A proposed foundation · Greater Hartford, Connecticut
EVERYONE DESERVES A PLACE TO BELONG.
A court to play on. A trip the whole family can take. A community that expects you to show up. We're working to build those things for people with disabilities and the people who love them.
Greater Hartford Adaptive Sports & Community Center
Our first goal is a modest, accessible facility: one regulation basketball court, wheelchair and adaptive equipment storage, accessible restrooms, flexible program rooms, offices, and possibly a small strength-training area.
We hope it can serve existing adaptive sports and disability community programs, potentially including the Connecticut Spokebenders and Ryan Martin Foundation programs, subject to organizational agreement.
The long-term vision is a much larger regional adaptive sports campus.
Planned
Accessible Family Getaways
Imagine a vacation where nobody has to ask "can we get in?" We envision accessible getaways for families with physical and developmental disabilities, with suitable lodging, adaptive activities, sensory considerations, and recreation everyone can join.
Both initiatives are in the planning stage. No facility, program, or partnership is operating yet.
Why a Permanent Accessible Gym?
Ask any adaptive athlete where they practice, and you'll often hear about borrowed time: a school gym after hours, a rec center between other bookings, equipment hauled in and out of a car every week.
Wheelchair basketball and other adaptive sports need more than a floor. They need space to store sport wheelchairs and equipment, accessible locker rooms and restrooms, and a schedule that doesn't disappear when someone else needs the court. When that space is temporary, programs are fragile. When it's permanent, a community can grow around it.
A permanent home would mean regular practice times, a place for kids to try a sport for the first time, room for families to watch and connect, and a base for the groups already doing this work in Greater Hartford.
This describes the need as we and local adaptive athletes experience it. We'll add sourced community data as we gather it.
Community Stories
This will be a place for the people behind the mission: athletes, families, coaches, and volunteers telling their stories in their own words, shared only with their consent.
Photo comingCommunity storyAn adaptive athlete and their storyPhoto comingFamiliesA family enjoying an accessible outingPhoto comingOn the courtAdaptive basketball in Greater Hartford
Coming soon: stories and photos will be added as they're gathered.
Partner With Us
If your organization serves people with disabilities and their families, or you have space, expertise, or ideas to share, we'd love to talk. Early partners will help shape what this becomes.
Adaptive sports programs looking for a home
Community and disability organizations
Facilities, coaches, and accessibility experts
Families who want to tell us what they need
We are not accepting donations. The Foundation is proposed and has not been granted tax-exempt status.
