Latest / Community D.C. / Community DC Nicole Preston Special Olympics DC

Transcript

Community DC Nicole Preston Special Olympics DC · Community D.C.

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community d C.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: I'm your host Dennis Glasgow. This morning, we welcome to
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the program for the first time Nicole Preston. She is
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the president and CEO for Special Olympics DC, founded back
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: in the sixties. We'll talk about the history and you'll
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: probably learn a few things that you didn't know about
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Special Olympics and all that they do and how you
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: can help. Here's my conversation with Nicole. I hope you
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: enjoy the conversation as much as I did. Good morning, Nicole,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Good morning. It's great to have you board for the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: first time on Community d C. I'm just thrilled to
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: talk to you. Obviously, I've known about Special Olympics and
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I've also been a part of it for a long
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: time in all the cities I've lived in when I've
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: worked in the media, and I know how hard you,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: your team, your sponsors, the parents, and all the young
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: people work to make everything happen. So I'm really excited
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: to talk to you about all the cool things the
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: notaway DC is doing, but nationwide and throughout the world too.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: So what I'd like to do though, for the people
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: who have heard about Special olymp but might not know
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the history. I know everything goes back to nineteen sixty eight.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Can you give us just a little bit of the
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: history and how things started.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, and thank you again for the opportunity to talk
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: with you today.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: The history begins right here in the DMV.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: All started in the backyard of Eunice Kennedy Shriver in Rockville, Maryland.
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: She invited people with intellectual disabilities youth to come and
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: play and play sports and swim in her backyard, and
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: out of that a little while later became Special Olympics,
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: and out of that came the first Special Olympics Summer
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: Games in nineteen sixty eight in Chicago at Soldiers Field.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: I know that when you run a nonprofit that mission
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: and vision are always important. But when I read yours
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: and I really find out what Special Olympics is, it
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: really is super important. It's very defined. Can you talk
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: about the mission in the vision a little bit.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: What people know us for for sports, but we're so
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: much more than sports. So we are a health, sports,
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: education and leadership program. So we have beyond the ten
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: sports we offer year round, and we have sports programs
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: for all ages. We have starting with our Young Athletes
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: for the two to seven year olds, and that's super
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: important to help start building developmental skills at that age
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: and it's been proven to show improvement and development, you know,
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: going forward, giving them a great start. So we have
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: that Young Athletes program two to seven. At eight, you
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: can become an official Special Olympics DC Athlete or Special
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: Olympics Athlete and compete in our programming. So we have
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: youth sports program throughout the year, but also our adult programming.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: You can participate throughout your adult life, so we have
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: adult sports as well throughout the years. We've recently added
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: a fitness program that's become superpopular with the adults. If
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: they don't want to do a particular sport, we have
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: a fitness program that can come work out, get that exercise,
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: all supervised and run by people trained to do specific
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: sports exercises for people with intellectual disabilities.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: You know, Nicole, you've been doing this for a decade now,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and I imagine you have some very special stories that
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: I'd like to maybe have you share in just a
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: little bit, but I'd like to just talk to you
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: about the families and the participants and all the people
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: that volunteer because there's so many different buckets that you
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: go through and have people a part of Special Olympics,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: and it truly is. And I imagine over the decade
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: you've seen the incredible growth to not just you know, worldwide,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: but especially in the DC area. Can you talk a
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: little bit about all the people that either volunteer or
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: donate it or part of it, because I imagine that
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: what you see and what you hear is truly miraculus.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: It's just about every day.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, No, it's absolutely a life changing experience for most
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: of our volunteers. I routinely hear that our volunteers say
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: that they thought they were coming to do something for
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: someone else, but they get way more out of it
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: than they expected. So it really is a special experience
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: to volunteer. We get people of all walks of life,
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: all ages, all backgrounds that come out from organizations, individuals,
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: church groups, corporate groups, sports groups, college groups, kind of
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: all over the map. And it takes just you know,
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: thousands of volunteers to run all of our programming throughout
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: the year. So we're very thankful for that volunteer support.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: If we are getting the attention of a family or
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: a caregiver or a family friend, coworker that says, you
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: know what, I'd like to be a part of this,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: or maybe we'd like to include somebody in their lives
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: with Special Olympics. How do they start the process to
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: do that? To reach out to you guys, Yeah, just.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: Go on our website Special OLYMPICSDC dot org and click
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: become a volunteer. It's one of the main things on there,
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: so you can click to become an athlete, become a volunteer,
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: become a coach.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: So all of those things are easy to do.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: So short form to fill out comes right to us
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: and we'll follow up with you and get you involved
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: at whatever level, whatever sport. Volunteers for just today, just
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: an afternoon, up to multiple weeks or months, so anything
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: anything in between.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: You talked about a few of the things that you
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: do here, and I'm going down the list. Of course
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: sports and sports and competition, but there's also inclusive health,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: youth and schools, inclusive leadership, and the revolution is inclusion,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: which is really cool. I did some reading on that
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: before we had talked, and that's amazing. Can you talk
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: about maybe the few things that you didn't touch on
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: because they're also cool.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, absolutely healthy athletes is such a great program
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: for us.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Something I didn't know before I worked on this job.
