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A
Message from Our President and Founder!
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Dear Friends,
We
want to thank you for your interest in exploring
vacation opportunities for persons with developmental
disabilities! Yes, the wonders of travel
excite, inspire, educate, amuse, and refresh us.
Rich in diversity, it takes us beyond our immediate
reality and shows us new ways of seeing both the
world around us and ourselves.
It is through
traveling throughout this amazing and beautiful
world, that we seek to provide outstanding, safe,
and fun experiences that truly engage our travelers
with the essence and uniqueness of their chosen
vacation.
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From our early beginnings as
a program provided by a local human services agency for
persons with developmental disabilities, to a separate
corporation within that agency, to our eventual independence
as a not-for-profit corporation on our own, we have always
endeavored to provide the highest quality services for
those involved with us. We are forever grateful for the
opportunities and support that our original parent agency,
People Inc., of Buffalo, New York, provided to us for
so many years. We will always have a special light
in our hearts for all the kindness, flexibility, patience,
and humor they have shown us over the years!
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 My
own background spans over 35 years of experience
in therapeutic recreation with persons with developmental
disabilities, during which time this vacation service was
created in 1975, so many years ago. I confess to a childhood
fascination with the world ~ its people and places ~ collecting
maps from National Geographic, writing to the tourism centers
of every state and country as I read about each of them
in the World Book Encyclopedia, and then mapping "pretend" journeys
around the United States and the World! All of this
before the age of 10 !
We can add to this a love of exploring
the world, a master's degree in Experiential Education
and International Business, and a great love for nature,
animals, and the outdoors, with years of adaptive outdoor
activities for persons with disabilities while living in
Colorado. So it seems as though my mind and heart have
been seeking to travel and experience the world for most
of my life!
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Additionally,
in partnership in managing People
and Places, is Patty Brown Schieder,
joining us first as a volunteer tour escort for many
years, and then as Assistant Director and Vice President. Patty was
also absorbed with travel as a child, spending countless
hours gazing through her Viewmaster at pictures of various
national parks, the Taj Mahal, and the Great Wall of
China ! After student teaching in Adelaide, in southern
Australia, lots of personal travels around the world,
a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling, and years working
in residential services with persons with developmental
disabilities, she brings to the program a rich diversity
of education and travel experiences. |
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 Also supporting our vacation services and managing the
vast array of paperwork, is Michele
Venezia. She is the
friendly voice you hear when you call our administrative
office with questions. You will find her organizational
and creative talents expressed in your Acceptance Package,
Itinerary, and even your Account Information ! While our
tour escorts guide you on your vacation, Michele is your
pre-trip vacation guide ! She brings to us her professional
background of 20 years as a senior level accountant at
a local CPA firm, as well as her personal cheerfulness,
her love of travel, and her passion for rescuing animals. |
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And, yes, speaking
about our incredible vacation escorts: You will find that our passion and caring
for persons with developmental disabilities and the world
around us is shared by our many volunteer tour escorts.
We are deeply grateful for their generous spirit, their
professional and personal commitment, and their invaluable
contributions in providing outstanding vacation experiences
for each traveler.
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We are all looking forward to getting to know you on
one of our incredible vacations !
We hope you will feel free
to contact us with your questions and share your thoughts,
ideas, and dreams for a world of understanding through travel
!
Warm Regards,
Joie Budington
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“The
more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers
of people who should be friends.”
Shirley MacLaine
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