Joel Berman was a 21-year-old college student laying chain for the Chicago transit system that would run to O'Hare International Airport when he was hit by a rail car that crushed his left leg and broke his back.

"The leg was too damaged for them to fix," he said.

After the leg was amputated and he pursued rehabilitation, he worked as a corporate money manager ,and 11 years later in 1994 while he was volunteering for the National Sports Center for the Disabled, he met Matt Feeney at Winter Park. Feeney,the 2005 Colorado Ski Country USA's Adaptive Athlete of the Year, was working there as a ski instructor and program coordinator.

A rugged swimming and diving athlete, Feeney graduated in 1981 from Littleton High School and went on to college at Fort Lewis in Durango on a diving scholarship. He was left paralyzed from the waist down after a cliff diving accident in 1988.

"I was vacationing with friends at Lake Powell. It was a 100-foot cliff, but I landed awkwardly. I didn't hit anything but water. I knew right away something wasn't right," Feeney said.

Feeney took a positive outlook, however. "I feel like I help change people's lives who face similar challenges. I live a happier life. I think it's made me more approachable. I don't have a lot of stress. I enjoy my life. I put in 2,000 miles on my bike and ski between 75 and 100 days a year."

Feeney recalled talking with Berman over a period of years about what they liked at NSCD and what they thought was lacking for the physically disabled community. This discussion became the seed for the creation of nonprofit Adaptive Adventures.

AA opened an office in Evergreen in 1999. The organization provides recreational opportunities such as handcycling, kayaking, snow and water skiing for children and adults with physical disabilities. Berman lived in Evergreen for a decade before moving back to Chicago, where he opened a branch there to better serve the midwestern region.

As executive director of AA, Berman is involved in fundraising, but that doesn't take him out of the loop for training and multiple outdoor activities. Berman travels 16 weeks out of the year, mostly to Colorado to manage and direct the weeklong ski and kayaking camps.

He acts as an instructor and coordinator at larger national ski events, such as the Hartford Ski Spectacular in Breckenridge that starts Dec. 2 for disabled veterans and civilians. Other camps are held in Telluride as well as Steamboat Springs, Keystone and Vail.

Likewise, Feeney, who lives near Winter Park, is busy teaching disabled children how to ski and handcycle. Berman said a unique feature of AA is that it takes the programs to the people. "We're known as the 'homeless' adaptive group, because we don't have a mountain associated with our name."

Feeney said before he and Berman started the organization, he found that existing adaptive groups focused on their own programs. Resources were not easily shared or even made widely available. "The internet wasn't so widely used then," Feeney said.

Because this condition led to dead ends for disabled people seeking answers, Feeney said, "Joel and I thought there was something missing there and felt we could fill the void."

"In eight short years we have developed a lot of good relationships all over the world. We are really a resource and information center for adaptive activities. We are willing to pack up and travel if there is a need," he said.

AA often provides both equipment and volunteers to different events year-round, besides those they coordinate. The group is active with ski resorts to teach skiing and racing and has a special wounded warriors camp for veterans who return injured from Iraq.

Funding comes from individual donations, grants, corporations and special events.

"Less than 10 percent of our total revenues are derived from program fees" Berman said.

The group has five paid staff members with an annual budget of $450,000.

Office manager and Evergreen resident Becky Archibald started working for the group in 2003. She works out of a tiny office lined with ski jackets, helmets and ski pants.

The AA trailer parked outside is what the group uses to "take the programs to the people." Depending on the season it can be loaded with 15 handcycles or adaptive ski equipment that accompanies volunteers to the various camps. A storage unit in North Evergreen holds other equipment.

"We could use another trailer," Archibald said.

Archibald said the opportunity to work for AA arose when, because her former office was across the hall from the AA office,a board member walked in to ask if she knew anyone who could take the reins of managing their office.

"I said, 'What about me?'" What followed was a lunch with two AA board members, after which she accepted the position.

"I took a considerable cut in pay to work here, but I love my job. Disabled people need to know where they can go for outdoor sports and realize how happy they can be by becoming involved in these activities," she said.

