossal cleanup effort from the surrounding community enabled Camp Camp, a residential program serving youth with disabilities, to welcome visitors again this summer. 'Our campers will be able to enjoy our riverfront activities much sooner now,' said Ken Kaiser, the director of facility operations for the camp. 'In the midst of heartache, we got to see the best of humanity through these volunteers who came from all over Texas and beyond.' Camp Camp is located in Centre Point, Texas, and offers a series of five-night sleep-away sessions in the summer for children and adults aged five to 55 years old with mild to severe disabilities. The camp welcomes more than 800 campers each summer, and every visitor is given a 1:1 counsellor ratio to accommodate their needs. It has been in operation for 46 years and hosts the same activities as regular camps, including horseback riding, swimming, sports, archery and more. The herculean rehabilitation of the area where Camp Camp is located, a 55-acre property nestled in the Texas hills along the banks of the Guadalupe River, all began with a Facebook post on 8 July from an Austin real estate agent, Cord Shiflet. Debris had covered the landscape, destroying the waterfront and crucial amenities for the camp, including picnic benches for the children to eat at, had been ruined. Shiflet made a plea for 'money, manpower, and machines'. By the following day, 250 volunteers arrived. The numbers doubled by Friday, with people braving the mud and conditions to haul food supplies, excavators and chainsaws to the area. Some workers who came down to help reported meeting as many as 1,500 people while they were there. 'The energy at Camp Camp was focused, focused on the mission of making it beautiful again,' said Colette Kerns, who drove down with her husband, Jason, to volunteer at the cleanup. 'Everyone had a job to do and worked seamlessly together to get it done.' Colette's husband spent five hours a day using a chainsaw to clear fallen trees and debris, while she organized the kitchen area and helped load logs into trucks to be hauled away. The couple, who are parents of two children with special needs, said they understood how vital this camp is to the families who rely on it. 'It's more than just a place,' said Colette. 'It is a space where children are embraced, understood and celebrated.' Another hero of the rehabilitation project was Rusty Bourland, who, in numerous Facebook posts about the cleanup, has been praised for his hard work, resilience and determination. Bourland was at a wedding in Dripping Springs, Texas, when he began receiving calls from people seeking assistance in the aftermath of the floods. Having helped with relief work during Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Bill, he had experience in rebuilding. Still, he had no idea when he packed one change of clothes that he would actually be down there for six and a half days. He told his wife he was loading a machine and driving south. 'Driving down it felt unknown,' Bourland said. 'We were all being told to not just self-deploy, but nothing compares to this in terms of human devastation.' Bourland, who owns a landscape construction business, said there were days when about 70 machines were on the property. He recalled that the energy was somber as volunteers witnessed many bodies being recovered from the surrounding area. He plans on seeking professional help now that he's home. 'I told everyone, 'Look, we're basically faced with the most difficult situation imaginable,' but as Texans, we try our best to thrive on adversity,' he recounted. 'I compartmentalized and tried to keep people positive.' The death toll from the flash floods, which started on the Fourth of July holiday, has now climbed to 135 people. With more than 150 people still missing, authorities are warning that the number of casualties could continue to rise. The floods are being described as one of the worst natural disasters in Texas history. The Guadalupe River rose 26ft in 45 minutes, and according to a preliminary estimate by the private forecaster AccuWeather, the economic toll of this could range from $18bn to $22bn. The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has since stated that he would allow debate in the Texas legislature on the state's flood warning system, but has given no guarantees on how the outcome will unfold. For Gigi Hudnall, whose son Kenny was able to attend Camp Camp again this year, the camaraderie in the reopening has been remarkable. This is the 11th year Kenny will have visited, and Hudnall believes the work they did to make this happen was nothing short of miraculous. 'It gives these kids something they don't usually have – freedom,' she said. 'When we heard about the floods, our hearts broke, for the lives lost and for the camps. It makes me proud to be among people who care and will give to help kids like my son.'