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: There's very little to know training in medical school for
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: how to work with people with intellectual disabilities, so you
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: would think they would be getting more care, but in
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: fact they're getting less in some cases. So Special Olympics
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: over the years started helping facilitate the athletes getting those
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: medical clearances that you need to play in sports, and
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: that's expanded now into nine disciplines. So it's really fantastic
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: when we're able to bring in a lot of athletes
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: to our Medfast program.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: They get free vision.
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: Scare screenings, free dental screenings, physical therapy of course, the
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: medical and often through these screenings you find things that
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: were not no one was aware of.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Then we refer them on for the appropriate care.
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: So really always great to be able to see an
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: athlete see well for the first time, they get free
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: donated glasses to hear better because they hadn't been screened
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: properly for hearing, to address any underlying issues like a
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: high blood pressure or anything like that, and make sure
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: they get the proper care. So it's really a life
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: saving an important program.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: All right, something I want to talk about and we
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: can spend a few minutes on this. It's about getting
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: involved and you've touched in this a little bit with volunteering,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: but there's also becoming an event staff, a coach, an official,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: and becoming a Unified Partner. And then we're going to
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: talk about how to donate and do all those kind
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: of things too. But if we could stand in the
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: volunteer bucket for a second, You've got all these different
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: tentacles that you can if you want to do something.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of different jobs out there. Can you
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: talk a little bit about that.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's something to match any your interest or experience
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: that you bring. As I talked about those free medical screenings,
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: those are volunteer doctors and nurses and healthcare professionals from
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: around the area.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Our Unified Partners is a great program.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: That's where we bring people with and without intellectual disabilities.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: Together on teams to play.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: So you'll come out, you'll see a basketball game, you'll
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: see a volleyball match, and everyone's playing together.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: No one's making any difference about.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: Who's who, So that really builds the inclusive community that
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: we're looking for. It spawns great friendships between the people
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: that are there, and again we've had unified partners come back,
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: you know, year after year because they really feel it,
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: find it so fulfilling to play with the athletes, to
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: be on their team, be true teammates and friends and
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: build those relationships.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: One of the nice things that you and a lot
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: of other charities and nonprofits have done when it comes
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: to giving and ways to donate, you've made it very progressive.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: You have all these different ways you can do it now,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: and it's not just the what website, but you know,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: as I'm looking at that page right now, there are
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: quite a few ways that you can give. You don't
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: have to go through all of them, maybe some of
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: the more popular ones and maybe the ones you're most
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: proud of. But we should let our listeners know there
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: are a lot of ways to donate, aren't there.
