Now, the grassroots community organization will celebrate the broadening of its own horizons with the move into a new, expanded space. TASP recently relocated to its spanking new, 1,683 square foot facility in the Capella building in Mountain Village, and to commemorate the occasion they are hosting a Ribbon Cutting Celebration on Tuesday, Dec. 29 for all TASP supporters and volunteers.
Executive Director Courtney Stuecheli calls TASP’s new slopeside location on the bottom floor of the Capella building “beautiful.”
“For the little non-profit that could – wow! It’s incredible, finally being able to house everything under one roof,” she says from the organizations bright new home, recalling the not-so-distant days when TASP operated out of two different spaces – one, for students and volunteers in the Telluride Ski Resort’s ski school building, and the other (used for administrative operations) in a building on the other side of the Mountain Village core.
The move into the new, airy headquarters located just steps from the Meadows ski run represents a major evolution for the more than 13-year-old non-profit organization. The new space will allow TASP to provide a more accessible ski-in/ski-out home for its participants while operating more efficiently with program and administration offices under the same roof. It will also accommodate the non-profit’s expanding summer program, all of which enables TASP to do more, and be more, for the local, regional, and national disabled community, says Stuecheli.
In just the last year, the organization has served over 350 students in nearly 1,900 instruction days, both on the slopes and in other outdoor recreational venues during both the winter and summer seasons. TASP currently has a volunteer staff of 165, as well as a small staff of full and part-time office workers.
TASP’s growing family of volunteers, students, and staff now have a comfortable place to call home, with ample space for all dimensions of the adaptive sports program. TASP’s new headquarters boast a welcoming “front of house” check-in area, complete with heated benches and gear storage for participants as well as deep couches for guests near the registration desk. The space houses a well-outfitted volunteer area in the back, with a workbench for ski tuning and lockers for ski and gear storage. There is also space for two offices as well as an equipment storage room. Two different entrances, one for students and another for instructors, open out onto the snow adjacent to the Meadows ski run near the top of Lift 1. The main entrance is located in the Capella breezeway near the hotel registration office.
Compared to the organization’s former residence for operations, located in an approximately 500-square-foot back corner of the Telluride Ski School, TASP’s new digs feel quite spacious, Stuecheli says. But the real benefits of the new location are found in the small details, like storage cubbies, boot dryers, and a full-sized fridge. These are the elements that truly make TASP’s new home a spectacular one, she says.
“It’s just huge for the program – cubbies and a full-sized fridge don’t sound that exciting, but compared to our old program office this is a big deal,” Stuecheli says.
Closer, more convenient access to both the slopes and the main Mountain Village entrance has also made operations significantly more efficient. “It’s perfect staging,” she says, referring to the office’s location just steps from the Capella hotel drop-off area as well as the Meadows run.
The future of TASP programming also looks bright, thanks to its new home. “It was always fairly difficult to have a formal summer program, as result of not having a facility to base a summer program out of,” Stuecheli says, explaining that since TASP had no formal program office in the summertime, summer adaptive sports programs suffered. “I see us being able to increase participation levels in the summer just as a result of having a base for operations and a place to store equipment.”
She also believes the new, more convenient facility will have the power to draw more disabled visitors to the area, especially since the TASP office is connected to lodging.
“It will help draw more people here once they realize it really is easy for them,” Stuecheli says.
The new space, and ultimately the upward evolution of the TASP program, would have never been possible without the help of some very important program supporters, Stuecheli says. Among the most notable is the the Mountain Village Homeowner’s Association, which donated the Capella property for TASP’s use. Since the organization’s inception TMVOA has been a driving force in its growth, from helping to subsidize TASP’s old administrative office space to providing annual funding for special events such as the annual Special Olympics Family Day and Expand Your Horizons Ski Camp.
Stuecheli adds that the completion of the space was made possible by a large circle of other program supporters in the community, from local contractors and building supply companies to local nonprofit groups that provided grants. TASP has also seen renewed support from the Telluride Ski and Golf Company.
TASP is in the midst of its final fundraising push, having raised $159,000 toward its $200,000 goal to secure the remaining funds needed to finish the space. For more information on TASP programming and its Capital Campaign, visit their revamped website, tellurideadaptivesports.org. If you would like to attend the Tuesday ribbon cutting celebration, contact the TASP office at 728-5010
Post a Comment
