If you live with a physical or cognitive disability and are looking for sports, activities and services, Walton Foundation for Independence is holding an event that just may be able to help.
Life in Motion is on Sunday, March 22, from 1:30-5 p.m. at GRU’s Christenberry Fieldhouse.
“This event provides the freedom of choice for families and individuals to try new things they may have thought were out of their reach or just did not know were available to those with a physical or cognitive disability,” said Sarah McPherson, the adaptive sports and leisure coordinator at Walton Foundation for Independence and organizer of Life in Motion. “We want to build awareness that these programs are being offered and open. By making these types of things obtainable the perceived fear that someone with a disability cannot do it starts to disappear and a more inclusive environment emerges.”
The free event brings together local resources on adaptive sports/leisure opportunities, assistive technology, returning to work, behavioral health, accessible housing and more, and is designed for survivors of traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, adults and children with developmental delays, amputees living with prosthetics, veterans with disabilities and anyone else living with a disability.
The Champions Made from Adversity Bulldogs wheelchair basketball team and North Augusta’s T-RECs (RECing Crew) will present skills demonstrations. Attendees themselves will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of adaptive sports on the gym floor.
“The importance of giving the community a chance to try some of these activities is that the relationship between the person and the organization already starts to form,” McPherson said. “By building connections with the people of the area we have a face, but more importantly we have a heart and a need to fulfill the questions and concerns of the Augusta-Aiken area. The participant may already be a part of a sports program, but has questions about other things like behavioral health, or maybe the person has children that have a disability and the parents do not feel like they know what to do. That is where we come in.
“By knowing one person you have connections. Just think: this will be a gym full of organizations that would be willing and able to make those connections for that family or for that individual that needs help with a job or an assistive device. This is a time where we, the organizations, become the bridge of possibilities for those that thought there is no way across to independence or to a better leisure lifestyle.”
Along with the Walton Foundation for Independence, community partners who will provide information on local activities and resources include Walton Options for Independent Living, the Champions Made from Adversity, Family Y of Greater Augusta, the RECing Crew and others.
For more information on the event, contact Sarah McPherson at 706-434-0150 or sarahm@waltonfoundation.net.