The last two months, I have highlighted issues that people with disabilities endure — specifically, the challenges accessing government benefits (“Medicaid asset limits keep people in poverty,” June 3) and threats to reduce spending on crucial services (“$880B in Medicaid cuts would devastate the disability community,” May 5).
While these challenges are real and persistent, I want to spend some time talking about the benefits of having a disability. My favorite? Adaptive sports.
Expand Beyond, run by the City of Boulder’s parks and recreation department, recently started adaptive water skiing sessions for the season. When I did a tour of the program, I watched a double amputee wakeboard. Last week, I saw a blind man waterski. If you can hold on, you can waterski.
For $100, I bought a whole summer of skiing. Every Tuesday morning through mid-August, I will be at the Boulder Reservoir.
You’ll also find me and other wheelchair users in the mountains, thanks to The Lockwood Foundation, and on horseback at Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center in Longmont.
I wrote about The Lockwood Foundation and Expand Beyond last year (“Outward bound,” June 24, 2024). So why am I telling you about them again? Because the one thing every adaptive activity needs is volunteers.
At Expand, volunteers provide and drive the boats and jet skis that pull participants across the water. They get us safely strapped in, teach us what to do and are there to provide rescues if needed.
Volunteers lead and walk alongside the horses at Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center. They muck out the stalls in the barn, care for the horses and lead them to pasture. They work in the office, help fundraise and plan events.
A cadre of volunteers carried me to the summit of Mines Peak last year. The special chairs The Lockwood Foundation provides are all carried by volunteers, and the hikes are provided free of charge.
The nonprofit got its start because people who cared raised the $10,000 needed to buy its first TrailRider chair. Six years later, TLF has acquired a new location that will be used for equipment storage, volunteer training and a community center. It will open to the public in September.
I’m constantly impressed with people who give their time and expertise to others. People who deal with disabilities are often isolated and restricted. The opportunity to participate in adaptive activities gives us a chance to belong to a community.
Starting water skiing this summer was a chance to get together with friends. I relished the feeling of belonging. In a world that can seem cold and lonely, the personal relationships forged through adaptive sports have been invaluable to me.
If you are able, please consider volunteering with one of these amazing organizations — or the many others that provide adaptive recreation like skiing and mountain biking. Go to thelockwoodfoundation.org, expandbeyondinc.com and ctrcinc.org/volunteer to learn more.
Jenn Ochs lives in Boulder. She is a disability rights advocate, award-winning columnist and a graduate from Baylor University in Texas, where she realized Boulder is the best place to live.