The Guardian
2 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Colossal cleanup effort allows summer camp to reopen after Texas floods
Just days after the devastating Texas floods killed 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, another summer camp has reopened its doors 30 miles downstream. A colossal cleanup effort from the surrounding community enabled Camp Camp, a residential program serving youth with disabilities, to welcome visitors again this summer. 'Our campers will be able to enjoy our riverfront activities much sooner now,' said Ken Kaiser, the director of facility operations for the camp. 'In the midst of heartache, we got to see the best of humanity through these volunteers who came from all over Texas and beyond.' Camp Camp is located in Centre Point, Texas, and offers a series of five-night sleep-away sessions in the summer for children and adults aged five to 55 years old with mild to severe disabilities. The camp welcomes more than 800 campers each summer, and every visitor is given a 1:1 counsellor ratio to accommodate their needs. It has been in operation for 46 years and hosts the same activities as regular camps, including horseback riding, swimming, sports, archery and more. The herculean rehabilitation of the area where Camp Camp is located, a 55-acre property nestled in the Texas hills along the banks of the Guadalupe River, all began with a Facebook post on 8 July from an Austin real estate agent, Cord Shiflet. Debris had covered the landscape, destroying the waterfront and crucial amenities for the camp, including picnic benches for the children to eat at, had been ruined. Shiflet made a plea for 'money, manpower, and machines'. By the following day, 250 volunteers arrived. The numbers doubled by Friday, with people braving the mud and conditions to haul food supplies, excavators and chainsaws to the area. Some workers who came down to help reported meeting as many as 1,500 people while they were there. 'The energy at Camp Camp was focused, focused on the mission of making it beautiful again,' said Colette Kerns, who drove down with her husband, Jason, to volunteer at the cleanup. 'Everyone had a job to do and worked seamlessly together to get it done.' Colette's husband spent five hours a day using a chainsaw to clear fallen trees and debris, while she organized the kitchen area and helped load logs into trucks to be hauled away. The couple, who are parents of two children with special needs, said they understood how vital this camp is to the families who rely on it. 'It's more than just a place,' said Colette. 'It is a space where children are embraced, understood and celebrated.' Another hero of the rehabilitation project was Rusty Bourland, who, in numerous Facebook posts about the cleanup, has been praised for his hard work, resilience and determination. Bourland was at a wedding in Dripping Springs, Texas, when he began receiving calls from people seeking assistance in the aftermath of the floods. Having helped with relief work during Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Bill, he had experience in rebuilding. Still, he had no idea when he packed one change of clothes that he would actually be down there for six and a half days. He told his wife he was loading a machine and driving south. 'Driving down it felt unknown,' Bourland said. 'We were all being told to not just self-deploy, but nothing compares to this in terms of human devastation.' Bourland, who owns a landscape construction business, said there were days when about 70 machines were on the property. He recalled that the energy was somber as volunteers witnessed many bodies being recovered from the surrounding area. He plans on seeking professional help now that he's home. 'I told everyone, 'Look, we're basically faced with the most difficult situation imaginable,' but as Texans, we try our best to thrive on adversity,' he recounted. 'I compartmentalized and tried to keep people positive.' The death toll from the flash floods, which started on the Fourth of July holiday, has now climbed to 135 people. With more than 150 people still missing, authorities are warning that the number of casualties could continue to rise. The floods are being described as one of the worst natural disasters in Texas history. The Guadalupe River rose 26ft in 45 minutes, and according to a preliminary estimate by the private forecaster AccuWeather, the economic toll of this could range from $18bn to $22bn. The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has since stated that he would allow debate in the Texas legislature on the state's flood warning system, but has given no guarantees on how the outcome will unfold. For Gigi Hudnall, whose son Kenny was able to attend Camp Camp again this year, the camaraderie in the reopening has been remarkable. This is the 11th year Kenny will have visited, and Hudnall believes the work they did to make this happen was nothing short of miraculous. 'It gives these kids something they don't usually have – freedom,' she said. 'When we heard about the floods, our hearts broke, for the lives lost and for the camps. It makes me proud to be among people who care and will give to help kids like my son.'
