Connecting and growing

There's a Lancaster in which teens combine vocational skills with fitness. I'm looking forward to my work with them but right now they need to move out of a basement to an accessible location so they could be inclusive. Once they begin to have people with disabilities they can be eligible for grants and I can really work in my field and get our veterans from Team River Runner involved. The kids would learn a lot from them. I never considered weight lifting as being a non-traditional therapy. Sure it increases one's physical strength but these kids do not have physical issues. I guess it's "cool" to lift weights so it makes other topics (like employment) more desirable. If it works I'm all for it.

The Paddling Press

I hope it's approved! I think this is a great way to reach out to the TRR paddlers of past. There are too many people that were once and done. This is a way to get to know and actively involve people in our program. Articles may be in the following categories: 1) historical, 2) national, 3) local, and 4) personal. Examples of articles #1 famous people and related events, news from headquarters in Maryland, #3 news from our chapter and others, #4 getting to know local people who are/were involved and asking for their ideas. Hopefully help will follow because when people have a stake in something they usually care more. This may take awhile to catch on but I think it's worth a try.

project progression

Last week was a meeting of various non-profits about their successes and challenges when it comes to implementing projects. Many people rely on volunteers but it is hard to keep them interested and grow the numbers. Some of the ways to do this include express your appreciation, include them in decision making, and ask them for their ideas. The participants involved with TRR often try the activity a few times but do not necessarily continue. Therefore there are many people who would still be interested but do not have a person to invite them to the next activity. This could be remedied by going through the people and inviting them to an event such as a paddling party and then slip a meeting in. This way our larger projects will be more successfully because we can count on more participants. I'm excited to explore this idea.

2 collaborations

I think we're going to get somewhere with my part of the fundraising. I attended a breakfast for a local fire company. I asked the lady in charge a question about the group in charge. They invited me to a meeting and now I'm on track. there's a restaurant who will give 10% of a daily bill to a non-profit to patrons who have the flyer- even if the just received the flyer in the parking lot! Then I discovered that the leader of the group belongs to a large church who has a large members. My idea is to help their programs any way I can, then ask if I can show the video, then request donations. That's the only way I will roll with this. Furthermore, I will solicit gift cards from grocery stores, which I've done in the past, rather than ask strangers for donations. Now I can feel proud of my own ability to contribute and not rely on my speaking engagements and worry about getting more.

TRR Lancaster

Being part of our chapter as an outreach worker has given me a new angle and population on which to focus. I spent oodles of time on the traditional disability community. It's time to change my entire focus and once I do I think I'll get people from the community to become interested in my brand of awareness and empowerment. I am no longer going to swim upstream (pun intended) I will go with the flow- or current in this case. There's a lot of potential to grow the vocational among those who have fought for us and were never the ones to accept help. Now we can show that there are many ways to improve your quality of life besides traditional exercise. Just grab a kaya or raft and paddle- find friends who understand your situation, strengthen your core muscles by paddling, and relax your mind float in the river and enjoy nature. Best of all- be accepted regardless of challenge, age, finances, and support system.

2 people and 2 projects

It's all about sharing and caring but people talk a lot, don't really think outside of the box, and you should be part of a bigger entity. Doing it independently is really tough; I've been at it for years. Recently, I met 2 people from different groups and within 2 seconds these people were each immediately willing to share these programs. The first program is "Employer Centered Employment." This unique approach to supported employment is simply making job placement easy by explaining a few things to employers: the benefits of hiring; myths of disability; and sharing success stories. The second is "Veterans Voices." This is a unique social program in which people can read a variety of monologues about soldiers who have very challenging experiences re-entering society: families who are struggling to stay above water financially; veterans who can't secure employment; and kids who are acting out because they have no parental role model. Don't give up may be a cliché but it's also true.

Veteran voices

Listening to them about why Team River Runner was/is so wonderful is the way it will grow. Then they will share the story with the audiences. Testimonials are the key to successful marketing. I am truly interested to hear what happened to these people and why they came to our program. Instead of implementing fancy and expensive technologies I will turn to the basic technique of listening. We do already know that the mind is relaxed when the body is in the boat paddling in the river. Socialization increases because people are among others who have " been there." It also enables the veteran to change the daily routine to something different and challenging. I really think including a participant in the presentation will enable it to be more desirable an investment.

Knowledge

When contacting a large company I was told "Our building isn't wheelchair bound." WHAT? that statement doesn't even make sense. Those people truly need an awareness program. So how does one encourage an awareness program for a place like that? Well the facilitator could be someone with a different type of disability who could enter the building? Sometimes inaccessibility makes the employer more receptive and other times it results in being ignored. It makes me pretty upset when key people, programs, and groups display their apathy. They are the one's who need the training instead we "preach to the already converted." This can become quite frustrating since their are always more people to meet and learn.