Minority Outreach Recreation Program

The Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP) Minority Outreach Program addresses barriers to recreation participation by physically disabled minority individuals. The program offers Youth Sports competitive and recreational programs for youth ages 5-19 including wheelchair basketball, power soccer, track and field, and handcycling. The program offers Adult Sports five nights a week, including wheelchair basketball, power soccer, and goal ball (a sport for individuals with visual impairments). The program also hosts Adventures and Outings for families and disabled individuals including kayaking, nature hikes, sailing and whale watching, museum tours, art festivals, and live theatre. The Adaptive Cycling Center offers adapted cycles for use on bay-side trails. The program has over 30 multilingual volunteers to create a more comfortable environment for non-native English speaking families, and has bi-cultural outreach specialists to present recreation options. The outreach program works to overcome economic barriers by offering free youth programs, and waiving the small fee for outings when an individual cannot pay. The program also includes other family members, and provides accessible transportation to and from activities.

The goal of BORP’s Minority Outreach Program is to make recreational activities more accessible to disabled minority or immigrant individuals.

During 2006-2008, the Minority Outreach Program was able to work with 220 agencies that serve minority and immigrant populations to reach over 400 new individuals with disabilities. Of those contacted, most (380) joined the program for more than 15,000 hours of recreation. The program attracted 38 new volunteers with linguistic and cultural expertise to serve diverse populations. Minorities now make up 55% of adult goal ball players, 44% of wheelchair basketball players, and 52% of power soccer players. Of the 100 youth involved in BORP services, 52% are of minority and immigrant background. Adapted cycling attracted 90 new minority participants, and by 2008 50% of riders were minorities, many of whom had never ridden an adapted bike before. The program provided many outings, and new participants reflect Bay Area demographics