“Hello!

I am the Community Events Coordinator at Outlook Enrichment, a local non-profit serving people who are blind and low vision. I am always looking for new ways to expose visually impaired adventure seekers to new opportunities. No matter the season, people need a break from the norm and a breath of fresh air. I was stoked to learn about all the outdoor opportunities that Camp Outpost was offering this year. They have the toys, time and talent to open up some new doors for us.

When you put on an event for participants with vision loss it requires extra adaptations, the accommodation of extra volunteer guides, accessible communication and help with transportation since most visually impaired folks don’t drive. Most importantly, we need to work with people who can think outside of the box and exude an aura of confidence about our participants capabilities. We get all of this an more with Camp Outpost and we can feel the love!

We kicked off the year with plans of downhill snow skiing. The ladies of Camp Outpost hit the slopes with some of our visually impaired folks to practice techniques of being a sighted guide. They tried out helmets with 2-way radios built in to give blind skiers a feeling of independence while also providing directional cues to avoid obstacles.

Our group has skied for years, but Camp Outpost offered the option of adding snow boarding and snow shoeing, which would have been new to us if mother nature had only provided some snow. Not only did Camp Outpost adapt to our vision loss, they quickly adapted to the weather challenges. Snow shoeing turned into hiking and archery. The archery target was cleverly laced up with balloons allowing us to hear a pop when the arrow hit the target. Tactile touches were also added to the interactive lunch of kebabs with finger guards for chopping ingredients and talking thermometers for testing meat on the grill.

Despite the lack of snow, Camp Outpost brought out the snowboards. Our facility became a gathering of aspiring snowboarders as people 10-years-old to 60-years-old  mounted Camp Outpost’s snowboard simulators. Equipment was also thoughtfully labeled with Braille.

This was such a great time that we asked Camp Outpost to join us, Outlook Enrichment, at a booth for a state convention put on by Nebraska’s division of The American Council of the Blind. No one brought an interactive experience quite like this at any of the other booths. It was an honor to have Camp Outpost stand alongside us. They really feel like an extended part of our team.

It is now mid-summer and we are on the calendar for a sailing, paddle board and kayak clinic and a horseback riding escapade. Camp Outpost has offered to help with transportation so we can venture outside public transportation areas in Omaha to visit a horse ranch.

It's also important to acknowledge that our participants don’t always have access to these type of outdoor activities because of their limited vision, but another huge barrier is the cost. It can be a struggle for the blind community to find gainful employment and many find themselves budgeting on social security alone. For these reasons Outlook Enrichment cover’s a majority of the cost for our events, but we are on a pretty tight budget as well. Camp Outpost offers extraordinary outdoor adventures for reasonable a cost.

I am also legally blind myself and use the bus for transportation. It can be a real nightmare for me to drag along food in coolers and sporting equipment. It’s so nice to just show up and know that Camp Outpost has everything ready. From freshly grilled food to the agenda for the day, everything is taken care of. I can concentrate on checking people in, conversating with participants and volunteers, taking pictures and maybe even participating in activities myself.  It’s so nice to have a team you can lean on and trust.

Instead of racking my brain for new ideas, I now am sitting back and imagining all the fun we will get to have in future years with Camp Outpost. New ideas are always flowing such as wake boarding, glamping and the possibility of organizing an overnight camp for blind and low vision youth like we’ve always dreamed of.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for believing that everyone is entitled to experience outdoor adventure. In a world that’s not always set up to include those with disabilities, you’re helping to pave the way!”

— Megan Mackie