The Grainger Foundation has long supported the National Ability Center for its work with its veteran and wounded warrior programs. Now it has stepped up its support big time, providing a $1million gift to the NAC last month.
NAC Chief Program and Education Officer Tracy Meier says one of the Grainger Foundation’s board members became involved as a volunteer with NAC and helped secure the grant funding.
“They gained an understanding of the true importance of our staff and our team that are out there delivering programming,” Meier said. “And so, we started the discussion of other ways that they can make an even bigger impact on our mission.”
The money will be used to fully fund program specialist roles across a three-year pilot program to improve talent retention, increase staff expertise and boost impact on participants.
The grant will provide funding for training, continuing education and certifications, as well as a stipend for specialized equipment and gear needed to implement adaptive programming, over three years.
“It [the grant] was written for three staff members each year to be added to this program, and so ultimately it will be nine total,” Meier said. “Our hope is that we prove this to be beneficial of continuing to employ those staff members who have the experience and education and expertise. And I hope that we'll figure out additional ways to keep this program going and bring on more and more team members who can make a living implementing our programming.”
Meier says much of the staff at the NAC is seasonal which makes it difficult to retain good employees year after year. The hope is by being able to offer full-time year-round positions, they will stick around.
Meier says many of the positions will be working from the new McGrath Mountain Center at the base of Park City Mountain.
This isn’t the first time the NAC received $1 million. About 20 years ago, the Bronfman family contributed that much and was given naming rights as the National Ability Center Bronfman Family Ranch Recreation and Education Center.
Meanwhile, the NAC has announced that Rob Umstead has been hired as its new head ski coach. Umstead is a seasoned expert in competitive skiing and will be working with the High-Performance Team which includes five Paralympians as well as many Paralympian hopefuls. The team’s alpine ski and snowboard team competitions will take athletes from the Huntsman Cup in Park City to British Columbia and Finland.
Last year, the NAC hosted more than 30,000 experiences for more than 5,400 individuals.
