Special Olympics Inc

Programs: Program assistance (health)our vision is to create a world where people with and without intellectual disabilities (id) have the same opportunities to be healthy. When people with id have access to health services, they also have more opportunities for education, employment, sports, and other pathways to reach full participation in society. Our goal is 11 million people with id with improved access to health by 2020. Special olympics health, made possible by the golisano foundation, began in 1997 with healthy athletes. Since then, we have provided millions of free health screenings and empowered athletes to become wellness leaders in their communities. Special olympics also works directly with international organizations and ministries of health to create sustainable health services fully inclusive of people with id. In 2017, special olympics health made stunning leaps in improving education, inclusion and care. Since special olympics healthy athletes was founded 20 years ago, the program has conducted more than 2. 1 million health screenings for our athletes. We have also trained more than 240,000 health-care professionals in over 135 countries. Our health partnerships are crucial to expanding this work around the world. Most visibly, since 2012, our partnership with the golisano foundation has been unlocking doors to quality health screenings, follow-up care, plus fitness and prevention programming for people with id worldwide. This year also marked a major expansion in healthy communities -- our successful model that ensures year-round access to quality health care and prevention programming for people with id. There are now more than 50 special olympics healthy communities in five regions around the world. This year, special olympics entered into a formal partnership with pan american health organization (paho), regional office for the americas of the world health organization (who). The shared goal is to create sustainable health systems and services inclusive of all people with id. In the usa, there was also a major increase in collaboration and funding from the u. S. Centers of disease control and prevention. This support helped special olympics health activities expand significantly in the past year. The initiative that started it all, healthy athletes, provided more screenings in more locations to more athletes than ever before. Special olympics health also greatly increased the quantity and quality of clinical directors. A new cohort of healthy community grantees joined the movement, energized to build upon the strong foundation and innovative practices developed by the first cohort. In the u. S. , we have commitments from universities, corporations, and managed care organizations and are paving the way to inclusive health anchored in communities. Globally, partnerships and collaborations with intergovernmental entities, international organizations, businesses, and governments have started to take shape and are yielding results globally, nationally, and within communities to influence health systems. To bridge health and sports, we rolled out fitness resources across the globe supporting our athletes in their sports performance and overall health.

public education and communicationspecial olympics is transforming lives and creating communities of acceptance, inclusion and respect from the youngest age. Our ambitious goal: to build the first truly unified generation through sports and end injustice, intolerance and inactivity for people with intellectual disabilities everywhere! If you grow up in an inclusive community, you will want to live in and build -- an inclusive world. This is how we are creating the best possible future for all. All around the world, we are challenging young people to get off the sidelines, embrace inclusion and promote equality in their schools and communities. Our youth activation program unified schools -- is now offered in more than 105,000 schools worldwide, including 6,000 in the u. S. This represents enormous growth in 2017, as we empower millions more young people to unite and change the game for everyone. Why are unified programs so popular with students and with staff? Because unified schools create a welcoming, inclusive school culture that benefits all students with and without intellectual disabilities (id). Together, these students bring empathy, acceptance and compassion to their schools. As studies show, this reduces bullying and offensive language; it also boosts a positive school environment. Young people also create lasting impact when they bring these lessons to their families, communities and the larger world. Building on this popularity and strength, special olympics launched a global youth plan in 2017. The goal is to further expand numbers of unified schools and unified youth leaders worldwide. We won't transform the world by aiming small; special olympics is aiming to bring more than 1 million young people into this joyful, inclusive campaign over the next five years.

sports training and competition:in 2017, special olympics' global push for unity, health and fitness had impact far beyond this year's world winter games. In fact, the talents and skills of people with intellectual disabilities (id) were opening hearts and minds all year long, thanks to more than 103,000 events and competitions held worldwide during this record-breaking year. As the global leader in inclusive sports, special olympics also marked a significant unified sports milestone: as of 2017, we have brought together more than 1. 6 million unified sports teammates in 214 countries around the world a new record. In total, the reach of the special olympics movement has grown to 5. 2 million athletes with intellectual disabilities and nearly 900,000 unified teammates. Our vision of an inclusive world starts early with our wildly successful young athletes program, which brings together children with and without intellectual disabilities (id) for fun and play. In 2017, young athletes for ages 2 to 7 -- expanded to 28 more countries, now changing lives in every single global region. But the big story is in asia-pacific, where young athletes has grown exponentially in the last year about 400%! In 2016, less than 30,000 children were benefitting from this life-changing program. Twelve months later, nearly 150,000 children are taking part. Nearly 30 years old, special olympics unified sports is also marking an impressive new milestone: more than 1. 6 million people with and without id have now competed together in every single region of the world. And more young people are playing unified than ever: there are now more than a half-million unified teammates ages 12-25 worldwide nearly double last year's total! Unified competitions are also growing in innovation and reach. In 2017, the middle east/north africa region held the first-ever unified female football cup, teaming athletes with and without id from egypt, tunisia and the united arab emirates. Leading the way, our female athletes are helping shatter stereotypes about the skills of people with id and also opening doors to empowerment in a region where women were once discouraged from taking part in sports. In east asia, we saw the inaugural season of the unified schools football league. The opener alone brought together more than 100 athletes and unified sports partners. This is just one example of the continuing growth of unified schools and unified sports around the world. (see page x for more on youth & schools). At special olympics, we know that sports training and competition do more than empower children and adults with id; sports also drive awareness of the talents and skills of people with id. That's why we continue to expand competition opportunities all around the world. In north america alone, more than 60 large-scale summer games competitions were held in 2017, with more than 175,000 athletes taking part. In latin america, the 2017 regional games brought together athletes from 21 countries, each striving to do their best. 2017 world gamesat the special olympics world winter games austria 2017, the world came together with one heart to celebrate differences and unite in the spirit of respect, inclusion and joy. The opening ceremony was broadcast live to millions of viewers in 190 nations. This was the broadest reach for a winter games opening ceremony ever, bringing the talents of people with intellectual disabilities (id) to a wide new audience. Over 12 days of events and competition, the special olympics world winter games austria 2017 brought unprecedented global attention to sports achievement and inclusion for people with id. More than 2,600 athletes from 105 nations competed in nine winter sports in the cities of graz, schladming and ramsau. These were athletes who'd trained for months, sometimes years, for their chance to compete at world games, many training under difficult conditions, from mongolia to syria. A key goal of every world games is to change attitudes about the talents of people with intellectual disabilities (id): before and during the competition -- and especially beyond. That is the power of sports. At these games, this power was magnified by no less than 365 hours of tv coverage on espn, espn2, abc and espn deportes. This power was also witnessed by 80,000+ spectators, including the president of austria, alexander van der bellen, who was inspired to say: "it is my hope that after the special olympics world winter games, the spotlight does not dim, but continues to shine for those with intellectual disabilities, with you [athletes] serving as role models in your home countries. "also taking part in the games were 1,100 coaches, 5,000 family members, 3,000 volunteers, and 1,200 guests of honor. In addition, media and influencer coverage of the 2017 games generated over a billion media impressions.