Connect with Friends: Youth Outdoors

Connections designs youth program based off of Connect with Friends success

Connections for Independent Living’s Connect with Friends program provides weekly in-person workshops specifically for youth ages 14-17 years old in northeastern Colorado who live with a disability.

The goal is to increase social connectivity and an appreciation for the high plains natural outdoor spaces of northeastern Colorado. This project will be accomplished through the use of scheduled sessions concentrating on the Poudre Trail, the Poudre Learning Center, the Pawnee Grasslands and projects and activities accessing these natural areas.

Workshops include adaptive sports, accessible trails, Pawnee Grasslands Exploration and Photo-Voice.

There’s no charge to participate for persons who live with a disability and their caregivers. You must be a resident of Weld, Morgan, Logan, Washington, Sedgwick, Yuma, or Phillips County. Workshops are underway, join us today!

For more information regarding this program, please call Connections at (970) 352-8682, or send us an email message.

Sessions

PhotoVoice works to build a world in which everybody has the opportunity to represent themselves and tell their own story.

The program is tailor-made participatory photography, digital storytelling and self-advocacy projects for socially excluded groups.

Photography crosses cultural and linguistic barriers, and is suitable for all abilities.
It’s both a form of creative expression and a way to record facts. It can describe realities, communicate perspectives, and raise awareness of social and global issues.

Our pioneering and award winning approach brings together arts, media, development, campaigning, and social change to deliver projects that enable voice, build skills, deliver advocacy and work towards sustainable change.

Click here for more information on PhotoVoice

The Cache la Poudre River is rich in history and is the lifeblood for water resources in the Northern Colorado Region. The Poudre River Trail allows access to the section of the river corridor between Greeley and Windsor in Weld County, Colorado. The Trail is a wide paved path with gentle grades that is away from road noise and busy intersections. It allows those that use the trail to enjoy the natural beauty of the meandering river and the stands of cottonwood trees and wetland meadows that line its banks.

More information to come

Visit the Poudre River Trail website

We will be joining the Poudre Learning Center to do team building, nature, and outdoor skills classes. The program will be three hours long, with a 30-minute lunch between programming. The program will begin with fun team-building games to learn about your leadership style. Then we’ll head over to the river to do nature art by building structures and painting. Then we’ll close up the session while learning about survival skills in nature through learning how to build fires and structures, and the essentials you’ll need in the wilderness!

More information to come. 

 

Visit the Pawnee National Grassland website for more information. 
Birdwalk Trailhead
Pawnee Bird Tour

More information to come.
Adaptive Kayak

More Information to come!
Barr Lake

More Information to come!

More Information to come!
Staunton Lake


Program funding for Connections’ Connect with Friends Youth Outdoors is provided by the Outdoor Equity Grant Program (OEGP) through Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s mission is to perpetuate the wildlife resources of the state, to provide a quality state parks system, and to provide enjoyable and sustainable outdoor recreation opportunities that educate and inspire current and future generations to serve as active stewards of Colorado’s natural resources. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has been entrusted with an incredible mission by the people of the state. We manage and protect lands, waters and wildlife for the people of Colorado. CPW is a nationally recognized leader in conservation, outdoor recreation and wildlife management.