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Volunteer Impact | Postcards from the Ponies by Carmen Miller

September 9, 2021 by Taylor Polito

WrittCarmen came up with, fundraised for, and completed this project during the Stay-at-Home order in early Spring, 2020.

Carmen (left) side-walking during a Hippotherapy session!

Carmen’s story

I have been volunteering at Madison Fields, a therapeutic riding facility, Since September, 2019. Madison Fields uses equine assisted activities to help people with neurological and physical differences. One thing I have learned from my volunteer work is how important consistent routine is to most of the riders.

The Impact of COVID-19

In late March, 2020, all activities in my area shut down because of COVID-19. The pandemic created great upheaval in the lives of people all over the world. Among the activities I had to stop was volunteering at Madison Fields.

Additionally, many of the riders did not have the privilege of understanding why their routine stopped so abruptly. It made me wonder how the riders and their families would deal with all of the changes COVID-19 would bring to their lives. I wondered if there was some way I could help with the loss of their weekly riding lessons at Madison Fields.

One of the big challenges Madison Fields faced was how to stay connected to their riders. I began to think: what I can I do from my home to help the riders and their families have a way to stay connected to the horses and the people who work and volunteer at Madison Fields?

Carmen’s Solution

To help the riders stay connected, I decided to send a postcard from each of the horses. My goal was to reassure riders and their families that we were thinking of them. Everyone missed the riders so much. My experiences taught me that a tangible object would be an effective way to show the riders that the staff and volunteers still cared about them. Postcards with their own lesson horses would add a personal touch!

I asked Taylor Polito, Madison Fields’ Volunteer Coordinator, for insight into the affect of these changes on the riders. She agreed that this time was really stressful for many of the riders and was enthusiastic about my idea. She asked me to go ahead and develop the project on my own.

I named this project Postcards from the Ponies. At the completion of the project, I had created “I miss you” postcards; one from each of the therapy horses to their riders. I also created cards to wish riders a Happy Birthday, Congratulations on their first ride, happy holidays, and even thank you cards to send to supporters, donors, and volunteers!

If you would like to sign up to be a part of our volunteer program, please fill out the form below!

Filed Under: Featured Journal Entry, Volunteering Tagged With: accessibility, Connection, COVID-19, eaat, Equine Assisted Activities, horses, path intl, post cards, postcards, therapeutic riding, volunteer opportunities, volunteer project

Madison Fields Coloring Book

March 23, 2020 by Taylor McCarthy

Madison-Fields-Coloring-BookDownload

The EAAT team created the Madison Fields Coloring Book to keep our families connected during this time that we have to spend away from the farm. Each coloring page is a highlight on the farm. On every page, there is also a short description of what’s happening in the picture.

The coloring book is used for print-and-color. We hope that you and your loved ones have a wonderful time coloring some of our brightest memories.

Filed Under: Featured Journal Entry Tagged With: autism, autism awareness, Autismafter21, coloring book, COVID, family, farm, fields, Madison Fields, madison house autism foundation

Corporate Volunteers | Shape our community

December 24, 2019 by Taylor McCarthy

What would we do without our volunteers? As a local mission-driven, community-centered project, having 400 acres of agricultural land to work with has its perks, but the work required for proper upkeep, stewardship and maintenance is immense!

[Read more…] about Corporate Volunteers | Shape our community

Filed Under: Featured Journal Entry, Volunteering Tagged With: communities, community, Corporate, organization, Volunteer, volunteer days, Volunteering, work

Job Readiness Program | Certificate of Completion

December 24, 2019 by Taylor McCarthy

Answering a Need in our Community.

There is a profound need for adults with autism and other intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD) in our community to have opportunities to participate and contribute. By age 21, these young adults age out of the public school system and lose access to many critical resources.

[Read more…] about Job Readiness Program | Certificate of Completion

Filed Under: Featured Journal Entry, Job Readiness Tagged With: autism, Autismafter21, certificate, employment, I/DD, jobreadiness

Transformative Music Therapy for Veterans

June 5, 2019 by Adrienne McBride

Madison Fields, a project of Madison House Autism Foundation, brings transformative Music Therapy of the Rockies by serving 10 wounded veterans, in collaboration with The Wounded Warrior Project and American Airlines. 

[Read more…] about Transformative Music Therapy for Veterans

Filed Under: Featured Journal Entry Tagged With: american airlines, autism, autism awareness, Autismafter21, Madison Fields, madison house autism foundation, music, music therapy, the wounded warrior project, Veterans

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