Apple Blossom Tour @ Angry Orchard Cidery
About Us
We are Specialized Outdoor Adaptive Recreation (SOAR) Experiences, Inc., a NY State registered charitable not-for-profit organization.
We offer experiences, education and opportunities promoting outdoor recreation to persons with limited mobility (i.e. paraplegia, quadriplegia, amputees, stroke, limited lung capacity, etc.). Our experiences are hosted at our Ellenville, NY location in addition to public and private venues in the Northeast. Our team has managed and hosted activities since 2019. Learn ‘How We Started’ on our home page.
We are solutionists! Over the years we have formed partnerships and delivered experiences with Rehabilitation Hospitals, Universities, Veterans Organizations, groups and individuals. Contact us to discuss event & partnership opportunities.
We now accept tax-deductible donations through our partnership with Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan, a 501(c)(3) organization.
How We Started
Our Adaptive program began in March 2019 when two paraplegic guests wanted to be trained to drive off road in a Jeep at our off road driving school (Northeast Off Road Adventures, est. 2011). They brought along temporary hand controls which we outfitted into one of our rental vehicles, and we all had an amazing experience.
After training, they urged us to create a program specifically for persons with limited mobility. We worked together over the next several months to build the needed accessible infrastructure. Our first “Adaptive Sampler” program was for 15 guests from Helen Hayes Hospital in August 2019. The event was featured in a video by Wheels2Walking’s Richard Corbett and has over 160,000 views to date. The Specialized Outdoor Adaptive Recreation (SOAR) Program was formalized as a part of NORA and we began acquiring adaptive equipment to expand our offerings.
Over the years, NORA’s SOAR program has provided experiences to guests from Rehabilitation Hospitals, Universities and Veterans Organizations serving both groups and individuals. In 2020, we launched our Action Trackchair factory authorized dealership under the STARR Adventures company, selling and servicing chairs in NY, NJ, PA, MA & CT to individuals, rehabilitation hospitals and veterans hospitals.
Our adaptive program gained momentum and popularity, deserving its own identity as an organization. In late 2023 we created:
Specialized Outdoor Adaptive Recreation (SOAR) Experiences, Inc.
SOAR Experiences, Inc. is a registered New York State Charitable Not-For-Profit organization offering experiences, education and opportunities promoting outdoor recreation to guests with limited mobility. We host activities in Ellenville, NY and other venues in the Northeast. Funding for our programs has mostly come from our for-profit businesses, but more is needed as requests for our services continue to grow. We now accept tax-deductible donations through our partnership with Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan, a 501(c)(3) organization. Please help us help others and click the Donate link at the top of this page, or contact us to help fund equipment, transportation, staff, etc. Thank you!