Flips4All: An Inclusive Gym

Two years ago, I met Sarah Banck during a preschool gymnastics class. In the course of conversation, it came up that she also taught adaptive gymnastics for kids with special needs, and I asked her to work with Liam, my non-verbal autistic son. Sarah readily agreed, and from Liam's first lesson, I knew he'd found someone special. Sarah was patient, warm, creative, and she treated Liam with respect. In time his skills grew, and he danced into the gym for lessons, happy to see Sarah, happy to jump on the trampoline, and happy to find a space where he could grow his mind and body. 

I was so pleased by Sarah's impact on Liam, I wrote a blog for Parents magazine about it: "How Adaptive Gymnastics Helps Kids with Special Needs" 

And Sarah's not just helped my child-- I know many other parents of children with all abillites whose lives have been touched by this incredible woman. 

And so I want to give something back to her.

Sarah's recently ventured out to open her own gym. It's called "Flips4All"-- don't you just love that name and how it underscores her inclusive mission-- and she's taken a huge personal financial risk in doing so. She has her space (just north of Milwaukee, WI), she's setting up, but, she could use our help to buy equipment, get things going, and bring her vision of a gym to life. Sadly, my son won't get to join her in her new space, since we've just moved across the country, but I still believe in her mission and her work so strongly that I'm asking everyone I know to contribute a little for this gym.

Flips4All is for everyone-- kids with autism, cerebal palsy, Down Syndrome, neurotypical kids, and everyone else-- and Sarah's going to change lives. One lesson, one flip, one child at a time. So, let's fund her dream, and let's help make the dreams of many, many children come true in the process. 

Thanks!
Jamie