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: Absolutely make it easy for you. Whatever works for you
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: works for us. So as you said, donating on the website,
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: mailing us a check, a donor advice fund, a stock donation,
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: any of the kind of ways that you want to give,
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: and particularly through our events as well. The Special Olympics
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: is known for the polar plunge. So if you're into
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: jumping into a pool of cold water in February, come
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: on out and see us.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: And I want to go through just a couple because
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: it is amazing, and then everybody can check out this
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: on the website. But face to face fundraising as mentioned,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: donor gifts of stock which is really cool, donor advice funds,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: bequest and playing gifts, strategic gifts. There are just so
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: many ways that you can do it, and of course
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: there's a big fat red donate button on the top
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: right hand corner that you can misty. We'll give the
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: website to a couple more times. I think it's also
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: important to talk about, especially people in the DMV and
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: let them know Nicole that if they do give, you
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: do have a bud that says how your gifts help.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: If somebody is donating in the DMV, how's their money allocated.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: It's allocated directly to our sports, health and inclusion programs,
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: So it's getting people with intellectual disabilities on the field
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: on the court participating in the sports. The health and
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: the inclusion programs. Didn't mention our school program yet we're
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: in DC over sixty DC Public schools, charter schools, private schools,
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: So we're providing opportunities for all those youth to meaningfully
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: participate in sports when they wouldn't otherwise have that opportunity
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: in their regular school environments. That program also includes of
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: youth leadership, So rather than us coming in and saying
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: what you're going to do, we say, here are your options.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: You guys decide.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: I love that how you want to implement this program
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: in your school, so that gives them agency and leadership
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: opportunities and really helps develop them. One of the great
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: things is when you see these athletes, you know, maybe
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: very withdrawn and quiet when you first meet them, and
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: then through this program they open up, they grow, they
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: gain confidence, and they're able to do so much better
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: in school.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: It expands the horizons.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: It gives them opportunities that they hadn't thought of before.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Well, that's great, thanks for sharing that. I want to
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: talk about families and their participants if we could for
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: a moment. And I know that you not every day
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: get to talk to families and participants, but when you do,
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: and I kind of maybe position this this is why
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: we get up everyday kind of story. I imagine you
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: have handfuls of stories over the last decade to call
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: about something that was really cool and meaningful and heartfelt.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: And I know you see a lot of tough things,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: but you see a lot of incredible, miraculous things every day.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Is there a story two that you could share with us,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: and you don't have to use any names, but maybe
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: just something that touched you that was really cool.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: Well, and I'm fortunate I do get to talk to
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: the athletes and the families pretty often every day or
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: close to it. We're very close to our community that
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: we've built here and they call and just on the
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: way here for this interview, one of our athletes called
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: me just to say, how you doing.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: You know, how's your day, what's what's what's going on?
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: So they have that, you know, ability to just call
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: us and reach out and talk. But there's uh, there's
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: a particular young lady I'm thinking.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: Of again, was very very reserved.
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: I thought she couldn't speak actually, and then over time
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: she participated more, she participated more, and we took her
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: to a bachi tournament up in Maryland and she was
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: chit chatting away with the other athletes on the bus
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: and I turned and looked, and it was so great
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: to see her really feeling comfortable and really blossoming that way.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: But there's countless stories of our athletes. We took a
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: big group to go testify at the DC Council and
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: they were able to talk about why Special Olympics was
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: so important to them and why the funding was needed
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: to support the program.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: All of our programming, all of the sports, all of the.
