ABLE Recreation serves children and adults of all ages with any kind of special circumstance and their families. We are a Boone, NC based organization and welcome families from all over the High Country. Our goal is to offer activities that the entire family can enjoy together.
ABLE Recreation was started as an adaptive baseball league, but the intent was always beyond playing the game of baseball. Activities and events are planned throughout the year following the end of the baseball season. This allows those friendships and connections between the kids and families to continue to grow beyond baseball. Not only are we committed to building relationships between families, but we also want to build connections with community resources. Often, representatives from other programs in our community are invited to come to our events and share what they have to offer with the families. The events themselves are put together with the special needs individual in mind. How can an everyday activity that others enjoy be adapted so that any special needs individual can participate? We want these individuals to feel a sense of accomplishment and joy in knowing that they can do the same things that their friends and siblings are doing. A few years ago, we added an adult baseball league in order to continue to support our children as they age and to provide needed recreational activities for adults with special healthcare needs. In 2019, we saw our baseball registration double! In 2023, we added a baseball season and currently play in the Spring and Fall for four weeks per season.
About the Director
ABLE Recreation was started in early 2013 by the director, Melissa Shore. She is a mother of two children on the ASD spectrum. When her family moved to Boone in 2010 from Asheville, NC, she noticed rather quickly that resources and programs for special needs children and their families were sorely lacking in the Boone area. In Asheville, there was an adaptive baseball program that they participated in for four years. She was very familiar with how the program worked and was compelled to bring that knowledge to the High Country. The first season of baseball was so much fun and well received that she was encouraged by the families to keep it going and the monthly activities evolved from there. She would like to thank those people who have supported her in this endeavor. This program would not be possible without all of the volunteers, donations, and generous business partners.