Club SMILE Mass – A Community Within A Community
SMILE Mass has the goal of raising $7 million over the next four years
Welcome to Our Capital Campaign – You Are Essential to Our Success
Program Summary:
SMILE Mass has signed papers to purchase a property, which will become the future home of Club SMILE Mass – Community within a Community! We are that much closer to the creation of “A Place Like No Other”. This is a huge step in the continued growth of SMILE Mass as it will allow us to service thousands of families raising children and adults with disabilities like never before.
You are a huge part of helping SMILE Mass to service this extremely underserved portion of our population that is considered to be severely disabled and medically complex. Over 1.2 million adults and children in Massachusetts are considered to be disabled. Programming for those with multiple disabilities is hard to find, leaving nearly 10,000 families without appropriate services. Those with severe disabilities are not just left behind; they are often forgotten about. Your donation will allow us to right this unacceptable wrong and allow those with disabilities to live with the same rights, hopes, and dreams as their typical peers.
This property will allow us to bring our very successful Club SMILE Mass program in-house and will allow us the flexibility to service more clients without concern of outgrowing the local gyms we currently use. The new property will contain an adaptive and inclusive indoor and outdoor recreation area, offering recreational opportunities to able-bodied individuals as well as individuals with disabilities and their families.
Our thanks to the Cummings Foundation for getting us off to a great start on this exciting campaign with a $100,000 donation towards our Phase One goal of $1,000,000. The road is long and you are an essential lifeblood to help us build a Community within a Community…One donation at a time. There are so many ways to become involved. Please visit the link below and decide what sponsorship opportunity aligns best with your philanthropic goals.
The Future of Club SMILE Mass, also known as A Community within a Community
SMILE Mass has signed papers to purchase a property, which will allow us to create the Club SMILE Mass-Community within a Community, often referred to as A Place Like No Other! The designs for the property include adaptive and inclusive indoor and outdoor recreation for both able-bodied and individuals with disabilities. The property is in the metro-west area of Massachusetts. We will develop the property in stages. Phase One will include the purchase of the property, designing of the outdoor trails for running, biking, or cross-country skiing, creation of the driveway and parking lot, and the renovation of the interim clubhouse, kitchen, music area, art space, and so much more.
Subsequent phases will include the construction of a pavilion where we can offer socially distant recreation classes, including fitness training, art and music classes as well as story time classes, just to name a few. Over time, we plan to build an accessible tree-house. This outdoor, accessible recreation area will be able to accommodate any individuals with disabilities and their families. It will be run on a membership basis, just like any other gym/club.
The goal of the Community within a Community is to invite families raising children and adults with disabilities to join a club in their community, just like anyone else. The clients we are targeting will be given the same opportunities as their peers. But perhaps the biggest gift we can give these families is an opportunity to fit in and do things the rest of us take for granted.
Creating a Community within a Community will allow SMILE Mass to come full circle as we run our equipment loaner program out of this facility. Families will have the option to borrow our adapted equipment, such as the adapted bikes and kick sleds, and use them right on the property, eliminating the need to pack up a big piece of equipment into your car, driving somewhere appropriate to use it and storing it. This will allow us to service even more families through our adapted equipment loaner program, as several families will be able to use the same piece of equipment each day (with proper sanitizing between clients).
Allowing individuals of all abilities the opportunity to enjoy recreation together will foster a better understanding of the disabled world to typically healthy individuals, removing some negative stereotypes and, hopefully, fostering friendships.
When someone has a disability, learning to use their muscle tone and strength to the best of their ability not only increases someone’s self-esteem, but their overall health will improve, both physically and mentally. But, perhaps the greatest gift for children and adults with disabilities is that they now have the same opportunity as everyone else, belonging to a recreation club right in their own community. And perhaps, with a little luck, they will meet like-minded people who love to work out and be active, allowing them to make new friends.
By providing a barrier-free environment like an accessible recreation area, one could only hope the person with the disability is not defined by the disability but by the person they are.
Decide How You’d Like to Become a Part of our Community within a Community
