Original article posted by Nonprofit New York
Membership Director Taina Sanon spoke with Caitlin Cassaro of Extreme Kids & Crew, a member organization of Nonprofit New York. We will continue to highlight the work of our members, like Extreme Kids & Crew, because we believe when your nonprofit is stronger, all of us are stronger.
Tell me about the organization and what you do.
At Extreme Kids & Crew, we cultivate welcoming, accessible spaces where kids with disabilities and their people create a supportive community through the arts, play and conversation. We play, we create, we follow the children's lead and listen to their parents and caregivers. We work together to advocate for and with people with disabilities, and with families fighting for their and their child's rights. We celebrate the differences disability brings, and recognize much of the hardship felt by those living with disability is due to discrimination rather than the disability itself.
How many are on your team?
With 2 new hires, we have 8 full-time staff and 4 part-time staff.
Servicing how many of the nonprofit population?
We serve approximately 500 families.
Where do you see your organization in the next five years or ten years?
Extreme Kids will expand its after-school and camp program throughout NYC, by partnering with larger, in-school community based organizations not providing this experience to their children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Extreme Kids will have a large home-base location from which school-based programs will be managed. This location will be completely accessible and sensory friendly, with different rooms for different activities, including a performance space.
How has partnering with Nonprofit New York helped you succeed?
Nonprofit New York has been a valuable support to Extreme Kids in assisting the organization in building the necessary skills needed to grow and sustain an organization.
What are you currently working on that you want us to mention to our membership?
We are currently working on piloting the expansion of our popular after-school and summer camp program so that we may serve more children with developmental disabilities throughout NYC. With that we are further developing our program evaluation protocol and front-line staff training module.
