On a summer day in Waitsfield, Vt., nearly 20 people gathered for a bicycling adventure. Among them was Peter Quinn, who has primary lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Although he has difficulty walking and speaking, he rode the 25 miles with more than 3,000 feet of elevation gain and stopped at three swimming holes along the route on his specialized recumbent bike with the group.

The trip was facilitated by Waypoint Adventure, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that guides expeditions tailored for youth and adults with a range of physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities. They go hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, backpacking, and more.

“As my disease has progressed, the importance of community has gone up,” says Quinn, who is on the board of directors of Waypoint. “Everything I reach for, everything I try to do is about community.” 

Being part of a social group is linked to longer life and better health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While around 16 percent — one in six — of the general population report feeling loneliness in 2025, people with disabilities face even greater risk due to environmental and social barriers that limit access to connection, a global systematic review found.

These local organizations are taking steps to break down barriers, creating opportunities for inclusion, confidence, and well-being. From adaptive sports to trips to the mall, they’re finding ways to ensure people with disabilities don’t just participate — they belong. 

Belonging on the field

Social connection and sports go hand in hand. 

“Within the population of people with intellectual disabilities, many have experienced being left out at many times throughout their lives,” says Mary Beth McMahon, CEO of Special Olympics Massachusetts. “But when you are on a team, you have a group of peers committed to each other’s success.”

Special Olympics Massachusetts offers year-round sports to individuals of all ages with and without disabilities across the state. Over 19,000 people participate in the organization’s 23 competitive sports, leadership training, and low-key recreational activities. In Unified Sports programs, athletes with and without disabilities compete together, leading to connections on and off the field. 

“Almost without fail, Special Olympics athletes point to the personal friendships as one of the most beneficial aspects of the program,” McMahon says.

Belonging on the trail

Nonprofit groups can assist people with disabilities by providing expensive adaptive equipment, but another barrier to participating in group activities is often the simple lack of an invitation, says Dan Minnich, executive director at Waypoint. Through excursions, Waypoint encourages individuals to challenge themselves and, with the support of the group, broaden their understanding of what they can do. 

“They go home with their minds expanded about what other things might be possible,” Minnich says, “because they just experienced all these things that they didn’t think were possible, and now they realize they were.” 

These experiences not only expand their view of what’s possible for themselves, but also what others believe is possible for them. On a winter hike to Mount Willard, even Minnich wasn’t sure Waypoint could accommodate one of the participants with profound autism. But not only did that participant end up finishing the hike, he also helped pull up individuals with physical disabilities using sit-skis, wheelchair seats mounted to cross-country skis. 

“It was his strength that allowed us to get to the top of the mountain,” Minnich says. “It was very clear that I judged incorrectly, that somebody I thought was going to be a liability was actually this incredible support and asset that we needed.”

Belonging in the state house

Not everyone is drawn to athletic activities, and that’s okay. 

Though Sam Kanji runs track and plays basketball and soccer on Special Olympics teams, he has also made friends through the community where he lives with 40 young adults with disabilities, his job at Marshalls, and as a self-advocate with The Arc Massachusetts, an organization that works to enhance the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism. 

“I feel like I have lots of friends and people around,” Kanji says.

In his volunteer work with The Arc, Kanji speaks with legislators and helps teach medical professionals and police officers how to work with people with autism — and not to underestimate them — no matter where they are on the spectrum.

“There’s such incredible camaraderie when we all come together at the state house to advocate for a bill,” says Maura Sullivan, CEO of The Arc. “I think everybody feels really filled up when you’re working toward a mission together.”

Belonging everywhere

While these programs that help remove barriers are essential, Minnich hopes that someday we won’t need them.

“The ultimate vision is that all of our outdoor spaces are just accessible,” he says. “But they’re not right now, and so Waypoint’s here as one of those groups helping to be the bridge.”

The same is true for recreational spaces like restaurants, movie theaters, and malls. The 17 chapters of The Arc throughout the Commonwealth regularly go on group outings together to places like these, paving the way for belonging with each trip into the community.

“They’re going bowling, they’re going out to eat, they’re going to the mall, and thank God, because this is the way that we’re really bringing about inclusion,” Sullivan says. “I think having experiences with people with disabilities is really the way that people get rid of some of the bias that they have.” 

Pathways to Friendship, a partnership between The Arc and the Department of Developmental disabilities, also helps train organizations from YMCAs to theater groups on how they can better include people with disabilities in their programming. 

“It’s beautiful to watch these organizations see what they were missing before and how easy it is to really connect,” Sullivan says. “We would not make progress without legal change, but social change and culture change are equally as important.”

Tufts Health Plan, a Point32Health company, is a local nonprofit organization that offers health plans for every stage of life. With a commitment to personal service, Tufts Health Plan provides quality coverage and dedicated support to help guide and empower healthier lives.