ECHO LAKE – Disabilities are inherently associated with limitations, but Judy Hessellund has seen firsthand how quickly those limitations fade away when people with disabilities are given the proper resources and encouragement.
Hessellund is a volunteer for DREAM Adaptive Recreation Inc., a nonprofit organization that seeks to “enhance the quality of life of individuals with disabilities by providing year round outdoor adaptive recreational opportunities,” according to its mission statement.
Last week, as a group of DREAM participants engaged in recreational activities such as kayaking and boat rides on Echo Lake, Hessellund described the joy she sees in their faces at the moment when limitations give way to accomplishment.
“Their faces light up,” she said. “It’s like you’ve given them new life.”
Since 1985, DREAM Adaptive has been providing these moments of new life for children and adults with disabilities in Northwest Montana. But until four years ago, the organization’s recreational opportunities were restricted to wintertime activities at local ski resorts. Among DREAM’s winter participants are high school students with disabilities who train for the Special Olympics at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
The summer water sports program has fewer participants than winter so far, but DREAM director Bruce Gibson is pleased with how the program is shaping up. Over the course of three days last week on Echo Lake, Gibson expected about 40 people with disabilities to participate. Roughly 175 to 200 participate in the winter activities.
Gibson is the only staff member for DREAM. The organization relies on volunteers, donations, grants and fundraisers to provide its services free of charge.
DREAM works with disabilities of all kinds, ranging from physical to development and cognitive, including cerebral palsy, autism, muscle degeneration, Down syndrome, amputees, paraplegics and more.
Gibson is trying to get more people with straight physical disabilities to participate, acknowledging there is sometimes a divide between them and people with developmental and cognitive disabilities. He said the organization is open to ideas about how to accommodate more kids and adults with physical disabilities, including holding activities on separate dates.
In general, Gibson would like to hear from the community about ways to expand the program, such as camping and special-help biking if there is a need.
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Paisley Burtsfield, left, and Jamie Eff, right, walk 5-year-old Jackson Sealy down to a dock at Echo Lake during a Dream Adaptive summer water sports day camp. – Lido Vizzutti | Flathead Beacon |
“Give us a call and we’ll take suggestions,” he said. “We can work to provide more but we have to hear from people to know what they want.”
DREAM Adaptive will have a boat participating in the Sept. 8 Montana Dragon Boat Festival. Gibson is still looking for paddlers – there are 20 to a team – and is also seeking “virtual paddlers” who won’t actually be on the boat but will contribute financially. Whoever contributes the most money will receive an iPad.
Echoing Hessellund, Gibson said DREAM is about empowering people with disabilities and improving their quality of life. After all, there is no more fundamental component to a quality life than having fun.
“A lot of what we see is confidence and a feeling of accomplishment,” Gibson said. “They go home and say how great it was and they say, ‘I did it.’ That’s our motto: ‘I did it.’”
“Well, if you can do that,” he added, “you can accomplish other things in your life too.”
For more information, visit www.dreamadaptive.org, call (406) 862-1817 or email [email protected].