Building a Community That Promotes Inclusion

Our lives have been turned upside down by Covid-19, and people are finding themselves at home more than ever.  With some summer camps and programs going online and many planned trips and events cancelled, RAA is reaching out to EVERYONE with our #WeWillInclude movement because there is no better time than RIGHT NOW to take action by starting with Inclusion TRAINING!

Rochester Accessible Adventures is calling ALL YOUTH AND ADULTS to help us promote Inclusion of people with disabilities in recreation!

RAA has launched the #WeWillInclude movement and we want YOU to join us!

Watch this to learn more!

We WILL include people with disabilities in recreation and sports, and this Summer and Fall we will be getting the Inclusion Ambassador Training in front of families, camps, social groups, friend groups, businesses, leaders, and more, so that we can build up our communities with people who are ready to promote inclusion!

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions and answers:

Where can I find all the answers about the #WeWillInclude movement, including links and directions for participating in the training or making a donation? 

You can jump right in here:  CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED!                        

What is the benefit of a lot of people taking this Inclusion Ambassador training?

When we all take the same training, we build a common language around what is meant by the word “inclusion” and we learn about tools we can use to promote inclusion and make TRUE CHANGE in our communities. Think about it: it really helps that we all taught that 2 + 2 equals 4, right? What if some people are taught that 2+2=5 and others are taught 2+2=7?

The same goes for the word “inclusion”. This word gets used a lot of different ways, even amongst people that work around it all the time, and sometimes it is hard to know what we are working towards. This Inclusion Ambassador Training gets us all on the same page, which is especially important if we are going to work on creating a CULTURE OF INCLUSION in our communities.

As a foundation for working together, there needs to be a common understanding of what we are talking about.

What happens once we reach our goal of 2,020 trained Inclusion Ambassadors?

Well, what would YOU do if you knew you had 2,000 folks who wanted to help create a culture of inclusion in their neighborhoods, schools, recreation centers, communities? We’d just have to rally together, now wouldn’t we?? RAA trains our volunteers as Inclusion Ambassadors, and we know that when we have larger numbers of folks to pull from, we are able to fill more needs within the community: tabling at vendor fairs, providing CanalPal and CommunityPal services to members of the community, presenting at community outreach meetings, talking with Town leaders about needs for physical access and social inclusion, etc. The reality is, we won’t stop at 2,020!  Think about the possibilities for removing barriers to physical and social inclusion in recreation!

When we fill every zip code with Inclusion Ambassadors, we can exponentially multiply the impact of our work!

What are the two ways an individual or group can support the #WeWillInclude movement?

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1: Become an Inclusion Ambassador by taking the FREE 3-hour self-paced online training. Receive your Certificate of Completion. Begin to USE your knowledge to create change in your community.

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2: Donate $10 for every Inclusion Ambassador you can support and know that you are helping to build a community of people who will be promoting Inclusion. Maybe your book group or social group can pledge to support 35 Inclusion Ambassadors and raise the $350 for a donation. Maybe a corporation would like to donate to support 100 Inclusion Ambassadors. It doesn’t matter how many…

every $10 supports one more Inclusion Ambassador being trained; one more community growing stronger because it has someone in it ready to promote Inclusion of people with disabilities.

And if you want MORE options, here are a few things that will also help us:

• Share this with your friends, families, networks, philanthropic groups and ask them to take the training and/or support our goal of training 2,020 Inclusion Ambassadors

• Help us by answering this question: Who do you wish would understand Inclusion?  Complete this sentence: If only ____________________ would train their camp/program staff in Inclusion.  And then, send this to them or contact RAA and we will reach out to them and extend the invitation.

Help us by answering this question: Who do you wish would understand Inclusion?  And then contact RAA and we will reach out to them and extend the invitation to be a part of #WeWillInclude.

These are amazing times we are in! We are being challenged to change many aspects of our own lives and the ways our community works.  Covid-19 alone is keeping us home more, making us more reliant on our computers, our friends, our family.  Now, perhaps more than ever, we have a chance to get the Inclusion Ambassador Training in front of thousands of youth and adults who are learning on their computers in a way they were not doing before.  And now, WE WILL TAKE ACTION!

Join us!

Together, we can build a community that promotes Inclusion of people with disabilities in recreation & sports!