A young man on a Somerville Public Schools hiking program experienced his first time in the woods! This group of high-school students has been doing an adventure series with Waypoint as a class and on a recent hike in the Middlesex Fells, we discovered it was Thomas’ first time!
Thomas’ school borders the Middlesex Fells Reservation, but it wasn’t until a partnership with Waypoint Adventure and access to an off-road wheelchair that he got to experience the trails, trees, leaves, dirt, and wind.
Thomas’ Physical Therapist said “This may be the most exciting thing Thomas has ever done!” Way to go, Thomas!
On this Giving Tuesday 2023, consider a donation big or small to make more firsts like this happen for members of our community like Thomas. Thank you for your support!
Thomas got to join his friends on their class field trip!
00JULIA SPRUANCEhttps://ma.waypointadventure.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/waypoint-adventure_logo_457x152.pngJULIA SPRUANCE2023-11-28 09:24:202023-11-28 09:24:20Thomas’ first time in the woods
Have you ever wanted to test out gear to see if it fits your needs? Have you ever wondered what the best off-road wheelchair or adaptive bike setup works for you?
Join us on Saturday, October 14th at Waypoint Headquarters for our “Waypoint on Wheels” Expo in collaboration with Grit and sponsored by Rodman For Kids. You’ll experience a customized session just for you and try out different adaptive gear. From electric, to self-propel, to full assist, we have an off-road wheelchair, hand-cycle, or tandem bike/trike to fit your desire for adventure!
Look through the mobility devices below. When you register for a session, you will complete the Medical Form, then after checking out, you will be asked to complete a Follow Up Form, called “Gear Day Preferences.” In that Follow Up Form, please indicate what devices you are most interested in trying, and we will make sure there are not too many others in your session that also want to try that. To add your answers to the form, press “Edit” in the top right corner, and then “Submit” when you are finished.
*Please read directions above to make sure there are not too many others in your session who also want to try what you want.
Off-Road Wheelchairs
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GRIT Freedom Chair and Freedom Chair Junior
The Freedom Chair by GoGrit is a simple design, 3-wheeled wheelchair with hand-crank propulsion and braking. The handlebars behind the riders head make it easy to push from behind. We also have a Freedom Chair junior for youth riders!
The Trail Rider is one of our two most supportive off-road wheelchairs. It is a full-assist device – meaning the rider maintains their posture while a person pulls from the front and pushes from the back. This chair has arm rests, foot rests, and only one wheel to create a smooth ride and the ability to go up and over anything. This chair has climbed Kilimanjaro!
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Hippocampe
The Hippocampe wheelchair was originally built as a beach wheelchair with big wheels for the sand and the ability to float. However, we love it for it’s reclined comfortable seat with headrest and that it’s lightweight for someone to push. It’s not easy to self-propel, but it is possible. Mainly used as a push/pull chair.
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Hoyt Racing Chair
Built by the Hoyt Racing Chair company and inspired by the Rick and Dick Hoyt team, this chair is built for comfort, stability, and ease of pushing. It has mountain bike all-terrain tires as well as road tires. The front wheel can also come off and the whole chair can be hooked up to the back of a bicycle.
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Terratrek
The Terratrek is a rugged, all-terrain manual wheelchair built to withstand the trail. This chair comes in two different footrest options to accommodate the most comfortable or natural position of a rider’s feet/legs and it comes in two different seat-width options. It accepts a seat cushion and has sturdy tires. This chair is ideal for the user that is able and willing to self-propel.
Mountain Trike
The Mountain Trike Chair is all-terrain, rugged, self-propulsion, and self-steering. It has the option of direct steering with only one arm. It has excellent control for smooth turns and is easy to ride across slopes. The hydraulic disc brake system gives you great control and braking in all weather. The seat tilt is more conducive to racing-chair style and is not adjustable.
Trionic Veloped Off Road Walker
The Trionic Veloped Walker is the only truly off-road walker on the market. With its patented climbing wheel, the Veloped can negotiate even tougher terrain as the three-wheel design is more off-road capable than any 4 wheel walker.
Cycling: Tandem Bikes, Trikes, and Hand-Cycles
Hase Recumbent Hand Cycle
This hand-cycle recumbent trike is also new to Waypoint. Made by Hase. The two Hase devices connect to each other for a tandem experience.
Hase Recumbent Trike
This foot pedal recumbent trike is for a single rider. It’s new to Waypoint! Try it out! Made by Hase. The two Hase devices connect to each other for a tandem experience.
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Tandem Bicycles
We have a wide array of tandem bikes of different heights and lengths. Our Tandem Cycling program is popular. We’re always looking for more Captains to steer and command the front of the bike! These bikes are for people with full balance and trunk strength.
