Northwest Association For Blindathletes

Causes: Blind & Visually Impaired Centers, Disabilities, Human Services

Mission: To provide life-changing opportunities through sports and physical activity to individuals who are blind and visually impaired.

Programs: Sports outreach - this program provides opportunities for children, youth, adults and military veterans who are blind and visually impaired to become introduced to sport and physical activity. Participants participate in a variety of sports including goalball, judo, beep baseball, beep kickball, powerlifting, track and field, tandem cycling, swimming, skiing, dragon boating, kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking, and more. The organization operated more than 101 sports outreach program experiences during the fiscal year to improve the quality of life for 1,025 people with visual impairments. Approximately 70% of the nearly 56,000 school-age children who are blind have never experienced any type of physical activity, this program is critical because it helps participants build confidence, enhance self-esteem, develop long-lasting friendships, improve their physical and muscular strength, and empowers them to excel in all areas of life.

sports teams program/sports adaptations - the sports teams program provides children, youth, adults and military veterans who are blind and visually impaired with the opportunity to participate in sports and physical activity on an on-going basis through one of our on-going sports teams or walking and running partnerships. During the fiscal year, the program provided youth programming throughout the state of oregon and adult programming in clark county, wa/portland, or; spokane, wa; and boise, id. In fy16-17, more than 100 individuals who are blind or visually impaired were served through the sports team program and 1,500 program service hours were delivered. This program helps to combat the 70% nationwide unemployment rate among adults with visual impairments by building confidence, enhancing self-esteem and instilling the tools they need to be successful in all areas of life including school and employment. The sports adaptation program provides adaptations to blind and visually impaired students, adults, family members, teachers, and community organizations about how to adapt sports for individuals who are blind and visually impaired. This program provided 198 hours of direct program services in the year ending june 30th, 2017.

increasing visibility (public awareness program) the association's public awareness program provides community members the opportunity to learn more about the abilities of people who are blind and visually impaired. This program is delivered through public awareness campaigns, speaking engagements, and allowing community members to experience blindness and participate with athletes. In fy16-17, more than 20,000 contacts were made with community members across washington, oregon, idaho and montana.