Rochester Accessible Adventures is 10!

We are celebrating our 10th Anniversary!

What a journey! Here are some highlights to get us started on our celebrations!

How We Started With a New Vision

RAA started with a vision that something else needed to happen in our communities. Our first motto expressed this: “When Life happens, we need a dream to keep us moving and living.”

• • Life happens to all of us, whether we are expecting some of the things that come our way or not. We acquire a diagnosis, our children are born with a diagnosis…and when this happens, more than anything, we want to KEEP GOING TOGETHER!

How RAA Would Drive Change

What happened next was driven by a knowledge that we needed to create change at a systems level. We knew we wanted equitable access to recreation, sports and tourism.

• • We could not provide enough ‘specialized’ programming to meet the needs and demands of every person’s and every family’s everyday schedules. A six-week program for people with (fill-in-the-blank-diagnosis) was not enough, especially when people without diagnoses get to go all the time.

What the Vision Looked Like

Sometimes it is so cool just to wake up on a Saturday morning and say, “What do we want to do today?” – and everyone chimes in and you make decisions and head out the door. But for people who have a disability, that’s not such an easy question to answer. Automatically, that question is layered with many more questions:

• Where can we all go and know we can get in?
• What can we all do together?
• Which places are expecting all of us there…meaning that we will not have to put on our advocacy hats today and feel like we are having to push our way in/through/along spaces that just don’t feel like they were expecting us to be there?

By a process of elimination, the short list of opportunities becomes pretty darn short and certainly not equitable. From the outset, RAA knew that had to change!

What RAA Has Done About It

RAA quickly developed a unique, multi-layered strategy. Our Inclusion Partnerships, persistent Education/Outreach efforts, and DirectConnect services have expanded and evolved throughout the decade. Starting with one small business along the Erie Canal in Fairport, NY – Erie Canal Boat Company – RAA now works in local, regional, and statewide arenas to affect long-lasting, sustainable change! We work with schools, municipalities, medical professionals, disability-serving organizations, sports and recreation facilities, libraries and so much more! You can keep up with our progress on our website!

Exciting Impact!

It has been an extraordinary 10 years! The community collaborations, partnerships, and friendships being formed along the way are a crucial and TREMENDOUS part of our work – and because of these, we are seeing REAL CHANGE!

•  26+ and growing Inclusion Partnerships including local, regional, and state entities resulting in tangible removal of social and physical barriers:
  • More Inclusion Points of Contact than ever before!
  • More Accessibility Tabs on business’ websites!
  • Changes to Registration forms that encourage potential guests to engage about modifications and supports that will make participation successful
  • Alt Text on website and social media posts
  • Adaptive equipment available for patron use
  • And an overall WELCOMING invitation for people with disabilities to participate!
• Trainings and Workshops across the Greater Rochester, WNY, FLX, Southern Tier, Buffalo, along the Erie Canalway, and beyond!
• 10,000+ people impacted annually
• 581 allies registered through our Inclusion Ambassador Training portal
• 15+ Outreach/tabling events annually
• Inclusive access now available to a growing list of activities
  • Kayaking, cycling, art, birding, fencing, municipal pools and programs, parks, trails, wheelchair basketball, tennis, pickleball, boat tours, mountain biking

This journey is incredible! We are eternally grateful to the 26 founding members who took a definitive step 10 years ago and kicked off an epic movement! From our first Board of Directors to our current Board of Directors, to our scores of volunteers who have helped along the way, and to our incredible staff…

We are Making Inclusion Happen with YOU!