EXTRA SPECIAL PEOPLE INC
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Mission Statement
ESP creates opportunities for people with disabilities and their families to engage, connect, and thrive.
About This Cause
ESP is a nonprofit agency in Watkinsville, Georgia that creates opportunities for people with disabilities and their families to engage, connect, and thrive through 8 weeks of summer camp, 19 afterschool enrichment programs, and ongoing family support. Founded in 1986, ESP began as just one week of summer camp for 21 participants and since that humble beginning, we have grown to now serve over 325 participants and their families from over 30 counties in Georgia and from out of state. ESP serves participants beginning at the age of 4 and with no upper age limit, and welcome participants with diagnoses of Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, Autism, Traumatic Brain Injury, Spina Bifida, and more. No participant is ever turned away from ESP because of their ability. For more than 20 years, ESP operated programs in a 1,600 square foot gym. This space significantly limited the scope of our services, created accessibility barriers, impacted the dignity of our participants with only two small bathroom stalls and other facility inadequacies, and created a daunting waiting list of families in need of recreational programs for their children with disabilities. In June of 2016, after a $3 million capital campaign supported by our incredible community and companies who sponsored over $900,000 of in-kind materials and services, we opened to doors to a new 14,000 square foot Activity Building right next door to our previous space. Our previous home was then renovated back to its original purpose as a gym. With both accessible program spaces, enrollment in ESP programs grew an immediate 25% and eliminated our waiting list, and we now have new participants and families becoming part of our community every day. The need to provide quality recreation programs to individuals with disabilities continues to grow, with ESP the only program of its kind in our region. The Georgia Department of Education identifies over 2,000 individuals with disabilities in the Northeast Georgia region. We continually strive to grow in our capacity to serve more of these 2,000 individuals and provide new, innovative, and accessible experiences for kids and adults of all abilities in our community to thrive.