Nature: Accessible for All

Abilities Trail Walk
2025-09-14 13:30 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Rancocas State Park, 794 Rancocas Rd, Westampton Township, NJ, 08060, United States
Get Out There with Acquired Brain Injury (GOT ABI) is a newly established NJ 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering young adults with acquired brain injuries to reclaim their futures, connect with their communities, and thrive through awareness, socialization, and advocacy.
Join GOT ABI for their next abilities walk. Discover the trails of South Jersey. GOT ABI will be exploring the trails suggested by the Pinelands Preservation Alliance’s initiative AccessNatureNJ.org
Rally point for this event: Nature Center, Rancocas State Park
Look out for future events. They meet at different trails each month. Weather permitting so check their facebook and instagram for updates before you leave home.

Autism Beach Bash
2025-09-07 09:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
This free event brings together more than 4,000 attendees for a one-of-a-kind day of community and connection. Last year, 150 individuals with autism rode the waves with Surfers Healing, building confidence and creating lasting memories with every ride.
Join us for a full day of surf, music, sunshine, and good vibes at New Jersey’s largest autism-friendly event. It’s a rare chance to be among thousands of others who get what it means to live with autism, who share your experiences, and who welcome you just as you are. That’s more than community. That’s what belonging feels like. And that’s what this day is built to deliver.

Hosted by Autism Family Services of NJ. Location: 14th Ave Beach, Belmar, NJ. Learn more on the website here.

Men's Peer Virtual Chat with the Spina Bifida Resource Network
2025-09-04 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Men’s Chat is a monthly virtual peer-support group for men with disabilities to discuss relevant topics such as social issues, relationships, medical services and anything else that’s on their minds! Share your story, gather valuable resources and make connections.
Men’s Chat meets online the 1st Thursday of each month at 7pm ET via Zoom. Participants can join us from a laptop, desktop or tablet. Auto captioning will be available via Zoom.
There is no cost to participate. Contact SBRN at info@thesbrn.org or groups@empowermentzone.net if you have any questions or drop us a message on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSBRN/.

Outdoors For All: Advancing Access and Inclusion in Parks
2025-08-27 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York)
Join the Montgomery Parks Program Access team for an inside look at how they achieve compliance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act by making their parks, programs, and events inclusive and accessible to individuals with disabilities. This session will explore how they provide both individualized support and public access through services such as trained support staff, ASL interpretation, adaptive equipment, assistive listening devices, large-print materials, and more.

American Trails - Bridging Science, Recreation, and Accessibility: Designing Trail Maps for Everyone
2025-08-21 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
This free webinar hosted by American Trails will share insights from real-world projects where thoughtful cartographic design enhanced access, supported funding requirements, and helped land managers better serve diverse trail users.
Presented by: Ezra Schwartzberg, Ph.D., Director, Green Goat Maps

Occupational Therapy and Blue Journey Unified
2025-08-14 15:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Jefferson University, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
Join Blue Journey Unified at Thomas Jefferson University for a free pool session for individuals with spinal cord injuries.
Those interested in attending the event use this link to register – Join Us for Inclusive Paddleboarding!

Blue Journey Unified Heroes Autumn Lake Festival
2025-08-10 16:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | Autum Lake Winery, 870 W Malaga Rd, , NJ, Williamstown, NJ, 08094, United States
Join a VERY special Blue Journey Unified Heroes Festival on the beautiful waters of Autumn Lake Winery’s pristine lake surrounded by their vineyards. This extended session will be on Sunday, August 10 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM. Never paddled before? This is the perfect time to put your hands in the water. We have multiple sizes and styles of both paddleboards or kayaks depending our your ability and experience. Regardless of your level of skill or physical abilities we would love to have you join us in the water or on land.
Visit this link to register – https://www.ticketsignup.io/TicketEvent/BJUSpringSummer2025OpenHouse

Access Nature Forum - Rutgers Mason School of Music
2025-08-04 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
Join us on August 4th at 1:00 PM Via Zoom.
The Rutgers Mason Gross School of Music received a stipend from PPA’s Nature: Accessible for All campaign. The stipend intends to enable Mason Gross to offer free programs for individuals with disabilities to participate in activities at the Rutgers Botanical Gardens and the Accessible Garden in New Brunswick, NJ. In this forum, we will hear from Mason Gross representatives about the project, its creation, purpose, and its outcomes.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided a grant to fund the work of PPA and its partners in launching and sustaining the Nature: Accessible for All campaign. The Campaign is a collaborative effort by individuals, public agencies, and nonprofits to ensure that people with disabilities, their families, and allies can and do enjoy New Jersey’s extraordinary natural places.