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: Activities, including national and international travel, is one hundred percent free,
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: so any donations go directly to supporting the athletes and
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: their families.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: You know, I've talked to a lot of nonprofits in
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: the series, and one of my takeaways that I get
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: from families is about being able to relate, because we
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: want to do that as human beings, we want simple
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: acknowledgment and we want to be able to relate that
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: I'm not the only one that's going through this, And
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: I've run into a lot of parents where maybe they've
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: had a non verbal child and then all of a sudden,
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: they throw them into the frying pan with whatever nonprofit
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: is with other kids or young adults like them, and
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: before you know it, somebody has become verbal, like in
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: the instance of you. But also, you know families that
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: are going through some tough times or not being able
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: to share with another family. I imagine that when you
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: get your special Olympics families together be able to relate
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: and be around each other and share stories about whether
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: it was hard or tough. For this is really cool
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: and wonderful. And my young adult or my children are
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: growing because of this. That's really the payoff, isn't it.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, we have a family Engagement counsel where we purposely
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: bring together the families so they can share those stories
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: resources support each other. So absolutely, the families coming together
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: is super important, particularly in trying to navigate everything when
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: you have a youth with disabilities, all the issues with
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: school and with insurance and with healthcare and all the things.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: So we provide as many resources as we can and
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: make sure it's shared, particularly for here in d C
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: where we're serving a lot of very underserved families in
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: wards eight and seven. We serve the whole district, but
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: some of the families who you know, don't otherwise have
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: the resources.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: To reach out and get kind of the support they need.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: Well, that's wonderful. Can you talk a little bit more
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: about families whether it's a mom and dad, or a
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: single parent, or a caregiver or a grandparent, or to
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: somebody of a family that you know has experienced what
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: you and your team have put together and the kind
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: of experiences that they've had with their children or the
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: young adults.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we just came back actually from Minnesota. We took
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: a group of thirty seven athletes to compete in the
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: USA Games. So that's where they're able to travel and
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: compete among four thousand athletes from all over the country,
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: and a few of the family members came with them
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: and they were they had such an amazing experience being there,
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: meeting with families from all over the country, seeing athletes
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: compete in all of these big venues and seeing their
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: own child be able to have that opportunity and win medals,
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: and you know, have some of them have never flown
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: on a plane before, so being able to fly on
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: a plane and stay in a college dorm. And one
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: of our athletes, we took him to a conference and
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: it was at the University of Wisconsin, and now he
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: is one hundred percent dedicated to go into that school
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: for college. His mother can't tell him about any other
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: school that's where.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: He wants to go.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: I love that. You know. One of the things that
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: as you tell that story, I'm thinking about, and once
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: again I do talk to a lot of nonprofits, is
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: that you and I take so many things for granted
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: to what we do, including maybe playing a game of
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: sports or whatever it is, and some of these families
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: and their children and young adults don't get to do that,
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: or like flying on a plane for the first time.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: And I imagine it's also once again going back to
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: being rewarded all the time, Nicole, about watching these experiences
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: and these cool things happening that you and I take
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: for granted that they're allowed to do and also compete
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: for medals and just compete in general be around people
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: like them, but also families that are like them too,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: and it's all coming together. So that's why every time
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: I watch a special Olympics event, everything looks so heartwarming
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: and just so genuine and cool, which we need a
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: lot more in this world. I think we can all
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: agree with that, which once again is another payoff for
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: the things that we take for granted that they don't,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: which I just love that you guys do.
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, And like you say, we need more inclusion in
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: this world. Just bringing people together, having them work and
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: play together and experience that community and those heartfelt feelings
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: and good vibes is something that's really important and everyone
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: really appreciates from Special Olympics.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Addition to all of the concrete things we.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: Provide in terms of you know, those health screenings, support
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: in school, support in leadership areas so they can self
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: advocate for themselves really important, especially increasingly that they're able
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: to advocate for themselves and what people with disabilities can do,
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: not what they can't do.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: I know you know this, but Special Olympics has a great, positive,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: wonderful brand and I always kind of halvingly joke in
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: this series that when you do run a nonprofit, it's
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: not always unicorns and rainbows all the time. There are
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: some challenges out there. Are there any challenges that present
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: you in your team right now that you're working with
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: and on.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely, there's lots of challenges. I'm sure many are
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: where there's been a lot of cutting funds cut from
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: the federal government and that's kind of putting pressure on
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: the DC government in particular, where programs and funding are
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: being cut in a number of areas as well as
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: the foundations that's with supporters are now kind of being overwhelmed.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: With requests, particularly here in d C.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: With the layoffs of so many federal workers who used
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: to be our donors, the closing of the Combined Federal Campaign,
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: which also was a source of revenue that's no longer there.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: So revenues, you know, sources are shrinking, but costs are
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: ever expanding.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: So that's always the challenge to be able.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: To bring it in enough revenue so we continue to
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: serve as many athletes and make sure all the athletes
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: and the families who want to participate can Well.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Speaking of participation, you've got a couple of things coming up.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: You've got a fly k coming up and then something
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: in December. Can you talk about the ten pole EVNSA
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: you have coming up, just to get those in everybody's radar.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, We've got the Run for Inclusion October second at
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: the Wharf, So that's a fun five k run walk.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: You can come out and.
