United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Central Arizona’s Adaptive Experiences Initiative is creating new opportunities for adults with disabilities to participate in social and recreational activities across the Valley. The program recently hosted a 12-week ballet class and partners with organizations, including the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury, for adaptive events.
Camille Ridley, Vice President of Marketing and Development, and Suzy Campbell, Community Engagement Lead for United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the benefits of inclusive experiences, upcoming events they are hosting and how people can get involved.
The program makes accessibility its top priority with events like breakfast with accessible Santa for children and all-ages or adult basketball clinics. But there was one area of activity people longed for, “We started to hear from families that they wanted to have arts and culture experiences,” Ridley said.
From there, the UCP’s adaptive ballet series was born. A series helping adults with disabilities connect and learn through ballet lessons.
“It was a beautiful initiative that we did with the adult day program, and, you know, it was awesome to see some of the members standing on their tippy-toes, right? or sitting, right, anyway they could,” Campbell said.
The program partnered with the Arizona Repertory Ballet to offer the multipart event and does the same for others, such as its adult adaptive basketball clinics.
The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury foundations, along with Ability360, serve as longtime partners in supporting the seven-week program where members got to shine.
“We had 43 participants in the program, and the coaches determined there are about six of them that had really progressed and really built their skills, and that should be recommended to move over to Arizona Special Olympics,” Ridley said.
The basketball clinics saw participation from every member, whether in the audience or on the court, highlighting the strong sense of community that comes along with them.
UCP will continue to host events and sessions to serve its members of all ages, including its Fall Ball on October 3rd.