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Recumbent Tandem Bikes
We have two different styles of recumbent tandem bike with different levels of support.
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Tandem Trike
Our tandem trike offers the extra stability of a third wheel and the ability to have two pedalers – either on separate chains or connected to the same chain
00JULIA SPRUANCEhttps://ma.waypointadventure.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/waypoint-adventure_logo_457x152.pngJULIA SPRUANCE2023-09-07 10:30:572023-09-07 10:30:57Waypoint on Wheels 2023
This week is Brain Injury Awareness week and we’ve been thinking a lot about Cindi and the progress she’s made at Waypoint. Cindi has both an Acquired Brain Injury and a Traumatic Brain Injury – Acquired was from what doctors believe to have been a mosquito bite and contracting Triple E in 2010, and Traumatic was from falling due to residual balance issues.
In Cindi’s life before her injury, she had been a barber at a Veterans Hospital doing cuts and shaves for over 350 patients, had gone to school to get her private detective license, was a part-time travel agent, had her commercial driver’s license and drove 18-wheelers for 5 years, and volunteered for her town as an EMT and Firefighter for 10 years! All while raising 4 children!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMviI7BPL9A
After her Encephalitis from what doctors believe to have been a mosquito bite in 2010, Cindi had cognitive issues, memory issues, balance issues, aphasia, and would get overstimulated easily. Things like people moving fast near her or driving in the car would throw off her vestibular and she would feel sick. She did months of intense therapy and rehab, used a wheelchair for a year, then moved to a rolling walker, and now still uses a cane to help with balance.
Last month, Cindi met with our friend, consultant, and market researcher, Mira, who is helping tell Waypoint participants’ stories and told her what made Waypoint different from other organizations she had been with in the past. She told Mira how refreshing it was that Waypoint was a teaching organization. She said, “They know that I have memory problems, but want to be able to hike on my own. They help me get there.”
What we love about hearing Cindi’s story is that it reminds us that we’re in the business of amplifying people’s true selves. Before her injury, Cindi was someone who liked to be bold, adventurous, try new things, and loved to learn. And after her injury, Cindi has the same love for adventure and living life to the fullest! She may need support with balance, memory, judgement, and confidence, but she’s making progress to be able to hike on her own and she’s already planning more backpacking trips this summer with her son!
Go Cindi!
00JULIA SPRUANCEhttps://ma.waypointadventure.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/waypoint-adventure_logo_457x152.pngJULIA SPRUANCE2021-05-12 15:24:252021-05-12 15:24:25Finding Confidence after a Brain Injury
Here at Waypoint, we continue to enjoy outdoor adventures! In fact, winter hiking, biking and snowshoeing trips can be exhilarating and fun with proper clothing, the right equipment, a mask, and a bit of social distance. Let’s be real, even a stroll around the block on a gray day can refresh the mind and raise our spirits. We are excited to venture into the outdoors with you if you are up for the adventure! Our new online registration process is up and running – click on ‘The Adventures’ tab on our website to sign up or give us a call and we’ll find the best program fit for you and your goals!
We understand that the pandemic can sometimes make travel, or even getting out of the house feel challenging. The good news is that opportunities to virtually enjoy nature, as well as resources and inspiring stories are available at the tap of your device or computer. Studies have shown that even virtual nature can improve our health and happiness. Here are some websites and links to virtual adventures that might get you dreaming of post-pandemic outings.
Try a virtual nature hike or “visit” a national park at one of these links:
ProArtInc’s Virtual Hikes via the 4K Virtual Outdoor Hikes Playlist on YouTube – Immerse yourself in a trail for several hours, listening to the sounds of nature as the camera moves along a hiking trail at walking speed
As winter arrives and daylight grows a little shorter, the brambles and thorns of life might tug at you and try to hold you down or keep you indoors. Nature has a way of affording us a literal view of the forest through the trees. Science has proven that nature (even virtual nature) can contribute to happiness and boost our moods and state of mind. Come join us on a Waypoint Adventure; and if that isn’t possible at the moment, try experiencing nature virtually!
Please contact us via email or phone to let us know about other virtual nature experiences that you like or to request that Waypoint run a virtual experience
It’s been a wild summer! Covid-times are hard times for sure, but the silver lining for us at Waypoint has been these private lessons! Check out pictures and some cool things we’ve noticed!