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: Participate, ask your friends and family to support you. And again,
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: all the funds raised contribute to our fall and our
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: winter programming and then our Night of Trees gala. It's
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: at the Omnishoram Hotel. It's been there for over thirty years.
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: So it's a Washington holiday tradition. It's named Night of
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Trees for the beautifully decorated trees that we have. Again,
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: volunteers come out and decorate these gorgeous trees that we
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: then auction off to raise funds for our programming. So
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: it's a really lovely night, live music, dancing, auctions, and
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: a number of athletes there to talk about their experiences,
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: to share why it's important to them.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: You know, one of the things I want to chat
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: you with you about is your peers, other president and
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: CEOs in the United States and worldwide. And for the
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: people don't know, I think we're learning from Nicoleon. Not
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: only do they travel from state to state like you
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: did with Minnesota, but this is a worldwide deal, folks.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: I mean it's all over the place. You know, Paris
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: has been on the map for it, and there's something
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: every year going around the world. As you talk to
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: your peers domestically and also international, when you get a
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: chance to all get together, what's kind of the state
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: of the Union address right now? And where do they
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: hope that maybe in the coming year, special Olympics goes.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we talk about, you know, the shared challenges and
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: joys in each of our different states.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: One of the common things is needing more volunteers.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: I think there was a change in volunteering, you know
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: during COVID obviously, where everything stopped, so kind of getting
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: volunteers to come back out where people kind.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Of moved and dispersed.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: So getting volunteers to come back out, I hear is
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: a common thing with my colleagues across the country, and
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: always we're trying to increase our athlete numbers and just
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: dealing with being able to adjust our sports and our
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: offerings to meet the needs as we go.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: You know. It must be kind of cool too, not
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: only traveling domestically and see how another state operates and
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: what they do and always learning that how we can
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: get better here in the DMV. But I imagine you've
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: had maybe some opportunities over the last decade to go abroad.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: What are they doing around the world that maybe is
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: the same or different or that's cool just to kind
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: of enlighten this to what other people are doing in
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: other countries, because I know it's always a little different
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: because of cultures.
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, one of the very cool things. I didn't
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: personally go, but we sent athletes and youth leaders to
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: Abu Dhabi for the Summer Game several years ago, and
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: one of their cool things is they call the participants
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: people of determination, not people with disabilities. Love it so
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: that already takes disability off the table and gives them
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: such a more positive aspect in the community. And I
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: believe they made that kind of a law, you know,
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: throughout their country, so that was super positive. We had
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: an athlete go and compete in Berlin and win the
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: gold medal in the four hundred meter race, so that
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: was exciting. Catherine Valet are athlete on our soccer team.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: She just came back from the Unified Football Cup in Paris,
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: so she was able to play on Team USA versus
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: countries Azerbaijan they played, they played Germany, they played France.
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: You know, just an incredible opportunity to play against other
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: athletes from all around the world.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm thinking because I'm a sportsman, I played
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: sports and I'm around it, and I was with my
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: daughter living by carefully through her and I know what
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: it takes. It takes a village to actually play a game.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: To practice, travel, execute it, and then get ready for
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: the next one. Can you just talk a little bit
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: about maybe it doesn't matter what sport it is or
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: what event it is, but between coaches and officials, the parents, traveling,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: the liaisons, you and your team, I mean, it must
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: be pretty epic to put something together. But also I
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: guess my point is the commitment that everybody has to
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: put together as there volunteering and helping out here.
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I really want to thank all of our coaches, volunteers,
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: parents who came out who helped us put all of
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: that together to take fifty people to Minnesota and for
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: a week and make sure everybody got everywhere they.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: Were supposed to.
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: So, you know, these coaches, you know, they take a
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: week out of their lives, They take a week of
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: vacation and dedicate it to supporting these athletes, which is
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: so so important and so yeah, that's something that we
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: do throughout the year, whether they're here, whether they travel
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: nationally or internationally or just you know here in DC.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: Those coaches and volunteers, officials are so important to the
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: cause and we really thank them for all of their
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: time and energy that they that they give us.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: For for this effort.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: You know, being on the show is one of the
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: many ways that you can you Special Olympics as a
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: megaphone here when you're working with the media, whether it's
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: partners or what you'd like to do in the coming
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: months and the years, what would you like to see
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: happen as far as coverage of special imbeds because I
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: know we can all do a little bit better out there.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I would love to show have more coverage of
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: the breath of the program. You know, people think again
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: sports immediately, they think that's what I see on TV.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: Many people don't know we have it right here in DC.
