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Dream Adaptive, a sport nonprofit in Whitefish, has received a $50,000 grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs that could nearly triple its outreach to veterans physically or mentally altered by war.
An adaptive sport nonprofit in Whitefish has received a $50,000 grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs that could nearly triple its outreach to veterans physically or mentally altered by war.
Dream Adaptive Executive Director Cheri DuBeau Carlson said adapting sports for people with disabilities ranges from spending time working through a person’s fears on the ski mountain, to teaching a person with a mobility impairment how to use a sit-ski.
While the nonprofit has existed for 31 years, DuBeau Carlson said it recently has been able to expand their services to reach more veterans.
“We saw this as a need in our community that, in the past, has been pretty limited,” DuBeau Carlson said. “We’ve been looking for ways to partner with existing programs to support veterans, which is so important in a community where everything is pretty spread out.”
Through a partnership with Kalispell Veterans Center last winter, 15 veterans were able to get on the slopes at Whitefish Mountain Resort with Dream’s skiing and snowboarding program.
With the recent grant, DuBeau Carlson expects the program to reach more than 40 veterans this winter.
“Getting in the mountains is a therapeutic piece of getting veterans integrated back into society in a way that they’re comfortable,” she said. “But sometimes getting them there takes work and in the past has been another limitation for what we could do.”
DuBeau Carlson said a portion of the grant will go toward covering veterans’ travel and food expenses while in Whitefish.
“That means we can expand now to help people statewide, and even in neighboring states,” she said.
This year is the first time Montana agencies have received a portion of the more than $7 million set aside for adaptive sport grants. Horses Spirits Healing, based in Billings, also received about $52,000 in funding.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald said in a prepared statement that an estimated 10,000 veterans and service-members would benefit from the nationwide grants.
“Adaptive sports gives freedom to those who have fought for our freedom, and empowers veterans to believe in themselves and to let go of what others may see as limitations,” McDonald said.
Larry Cannon, the Kalispell Veterans Center outreach coordinator, said he expected the grant to increase the program’s presence within the Flathead Valley.
He said by partnering with innovation programs, the center may be able to draw in a wider crowd of veterans who otherwise wouldn’t want to seek help for the difficulties they face after returning home.
“Dream Adaptive provides this recreational piece that we can’t do — once we’re out of the office, we’re out of our element,” Cannon said. “And with this program, it’s not just handing someone a lift ticket and saying ‘Here you go.’ They ask the veteran what their goals are, what their limitations are, their fear, anxiety, you name it.”
He said along with paying for new adaptive equipment, the grant will strengthen the nonprofit’s ski and snowboarding program by increasing training for volunteers.
The program’s volunteers are set to head to Hartford, Colorado later this year to attend Ski Spectacular, an event hosted by Disabled Sports USE which will help train the volunteers how to expand adaptive snowsport programs.
“We hope to continue finding more organizations in this community already working to support veterans,” he said. “In a place like Montana, it’s important to use every resource available.”