NO BARRIERS FESTIVAL 2007

For five very special days, an amazing collection of individuals assembled at Squaw Valley USA, in California near Lake Tahoe, to participate in a festival unlike almost any other. Bringing their diverse personal and professional backgrounds together, six hundred individuals successfully came together to share the cutting-edge techniques and technologies which enable people with challenges to live as actively as possible and break through their own personal barriers. Each FESTIVAL day was about sharing, partnership and discovery. Each night was about inspiration, exploration and accomplishment. NO BARRIERS FESTIVAL 2007 replaced our perceptions about disability with renewed belief in what is and will be possible in the future, In the eyes of every participant, family member and volunteer, the FESTIVAL became a joyful exercise in proving what can be done rather than what cannot.

“It was the most incredible week of my life,” wrote one participant in an E-mail to our office shortly after the FESTIVAL concluded.

“Until I saw what these amazing people with disabilities like mine were doing, I never thought it would be possible for me to live a life that included trails, trees and the outdoors again,” shared another.

“I left the event with a sense of renewal and grateful that I attended. I learned so much from so many people about disabilities, about courage, and about hope strength and will,” wrote a major FESTIVAL sponsor.

As we work through the many e-mails and evaluations that continue to arrive at our office, and begin to focus our efforts on the future, we pause, just for a moment, to express our sincere appreciation to the volunteers, sponsors, partner organizations, presenters, exhibitors and participants who made NO BARRIERS FESTIVAL 2007 a success. For what each of you brought to the FESTIVAL, we are extremely grateful.

In the coming months, we hope to share many exciting updates with you. Please check back to our web site for other announcements, too. In the near future, we hope to be in contact with each of you by E-mail as we finalize the schedule for some very exciting national media features and unveil our very own muli-media look back at the FESTIVAL. Until then, please enjoy this short feature from DarynKagan.com as well as just a few photos from our time together in Squaw.

On behalf of the No Barriers USA Board of Directors and staff, thanks to each of you for helping us move mountains and prove that in life, there are No Barriers.

Jim Goldsmith
Executive Director, NO BARRIERS FESTIVAL 2007
Chairman, No Barriers USA Corporation