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: We have our Summer Games every year in May at
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: Catholic University, so they can have that experience of coming
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: out and seeing the athletes compete, volunteering, being right there
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: on the track cheering.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: As they run. So just want to get that out
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: in the media that we are.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: Local, we are here in DC, that we need you
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: come on out to volunteer, to coach.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: We do need more coaches to be able to grow
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: a program.
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: As we grow and as it becomes more popular, we
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: need more coach is to support our athletes. So coming
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: on out and volunteer in any way again, from health
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: to education, to coaching to.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: Event work. All of it is great and it's something
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: that can fit in anyone's schedule.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: And I know that's a pretty big event. How many
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: participants do you have in that or how many did
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: you have in this last.
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: One the Summer Games, we have normally six to seven
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: hundred athletes another nine hundred volunteers.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: For the week, Nicole, that's epically huge. It's kind of
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: making my head explode. That's a lot of people. Yeah,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: it's a lot.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Well, it is.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: What I want to do is maybe get a couple
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: final thoughts from you in a recap as we wind down,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: we will remind people one more time about the website
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: and all the different programs that are coming up in
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: October and December, the thing being part of and how
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: to donate and volunteer and all those things. But as
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: we kind of maybe wrap up and recap what we
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: talked about, I want to give the to you.
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, thank you again for the opportunity, and anyone
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: listening please check us out, come to the website, give
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: us a call here at the office, and just learn
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: more about what Special Olympics does. If there's families out
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: there with family members that have intellectual disabilities, please call.
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: We have again opportunities for all ages and all different
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: levels of participation that are available, and we need your support.
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: So it's a wonderful team engagement opportunity for companies.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: Companies call us and want to come.
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: Out, and again, they really enjoy volunteering as a team
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: at Summer Games or any of our activities, so it's
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: great for that and come out and enjoy our events.
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: Our annual events are a lot of fun. You get
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: to feel that community of inclusion running with our athletes
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: or jumping into the pool for polar Plunge, or coming
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: to the gala to support the winter sports. So there's
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: really a little bit of everything for everyone and lots
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: of opportunities to get involved.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: And let's give the website one more.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: Time special Olympics DC dot org great.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: And then the other thing is I'm glad you mentioned
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: this that if somebody's listening that owns their own business,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: small business Meetiingum size are larger, they can reach out
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: to you. And it's not just monetarily, even though funds
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: are great and are welcome, but if they have a
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: facility or if they have access to a field, you say,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: let's bring it on, right.
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, Facilities are one of our challenges. You know, DC
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: is limited in terms of the number of gyms and
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: courts and fields, so facilities are always welcome in kind support.
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: Shout out to the to the companies that give us
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: in kind support for the summer games for you know,
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: all kinds of various needs to put that on for
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: the week. So yeah, you can get involved at any level.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: So we very much appreciate the support of our sponsors
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: and companies here in the region.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: I'm standing, well, I'll listen. I'm so glad that we
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: met you and your team. It's wonderful what you do.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: You're all angels. I think it's so cool. You've been
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: doing this for a decade and I can tell just
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: by in the short time i've met you how much
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: passion and enjoy you have from this, and usually most
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: nonprofits are. It's hard, folks, it's really hard work, but
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: it's also very rewarding as you can hear all the
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: cool things that are happening. I'm glad we had a
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: chance to meet and I'd love to have you back
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: on the program again. But thank you so much. But
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: I'm glad we could spotlight the DC special olympicsicle. Thank
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: you so much and continue success and give my best
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: to your team as well.
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: Oh well, thank you so much for the opportunity to
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: share our great work.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: I killed so much the oceans and make the world
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: and say learn more at she Can Stamp. A message
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: brought to you by the AD Council M