Inclusive Recreation Companions
For the past three years Inclusive Recreation Companions have been paired with individuals
with developmental disabilities to help them establish inclusive recreation as a necessary
part of their lives. The current six-member team has had a busy spring while winding down
the final year of the project. The service projects they conducted throughout the Portland
area included a work day at Luscher Organic Farm in Lake Oswego; a yard clean-up day at a
home in Northeast Portland; and disability awareness training at schools and after-school
programs.
On May 22, 2004, 34 people with and without developmental disabilities met at Luscher Organic
Farm. In three hours, the group set 60 steel posts into the ground, making four rows of fifteen
posts, on which they wove four twines for the beanstalks to grow on. The group also hilled
a quarter-acre of potatoes, and planted 150 tomato starts in the ground along with 45 tomato
trellises!
On July 17, 2004, another 24 people with and without disabilities gathered at the home
of a person with a developmental disability in Northeast Portland. Due to the disability,
the owner is unable to do yard maintenance work. In about two hours, the group removed blackberry
vines, trimmed and pruned shrubs, mowed lawns and filled many, many yard-debris bags. This
project was jointly sponsored by The Arc’s AmeriCorps team, Metropolitan Family Service’s
Project Linkage, and SOLV.
Amidst the big, one-day service projects, members spent a few hours each month conducting
disability awareness training at such sites as American Red Cross, Sister of the Road Café,
and seven sites in the Portland Public School system. The training offers thought-provoking
simulations of disabilities that allow people without disabilities to get a glimpse of what
it is like to live with a disability.
The Arc of Multnomah County along with the children and adults with and without developmental
disabilities impacted by the AmeriCorps Inclusive Recreation Companion Project are grateful
to the AmeriCorps members for their generosity and caring. They have made a huge difference
in our community. If you would like to learn more about how you can become an Inclusive Recreation
Companion, please contact us at (503) 223-7279, ext. 610.
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