A resident of Evergreen for 30 years, Archibald handily approaches people about AA, whether it's for a fundraiser or to volunteer.

She creates the newsletter, which has a mailing list of 4,000, does the accounting, handles a database and takes phone calls.

She often gets calls from people who say things like, "My brother won't get off the couch," or "My son is depressed." I call Joel and he responds to them immediately.

AA provides transportation, meals and lodging for many of the camps they present, which run for four days.

"Our primary philosophy is that cost cannot be a barrier to participation. We subsidize all of our programs and offer scholarships when the cost is still too high for some people," Berman said.

"Children and soldiers do not pay for anything and communities are always receptive and generous," Archibald said. She cited a Steamboat Springs camp that AA holds and said, "The whole town opens their arms to us."

Feeney and Archibald said the Evergreen community has always been supportive.

"I am so grateful to the Evergreen businesses who support us. They don't even need a phone call. They just send money," Archibald said.Her thank-you list included Black Hat Cattle Co., Tall Grass Spa, Paragon Sports, Bear Creek Haircutters, Elks Lodge, Rib Crib and Tupper Briggs.

Bob Halstead's daughter, Kristina, is a longtime participant with AA. The 15-year-old Evergreen Middle School student has cerebral palsy. Kristina also attends the Evergreen Rec Center special needs program. She enjoys summer activities with AA and said, "Matt is cool and he's fun."

Her dad agreed.

"Matt has a big heart with the kids." He added that he couldn't remember ever paying a fee for the AA camps, such as the handcycling and water sports events AA puts on at Sloan's Lake.

Accolades for the group appear plentiful from the partner and sponsor logos that populate their Web site, www.adaptiveadventures.org, trailer and literature.

Archibald boasted, "Boeing is one of our big sponsors." She said the biggest fundraiser is the Greg Reilly Memorial Golf Gathering held in September in Castle Rock. "It raises about $30,000."

To learn more about Adaptive Adventures, visit www.eadaptive.org
The toll free phone number is 877-679-2770.

What the volunteers say:
Fritz Kerr, an Evergreen resident, said his experience with AA has been 100 percent positive. As an able-bodied volunteer, he said, "I've known Joel and Matt almost since the inception of AA. Mostly I work with the kids. They're sharp, bright kids. Many of them don't have an opportunity to feel normal and when they are at one of the camps with a couple dozen other physically challenged kids, it brings them out."

David Schmid, a 38-year-old Evergreen resident described himself as a Wisconsin farm boy who got a bachelor's degree in engineering before realizing outdoor education was more his style.

"I didn't want to be stuck behind a computer, so I took outdoor leadership training courses and spent time working in residential treatment centers for juvenile delinquents."

A mountain biking enthusiast, he met Feeney and Berman during the Bike Tour of Colorado in 2004 and later became what Berman called, "a star volunteer."

Schmid is an upper school coordinator at Foothills Academy in Wheat Ridge, where, he said, he hopes to develop a pilot program to integrate outdoor recreation plans that will educate able-bodied students on how to use handcycles, so they can help physically disabled youngsters.

Schmid said what he likes about AA is that "everybody who chooses to participate, both volunteers and participants, are genuine. Recreation brings out he best in people. It's a whole part of play and who you choose to play with. It turns out to be a great time. I don't think you can go wrong."

"The thing that struck me at the junior wheelchair camp was that when I did it for the second year, the kids that met me the second time around remembered my name! You know you've got to be making a difference," he said.

Suzi Hoffer
I got involved with Adaptive Adventures because I volunteered with NSCD (National Sports Center for the Disabled) at Winter Park for six years and during some of that time Matt was organizing the sit-ski program. Then he left to start his own thing. Although I enjoy working with the disabled, Matt was definitely the reason that I signed on to help. He is a great guy and I believe very missed by all the volunteers at NSCD. I hope to become more involved with the group when I get a bit of my life back again (Hoffer is a stay-at-home mom of two boys) and eventually get the boys involved too.

Sarah Schraad volunteers and helps with the newsletter. Read her story here .