Participants are progressing in skills! We’ve been able to focus more on teaching directly to a participant’s skill set and learning style. On one kayaking lesson, we spent over 40 minutes with a participant near the shore breaking down the steps of kayaking very carefully and methodically – adding color cues to her paddle, arrows on white boards, writing out steps, and wading into the water next to her boat to practice the feeling of paddling. We just wouldn’t be able to devote that level of instruction in a group setting!
We’re developing closer relationships with our participants and their families. There’s a lot to chat about on a 90-minute lesson! We’ve seen fresh sides to personalities in a new one-to-one atmosphere and have learned so much about each person who has come out!
More people than ever are signing up that have never been on a Waypoint program! We’re getting calls and emails from all over the Boston area from people who’s school or program is closed and they are looking for something outdoors to do. People who have been on our mailing list for years and just never got around to signing up are doing so. And we think, partly, it’s desperate times, but for some people, they just thrive in a private-lesson setting as opposed to a group one.
We’ve been forced into trying new sites when parks were closed and they’ve turned out to be awesome for us! Some of our new favorites are paddling on the Concord River from Lowell Street in Concord, MA, the Ice House Landing parking lot in Maynard, MA which has access to the Assabet River and a great rail trail for biking, and we’ve used more than usual our favorite Cambridge kayaking spot, Magazine Beach!
At Waypoint Adventure, we talk about the importance of community all the time. There is no better example of this than on our programs with the Carter School. The Carter School is a Boston Public School high school for students with both severe, intensive disabilities and complex health needs. Carter students and their families participated in hiking and kayaking programs last spring. Three communities came together to make these programs possible: the Carter School, the Snowden International School, and Waypoint Adventure.
All Carter students and their families were given the chance to participate on a program in the Blue Hills on one of three days dedicated to hiking. Many students from the Carter School got to hike for the first time alongside peers from another BPS school, the Snowden International School. Snowden students learned how to push and pull some of Waypoint’s specialized off road wheelchairs, so Carter School students’ family members who usually are responsible for their child’s care at home had a chance to enjoy the hike without having to do any of the pushing. We had three great hiking days full of learning mapping skills, getting to know each other, and exploring nature (including smelling skunk cabbage). Since these hikes, we have loved finding out that Snowden students continue to volunteer at the Carter School for special events, further strengthening the relationship between the two schools.
The final program of the partnership is one of the biggest Waypoint has ever run! It was a cookout and kayaking day at Hale Reservation to celebrate the end of the school year. Families were welcome to join their child for the day. We had almost 70 people on that program! Carter students and their parents and siblings all got to try kayaking on Noanet Pond with experienced Waypoint volunteers. We all had a blast trying something new together!
Check out our pictures from these programs. We feel so lucky to be able to participate in this amazing partnership, and we cannot wait to watch these communities come together again to make these programs happen this spring!
00waypointhttps://ma.waypointadventure.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/waypoint-adventure_logo_457x152.pngwaypoint2020-03-02 18:19:562020-03-02 18:19:56Carter School Partnership
Our annual Inclusive Adventure Club (IAC) backpacking trip was one of the best IAC programs to date. Our vision for this club is that all people regardless of ability have the opportunity to share in the costs and rewards of the experience. We recognize that the thrill of backpacking can be even more rewarding when done alongside a diverse community! So…
On September 21st, 15 adults and their packs filled with food, sleeping bags, tents, and the like, journeyed up to the White Mountains for a beautiful weekend of fall backpacking. The specific destination: Franconia Brook Campsite. S’more-making; star-gazing; bowl-licking; weird wraps (peanut butter, cheese, pepperoni, hummus, and Doritos); and games around the fire were just some of the many highlights that made for a magical trip.
Several people by the end of the weekend said that this trip made their year. It is rare when a large, new group of people can come together and work so effortlessly. Genuine adventure allows that to happen!
If you are interested in backpacking or in other inclusive adventure club adventures, please check out our IAC 2019 Flyer and sign up!
24 Programs! Our biggest partnership ever! What an awesome year it has been with the thriving Special Education Department of Somerville Public Schools. Thanks to a Cummings Foundation grant the Somerville SPED Department received and the tireless efforts of Wellness Coordinator and friend, Caitlin Kelly, Waypoint was BACK in Somerville for the 2018-2019 school year designing and facilitating quality adventure-education programs for 19 different classes across the district. Social-Emotional Learning was happening on these programs: students immersed in problem solving scenarios, supported by the process of learning and community, and given the right to take on challenging experiences and we saw it in action – the perfect recipe for character building come to life.
These programs were not just work for us. The buy-in from teachers and administrators made this series a joy to facilitate. We even had volunteers come out on one program and come back again and again and again because of how much fun they had just being a part of these days! Shoutout to Jim Bradley, Sylvana Weinstein, and some awesome repeat groups from Definitive Cares and The Shady Hill School. This community is vibrant and excelling because of your support!