You Belong Here Disability Awareness and Accessibility Training
2025-07-31 08:00 - 10:00 (America/New_York)
Roughly a quarter of all U.S. adults have a disability—if you own or manage a business, that’s a lot of potential customers.
The Arc of Loudoun’s You Belong Here Disability Awareness and Accessibility Training helps businesses and their staff realize, understand and address the barriers people with all types of disabilities may face when they try to shop, stay or work at those businesses, and help businesses understand how people with disabilities might look for when finding and choosing a place to visit, shop or work.
Click here to register!
On-site training is available! For more information, contact us at info@thearcofloudoun.org.
When you complete the training you will receive a You Belong Here certification valid for a year, and a sensory comfort kit and reference materials to take back to work for a refresher on the training any time.
The training is offered by The Arc of Loudoun. The Arc of Loudoun’s mission is to advocate for, educate, serve and support people with disabilities. The Arc of Loudoun is committeed to a just, equitable world for people with disabilities.
Click here to register!
On-site training is available! For more information, contact us at info@thearcofloudoun.org.

Identifying Partners and Creating Opportunities: Enhancing Access to Recreation
2025-07-30 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York)
Join the National ADA Network for this virtual session that will explore strategies for identifying or creating accessible recreational opportunities at the local level. We will be joined by representatives from Metro Washington Association of Blind Athletes, Achilles International, and Catalyst Sports, who will offer practical tips to help you work with local recreation centers, municipal parks departments, or other local groups to make their existing programs more accessible for people with disabilities. The speakers will also discuss what it takes and what sources of support are available to start a new adaptive sports program or organization in your community.
Speakers:
Andrew Hogan, Catalyst Sports
James Murphy, Achilles International
Karla Gilbride, Metro Washington Association of Blind Athletes
Registration for the event – Identifying Partners and Creating Opportunities: Enhancing Access to Recreation

Disability Pride and Anti-Ableism with Ginamarie Williams
2025-07-29 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
Join NJSAP Director Erin Smithers and self-advocate Ginamarie Williams for a conversation about disability pride and anti-ableism. Disability Pride Month is an annual observance in July that highlights the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), disability culture, history, and community pride. It also is a perfect time to educate others about ableism (discrimination or prejudice against people with disabilities). Viewers will learn about the importance of Disability Pride Month and hear about Ginamarie’s experiences fighting against ableism. Ways to show your pride and speak out for yourself will also be highlighted. Closed captioning is now available! Click the CC button to toggle the captions on/off. Please note, “Certificate of Attendance” will be provided for attending this webinar.
Link to register – Webinar Registration – Zoom

Adventures without Barriers: Learning and Exploring 19th Century Industrial Towns
2025-07-26 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | North Pemberton Railroad Station, 7 Fort Dix Rd, Pemberton, NJ, 08068, United States
Take a slow hike, passing through both forest and cultural landscapes as we take a trip on the Burlington and Mount Holly Railroad. Learn about the importance this avenue of commerce provided to a 19th-century industrial town on the outskirts of the pines. You’ll be led by Thomas Besselman as we take you on an immersive trip to learn about the natural resources that are found in the Pinelands and allowed early American industries to thrive.
This inclusive and accessible family-friendly outing follows along a section of the former Burlington and Mount Holly Railroad. Offering scenic views of woodland, pineland streams, meadows and farmland. The historic railroad trail is a picturesque location perfect for learning about the important natural resources that made it possible for early American industries and settlers to thrive.
Pinelands Adventures has several rugged-terrain wheelchairs available for use by request both electric and manual types.
Cost is $10 per explorer. Pre-registration is required through Pinelands Adventures.

Blue Journey Unified Paddle & Open House
2025-07-26 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Autum Lake Winery, 870 W Malaga Rd, , NJ, Williamstown, NJ, 08094, United States
Join Blue Journey – Ocean Positive, a partner of the Nature Accessible for All Initiative at Autumn Lake, Williamstown, NJ on Saturday, July 26th. Registration is required for this free event. Event starts at 10:00 am. Register here – Blue Journey Unified June & July Autumn Lake Open Houses.

