Disability does not discriminate.  Neither does opportunity.  Northland Adaptive Recreation believes in providing opportunities and changing lives for those with disabilities.  This year a new program was introduced and it’s a partnership with the Duluth rowing club and Miller Dwan foundation made it happen. 

Disability can affect anyone, anywhere.  Every day brings new challenges for people with physical or intellectual disabilities…but for those at Northland Adaptive, they believe with their help challenges become opportunities.  One mother has seen it firsthand.

Cindy Hall has watched the development of her daughter Mae since Mae was nine years old.

Cindy says, “Mae had different abilities and interests and as she’s grown, she’s grown into the Northland Adaptive programs. More programs keep getting developed like they’re always coming up with new programs like the rowing is new. And it’s like, hey, mate, do you want to try this? And she’s like, yeah, that sounds fun.”

So Mae jumped right in to do some rowing.  It is fun but does require some training.

“Rowing is so completely different than kayaking or canoeing, first.  You’re rowing backwards, so you can’t see where you’re going.  The seat moves the oars flip and rotate, so there’s a lot of coordination going on”, says Cindy Hall.

Eric Larson the Director of Northland Adaptive says,  “These are open water ocean rowing shells, so there’s more beam or width to them at the water line, and they’re designed to be road in tandem, so you’ve got somebody in the bow position that could captain and take over the operation of propelling the boat or stabilizing the boat at any time. But it’s been kind of an industry standard to start folks in a in an adaptive rowing capacity in a more stable initially stable boat and as people learn the techniques and the mechanics of rowing, which there’s a lot going on, there’s moving seats and ores rotate and just a lot happening.”

No program can succeed without great volunteers, and the ones with Northland Adaptive give those with disabilities their chance to shine.  For Cindy Hall, her daughter’s growth starts with the volunteers.

“The rowing coaches here are fabulous. I mean, they’re just incredibly talented, very patient, skilled individuals, but very patient and kind of know how to teach and know how to support always very positive.  She loves the volunteers. They’re way more fun than going out with Mom, so I try to just be in the background when she needs me. She lets me know when she doesn’t. I step back.

This weekend is the Northland Adaptive Shoot for fun on Old Vermillion Trail.  The shoot has been going on for 26 years.  If you would like to donate, go to northland adaptive.org