You HAVE to peruse some of the pictures below. It felt like a family photo album putting these together and laughing about ridiculous things that happened on programs and awesome students, teachers, and volunteers we met along the way. Here are some snapshots from all of the programs we ran with Somerville during 2018-2019:
10/25/18 Ropes Course at Hale Reservation
11/14/18 Hike in the Middlesex Fells
12/19/18 Indoor Rock Climbing at Central Rock Watertown
1/9/19 Indoor Rock Climbing at Central Rock Watertown
1/11/19 Hike at Prospect Hill in Waltham
1/15/19 Indoor Rock Climbing at Central Rock Watertown
1/23/19 Hike at Ward Reservation in Andover
1/30/19 Indoor Kayaking at the Kennedy School in Somerville
2/5/19 Hike at Ward Reservation in Andover
2/13/19 Indoor Kayaking at the Kennedy School in Somerville
2/27/19 Indoor Kayaking at the Kennedy School in Somerville
3/19/19 Hike at Harold Parker State Forest in Andover
3/27/19 Indoor Kayaking at the Kennedy School in Somerville
3/28/19 Indoor Rock Climbing at Central Rock Watertown
4/2/19 Outdoor Rock Climbing at Hammond Pond in Newton
4/10/19 Hike at Breakheart Reservation in Wakefield
4/24/19 Hike at Lynn Woods in Lynn
5/1/19 Indoor Rock Climbing at Central Rock Watertown
5/15/19 Hike at Lynn Woods in Lynn
5/16/19 Hike at Prospect Hill in Waltham
5/23/19 Outdoor Rock Climbing at Hammond Pond in Newton
5/24/19 Hike at Breakheart Reservation in Wakefield
5/29/19 Indoor Kayaking at the Kennedy School in Somerville
And THANK YOU to all the students for participating, and the teachers and administrators that helped coordinate transportation, get forms filled out, opened the pool, and made sure adventure programming fit seamlessly into your curriculum. We believe it’s so important and it’s encouraging to see others agree. Looking forward to next year!
00waypointhttps://ma.waypointadventure.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/waypoint-adventure_logo_457x152.pngwaypoint2019-06-12 13:31:012019-06-12 13:31:01It’s A Wrap! Somerville 2019
We’re on a mission to make the outdoors a more diverse place – where the trails are frequented by people that represent the true diversity of our world. We’re grateful to get to adventure alongside people who love the fresh air, trees, pine needles, brooks and rivers, lakes, bridges, MUD, and community just as much as we do – and are rejuvenated by it!
Thanks to the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation, we’re able to put more programs like these on the calendar. Check out our hike in Harold Parker State Forest, in North Andover, MA. It was open to any adult with a disability and we had some awesome volunteers come out for the day too from the Institute of Performance and Fitness. Check it out!
Filled with anticipation and excitement, the group of 9 set out for the Highland Center in legendary Crawford Notch, NH. For some, it was another chance to summit Mt. Willard. For others, it was their first experience being up in the White Mountains in winter and hiking there with new friends.
The theme for this year was this: It Matters. Throughout the weekend, group members were given the challenge of reflecting on the decisions that they made and interactions that they had with each other to determine why they matter.
On the final night together, everyone shared their favorite moments from the trip. Some things that were said were: “This was the most challenging hike I have ever done, but I feel so proud of myself for doing it!”, “I needed this. This empowered me to get out into the world.”, and “This was excellent! (coming from a participant who uses limited speech)”.
After each person shared their favorite moment, they were given a cutout piece of the map from the trail they had just hiked. With a sharpie, each person wrote their favorite part on the back of this piece and had to figure out how their pieces came together to form the whole map. Without all the pieces, the map would have been incomplete. By the end, everyone realized that all the small things can make a huge difference in our lives. They Matter.
While the summit of Mt. Willard was truly a magical and special place, the weekend was made complete through the difficult journey up and down the mountain, eating way too much food, and hanging out with quality people in the lodge (not to mention the endless games of corn hole and ping-pong to boot!). Mt. Willard was just the icing on the cake.
But don’t take our word for it! Below are some pictures from the weekend.
Lodge Life:
Hike:
We are so grateful to have such a welcoming and loving community of people come out with us every year. 2019 was a very special year and we hope to continue the tradition in 2020. Thank you to AMC YOP for extra gear and the reservation at the Highland Center, Peter Fuller Vans (shout out to Jim Cubeta!) for the van and everyone else who made this all possible.
