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Date: 8/3/2021
NORTHAMPTON – The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced on July 15 that $300,000 would be distributed to 74 organizations across the state to hire younger people for jobs focused on healthy living, including All Out Adventures in Northampton.
Karen Foster, All Out Adventures’ executive director, said the non-profit initially began as a group that supported the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Universal Access Program to make state parks more accessible before jumping into creating programs for people of all ability levels.
“We are a nonprofit, we are based in Northampton and we were formed in 2001 with the original goal of making the state park accessible to those who have disabilities and we have sort of grown from there. In a typical year we run about 180 outdoor recreation programs that are accessible to people with disabilities, veterans and seniors,” she said.
In terms of the program offerings, Foster said members can participate in kayaking, canoeing, cycling, paddle boarding, cross country skiing, snow shoeing and more.
With the grant, Foster said she was able to hire three people and they will be working across the nonprofit.
“We hired three people, which is awesome. They do everything, so they assist with setting people on bikes or on kayaks, if somebody needs a tandem paddler, they do that, they help our program leaders coordinate the groups and they work in the office to help with data entry and program registration, so they touch all facets of our work,” she said.
With more programs in the summer, Foster said this grant program runs at the perfect time.
“There are only two of us who work full time and then we have three staff members who are paid per program, and they have been with us three to four years. In the summer we run many more programs than we do the rest of the year and serve more people,” she said.
She added that the grant program is a win-win for her staff and the young people.
“Being able to hire young people through this grant allows us to build our capacity and serve more people. The work experience for the young people is pretty awesome and their perception of disability is really impacted so it is a win-win,” Foster said.
Foster said this is the third season All Out Adventures has participated in the grant program and as a smaller non-profit every dollar from the grant helps.
“We are a small nonprofit and our expenses and income tend to match pretty closely, so every dollar helps. With the funds we have gotten from this grant and the extra support means we can serve more people. It supports the organization holistically so it helps us be financially stronger and we can better serve the people who depend on our program,” she said.
By hiring younger people, Foster said she hopes it helps them understand how to work with people with disabilities.
“The biggest thing is that real understanding of how to interact with people who have disabilities, creating a comfort level in being in close connection with people who have disabilities as well as understanding what possibilities are out there and what people with disabilities are really capable of,” she said.