By Brielle Carter, Program Manager at Ability 360.
The Ability360 Sports & Fitness Center is a universally accessible sports and fitness center designed to bring people together with all different types of disabilities, of all ages, to encourage wellness, physical fitness and nutritional health.
The 45,000-square-foot sports, fitness and aquatics center is the first of its kind in the Western United States. In addition to hosting competitive sports programs for persons with disabilities, the center accommodates fitness, health and wellness programs.
The Sports & Fitness Center provides services to people with neurological disabilities and conditions, and their families, to support them post rehabilitation in their transition into the community. Programs include living well with a disability, neuro-wellness programs, wheelchair skills and mobility classes, and various inclusive fitness programs. The adaptive equipment, grip impairment devices, and adaptive exercise and aquatic classes benefit persons with neurological disabilities by experiencing a reduction in muscle stiffness, increase of muscle tone, improvement of gait, balance, tremors/spasms, flexibility, grip strength and motor coordination. Most services, but not all are associated with nominal fees and several types of scholarships are available for the fee-based services.
Ability360 began in 1977 as the Arizona Congress for Action (ACA), a group of people with diverse physical disabilities who launched a grassroots effort to educate the community about disability-related issues in Central Arizona. In 1978, Congress enacted Independent Living Center legislation as part of the amended Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In 1981, Ability360 received funding and began services.
Brielle Carter
Ability360 has been empowering people with disabilities for Over 30 Years since 1981. Ability360 is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
Through its comprehensive programs, Ability360 touches the lives of individuals with disabilities and addresses the disability concerns of their family members, co-workers and employers.
Ability360 advocates personal responsibility – by, and for, people with disabilities – as a means to independence.
To help consumers achieve self-sufficiency, Ability360 offers comprehensive programs including:
Independent Living Skills Instruction
Information and Referral
Peer Support, Advocacy
Home Modification
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Training and Counsel
Outreach to Rehabilitation Centers and Early Intervention for Newly-Disabled
Reintegration from Nursing Homes
Employment Services
Social Security Work Incentives Consulting
Empowering Youth in Transition
Home Care Services and Socialization through Recreation
Ability360 Sports & Fitness Center
Ability360 promotes:
We promote and value equal opportunity, full integration and consumer choice
We promote the achievement of full rights and empowerment of all persons with disabilities.
We promote the full participation of people with disabilities in the cultural, social, recreational and economic life of the community.
We promote consumer choice/control – the individual’s right to make informed decisions regarding his or her best interests in all aspects of life.
We promote the involvement of people with disabilities in the decision-making process of community programs and services
The purpose of Ability360 is to:
Maximize independence
Advocate personal responsibility as a means to independence
Respond to direct consumer needs
Encourage self-sufficiency
Increase consumer control
Achieve equal opportunity and full integration
Remove barriers – architectural, communication and attitudinal
Provide leadership through peer role models
In addition to Ability360, the following disability-related non-profit organizations are located in the Ability360 Center:
Arizona Autism United
Joni & Friends
Multiple Sclerosis Society
Raising Special Kids
Valley Center of the Deaf
Arizona Center for Disability Law
Arizona Spinal Cord Injury Association
Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona
NAMI Arizona
Additional Support and Reference:
The Arizona Center for Disability Law is dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals with physical, mental, psychiatric, sensory, and cognitive disabilities. They provide a variety of legal services to people with disabilities and/or disability-related problems. They focus primarily on those cases in which individuals have nowhere else to go for legal support. They provide information, outreach and training on legal rights and self-advocacy, represent individuals in negotiations, administrative proceedings and court, and investigate abuse and neglect.
Brielle Carter, M.S.
Program Manager
P 602-626-7250
Find more information at: ABILITY360SPORTS.ORG
Location:
5031 E. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85034
(602) 386-4566
Thank you,
Brielle Carter, M.S.
Program Manager
Phone: 602-626-7250
Find more information at: ABILITY360SPORTS.ORG
댓글