Know Your ADA Rights
2025-07-25 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
Join the National ADA Network to celebrate 35 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and learn about your ADA rights. During this two-hour webinar, you will learn:

The ADA’s history and purpose
Who the ADA protects, and what it covers
How to access your ADA rights, like asking for an accommodation
What you can do if you have been discriminated against
Where you can get more help and resources

We’ll also have a live Q&A at the end of the webinar so you can ask your own questions. You’ll leave knowing exactly what your ADA rights are and how to use them every day.
Note: ASL Interpreters and captioning will be provided. If you have another access need required for a disability, please email at email@rockymountainada.org or call 719-444-0268.
Registration for the event – Webinar Registration – Zoom

American Trails - National Trails Legislative Update 2025
2025-07-24 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
This free webinar, hosted by American Trails, will review the status of current legislation impacting the trails community and their work, and will also explore how you can help advocate for funding and policies that will have a positive impact on our trails.
Presented by: Courtney Lyons-Garcia, Executive Director, Partnership for the National Trails System (PNTS) and Tyler Ray, Senior Director for Programs and Advocacy, American Hiking Society

ADA35: Test Your ADA Knowledge!
2025-07-23 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
Join the National ADA Network for this live one-hour session as they celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)! Test your knowledge by answering questions about the ADA and learn some interesting facts about the law. Whether you are a newcomer or someone who works with the ADA on a regular basis, this event will be a fun and interactive way to honor the legacy of this historic disability civil rights law.
Instructions on how to participate will be provided in the materials and during the session.
Registration for the event – ADA35: Test Your ADA Knowledge!

Webinar: Increasing LGBTQIA2S+ Inclusivity & Competency in the Outdoors
2025-06-12 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
This FREE webinar explores how outdoor programs, camps, and recreation organizations can move beyond access and toward true inclusivity—creating environments where LGBTQIA+ individuals feel not only welcome but genuinely seen and supported.

Webinar Outline
Outdoor recreation has long been celebrated as a space for adventure, connection, and personal growth. However, for many in the LGBTQIA+ community, systemic barriers and cultural norms continue to limit access to these opportunities. This webinar explores how outdoor programs, camps, and recreation organizations can move beyond access and toward true inclusivity—creating environments where LGBTQIA+ individuals feel not only welcome but genuinely seen and supported.
Learning Objectives
Learn about the best practices for site-specific inclusion strategies.
Understand the policy development site-specific inclusion strategies.
Attendees will leave with actionable steps to foster equity and a sense of belonging in outdoor spaces.
Presented by:
River Milburn, Founder, You Belong Outdoors
Free ASL Interpreter Service Available!

SBRN 2025 Walk for Empowerment
2025-06-08 10:00 - 15:00 UTC | Roosevelt Park, 10 Oak Drive Roosevelt Park, Edison, NJ, 08837
Our annual Walk is a major fundraiser to support the services and programs that we provide to children, adults and families.
Create your own Team! You can Create a Pledge Page online and ask friends and family to donate. You can add a picture or image and change the content of the letter to make it more personal. Check here for 2025 Walk Fundraising Tips Or, you can collect cash and checks and bring them with you to the walk.
Enjoy refreshments, activities, socializing, and of course, a lovely Stroll & Roll around the beautiful lake!
Photo credit: SBRN

Lakeview 5K for the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities
2025-06-07 08:00 - 12:00 UTC | Roosevelt Park, 10 Oak Drive Roosevelt Park, Edison, NJ, 08837
Let’s Pack the Park on Saturday June 7th to make a difference in the lives of children with disabilities throughout New Jersey. Register now for the 2025 Lakeview 5K- there are so many options to choose from: a USATF Grand Prix 5K; a 5K Walk and a Family Fun Stroll and Roll around the lake. There is even a virtual option if that’s your preference. Day of Registration opens at 8:00am and the race begins at 9:30am. The race starts and ends in front of the Lakeview School and winds through USATF a sanctioned course along scenic park roads through Roosevelt Park.
AND You can “go the extra mile” with a fundraising or participation team… encourage your friends, family and colleagues to be a part of the excitement. You can set up your team right now by clicking the “DONATE” button at the top of the page and following the step by step instructions provided.
Participants who are registered for the in-person 5K or Stroll & Roll will receive a commemorative t-shirt (guaranteed with pre-registration by May 27th), finish line reception and refreshments, a DJ, awards ceremony and many surprises.
All proceeds from the Lakeview 5K directly benefit the array of programs of the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities, serving more than 1,500 infants, children and adults throughout New Jersey.
Photo Credit: New Jersey Institute for Disabilities
