Access for All Articles

Connect with your Friends at Canoecopia in Madison, Wisconsin March 10-12

Connect with your Friends at Canoecopia in Madison, Wisconsin March 10-12

If paddling the amazing sea caves in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is on your bucket list, we invite you to see us at Canoecopia in Madison, Wisconsin next weekend, March 10-12. This annual event includes more than 100 educational presentations and clinics on kayaking, canoeing and related topics, including two by Friends Executive Director Jeff Rennicke. You'll also be able to learn from the experts what gear you need to safely explore the islands.Alliant Energy Center1919 Alliant Energy WayEvent host Rutabaga Paddlesports of Madison says Canoecopia is the largest paddlesports...

Adventure Healing: Can an Apostle Islands adventure be a part of recovery?

Adventure Healing: Can an Apostle Islands adventure be a part of recovery?

Clinical psychologist and Access for All Advisory Board member Dr. Daniel Skenderian thinks so.As a psychologist working in a physical rehabilitation hospital in Southern California for the past few decades, I’ve seen the dramatic effects physical injuries and catastrophic illnesses can have on one’s sense of self, family, and activities of daily living. Traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, stroke, cancer, multiple sclerosis, orthopedic injuries, amputations, along with their emotional impact on lives makes coping with these disabilities extremely difficult. Sometimes removing the...

An accessible dream: kayaking the Apostle Islands

An accessible dream: kayaking the Apostle Islands

Janet Badura is a traveler, an adventurer, a birdwatcher. She is also someone with a progressive disorder who requires a power wheelchair. For years, Janet had a dream: to kayak the Apostle Islands sea caves. “As a person with a progressive disability, and a power wheelchair user,” she says, “joining a kayak trip, was not without some hesitation or concern.” But through Wilderness Inquiry, a partner in our Access for All initiative whose mission is to offer outdoor adventures to all, regardless of ability and background, she finally got the chance.Then she saw the 45 steps leading down to...

THE PERFECT GIFT: The gift of caring for a place you love

THE PERFECT GIFT: The gift of caring for a place you love

Think of the gifts these islands have already give you – the warm sand on your feet as you etch your footprints into a sun-warmed stretch of beach, the mystery of the sea caves with the harp-like drips of water all around, the sweet sailing winds in the sails, the starry nights around the campfire. To all who have been here, and even to those who are still dreaming of it, the Apostle Islands have been a gift of adventure, beauty, history, and memories.So when looking for the perfect gift this holiday season, look no further than the islands themselves. Available on our website you will find...

Giving Tuesday 2022 – Access for All

Giving Tuesday 2022 – Access for All

Tracy Tabaka looks out at the blue horizons of Lake Superior. There, just beyond the Meyers Beach parking area lie the green jewels of the wild Apostle Islands and the famous sea caves. She smiles, thinking of the freedom she will feel with a paddle in her hand, the wind in her face. She has been dreaming of this for years. But that smile fades as she looks down at the barrier before her – 45 steps tumbling down a 23-foot bank to the kayak launching area below – and then at her wheelchair. “When I pick up a paddle,” Tabaka says, “I am no more disabled than anyone else. The only real...

Getting things done: Black Spruce Fund makes $25,000 pledge to Access for All

Getting things done: Black Spruce Fund makes $25,000 pledge to Access for All

“We made an investment and things got done.” That is how Peter Tropman and Virginia Graves describe the satisfaction of donating to Friends of the Apostle Islands and the Access for All initiative through their Black Spruce Fund. “Friends is a dedicated and competent organization to work with and they continue to grow. It was satisfying to see an investment on our part get a lot of things done.”It seemed a natural connection. Born and raised in Buffalo, NY and living for years in Milwaukee, Peter says, “the Great Lakes have been a part of my life as long as I can remember.” For over 30...

Together we are stronger: Access for All Advisory Committee formed

Together we are stronger: Access for All Advisory Committee formed

The Access for All Advisory Committee brings together like-minded people who are committed to improving access to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore for people of all abilities. We appreciate the expertise, enthusiasm and connections these committee members bring to this largest-ever fundraising and awareness campaign in the 20 year history of Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.  Honorary ChairpersonGreg Lais, Founder and former Executive Director of Wilderness Inquiry Committee Chair for FriendsErica Peterson, Friends Board chair emeritus Committee MembersKelley...

Together we are stronger: Access for All Advisory Committee formed

Friends receives Memorial Medical Center donation for Access for All

Study after study has proven the myriad of health benefits from time spent outdoors. Yet, access to wild places is often a barrier to the very people who need those benefits the most. To aid in efforts to make one such wild place, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, more accessible, Memorial Medical Center in Ashland, Wisconsin recently announced a generous donation to Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore for its “Access for All” initiative."We are happy to support the efforts of organizations that provide access to outside spaces that benefit individuals of all...

Access for All: accessing my dream

Access for All: accessing my dream

Guest column by Cheryl Schiltz, Author of Silencing the Noise of Disability My childhood was filled with dreams come true. I walked barefoot with soft green grass under my feet. I watched golden leaves float from their branches dropping a spicey fragrance to the ground. I walked through tall grass with tips of feathery whisps tickling my arms. I would lay down and look to the sky filled with cotton clouds discovering animals, flowers, a mighty mountain range, a face, all floating above me. I walked into lakes feeling its cool water turning off the heat of the day. I was filled with joy as...

Access for All testimonials: Join the cause

Access for All testimonials: Join the cause

Read why donors, including 100% of the board of directors of Friends, support this major effort to make the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore accessible to people of all abilities. The goal is to raise $325,000 to fund an accessible ramp at Meyers Beach and to support the many other accessibility initiatives in the park.Read more about the Access for All initiative here. Or donate now. Thanks in advance for your investment in making the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore accessible for all.