Congratulations to the recreation agencies in O’Fallon, Belleville, Highland, Alton, Granite City and Collinsville for banding together to form a new Special Recreation Association (SRA) - Southwestern Illinois Special Recreation Association. This will assist in providing expanded recreation opportunities for individuals with disabilities in this part of the state. As a result, there are now 28 SRAs in the state of Illinois.
The first step will be a staff training program in January or February, where parks employees from the various agencies will learn how to reach out to patrons with disabilities, said Mark Badasch, executive director of the Collinsville Area Recreation District. He hopes each agency will offer more accommodating programming by the spring.
This venture started with Directors from existing Special Recreation Associations (SRAs) visiting with recreation professionals in the southwestern portion of the state to talk about how they could form a new SRA near St. Louis. SRA Directors Sandy Gbur of West Suburban Special Recreation Association (WSSRA) and Jane Hodgkinson of Western DuPage Recreation Association (WDSRA) have made themselves available to talk with professionals from public recreation agencies on how they can form cooperatives to deliver these services throughout the state.
Recreation agencies continue to respond to the needs of individuals with disabilities in the community to ensure that everyone has equal access to recreation. This is especially important for individuals with disabilities as they reach adulthood. Once many individuals with disabilities leave the public education system, their main support system is gone. Recreation agencies respond to their needs by providing individuals with opportunities to form positive social networks, independence and community involvement.
Bravo!!! I applaud the recreation professionals from O’Fallon, Belleville, Highland, Alton, Granite City and Collinsville who are progressive thinkers and are responding to the needs of their communities. I also applaud the recreation professionals that are currently working within the SRA system for the outstanding work that you do - for helping to grow this valuable network. We are so fortunate in Illinois to have such an awesome system of Special Recreation Associations with dedicated professionals to make them work. Every day there are success stories - helping individuals with disabilities become active and involved citizens in their communities.
Great news! I would love to get in touch with all persons involvd in the process of forming your own SRA. Brookfield is looking into joining an already existing SRA, but would still like to explore the possibility of forming an association with neighbring communities of Riverside, North Riverside and Lyons. Any information that can be sent would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Congratulations! This was great news! Kudos to you all!
Sincerely,
Your friends at South West Special Recreation Assocation (SWSRA)
Lori Chesna
Congratulations and welcome from all of us at South Suburban Special Recreation Association!! We look forward to meeting everyone!