(light music) - We wanna essentially end discrimination for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Empowering even more of our athletes to be able to share their stories, share their abilities, their skill sets.

You know, as we say, Special Olympics Michigan, we're not a charity.

Our athletes aren't looking for a handout, they're looking for a hand up, right?

And so when we provide that opportunity for them, it's just great.

(light music) - I got involved because I have a disability and sometimes it's hard for me to try to focus on school work and all that.

- I was the child that stood in the corner and didn't talk to anyone.

So, my mom realized that Special Olympics would help me grow in areas that I didn't know I could.

- SOMI was a big part of my life because I interned here, but not only in the building, but in three different organizations.

So, it's important because not only am I building friendships, but a lifetime and I feel loved around people that are in the building.

- [Tim] We have athletes from all over the state that will come.

Athletes from Marquette, Michigan to Detroit will come for training, education, some of our healthy athlete clinics.

- For years, we traveled around.

We didn't really have a place to call home.

But now this building, SOMI, it's nice because we can call this home.

- [Tim] One of the great things about Special Olympics is that there's something for everyone.

- [Kayla] I have done skiing, gymnastics, powerlifting... - Basketball, flag football, bowling, poly hockey.

(light music) - [Tim] The athletes are really the true leaders of Special Olympics and the Special Olympics movement.

You know, I get to have the nice title, but every day I'm the one that's learning from our athletes and leadership and perseverance and grit and joy.

- Special Olympics taught me how to interact and communicate with others.

Without them, I'd still be the child in the corner.

(soft music) - Here on "Mutually Inclusive" we often highlight smaller community groups, but this next organization is far from that.

The Special Olympics has more than four million athletes with intellectual disabilities and unified partners who cross relational and global borders each year to play and compete.

But did you know that in this wide network, West Michigan also plays host to the world's largest Special Olympics training facility?

Today on "Mutually Inclusive", we're not just touring that space, but shining a light on the athletes and leaders who make Special Olympics Michigan a reality.

(dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) (light music) Inclusion in sports has grown rapidly over the past few decades.

And the Special Olympics has been a strong contributor in this work.

In the organization's latest report, it shows its partnerships grew by more than 10% in 2023, bringing numbers to a record high.

(light music) While Special Olympics partners on regional, national and international levels, much of its foundational work embeds sports inclusivity at a ground roots approach.

And that's where we find some of West Michigan's most influential players both on and off the court.

(light music) - So when you boil it down, Special Olympics Michigan is really an inclusion movement and we utilize the power of sports to change the world.

We wanna essentially end discrimination for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

- [Kylie] Tim Heilman is the President and CEO of Special Olympics Michigan, also known as SOMI, which provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

- We have other programs such as health initiatives, leadership programs, and education.

So many times people know of our great sports events and activities, which we do, we do year-round and lots of events.

But when it comes down to it, we say Special Olympics Michigan is an everyday, everywhere movement where we work to empower individuals with intellectual disabilities.

(light music) - [Kylie] The group saw some serious expansion in 2019 when it acquired the former South Christian High School campus in Byron Township, with plans to transform the property into grounds for training and competition.

Officially opening in 2024, the Unified Sports and Inclusion Center is now the world's largest Special Olympics training facility.

(light music) - It's not just a Special Olympics Michigan building.

We have the word inclusion in there because we want this to be a place in welcoming from others.

We have 10 amazing other organizational partners that have space right here that run programs and services.

And just the innovation, the programmatic collaboration has been fantastic.

And so we really want it to be a spot for Special Olympics Michigan, but really the entire West Michigan community as well.

(light music) So when we purchased the building, it was pretty cool because we knew that, you know, it had multiple gymnasiums, it's got an auditorium and on 17 acres.

We have all these different programs, but they were kind of siloed throughout the state.

So we had sports, we had Unified Champion Schools, health, but no real way to bring it all together.

The other challenge was, we never really had our own place to practice.

So for our athletes, anytime they would go to a competition, it's because we were running out of facility and they were practicing on someone else's fields and gyms.

And so we purchased the building in 2019, and it's just been an incredible opportunity for athletes to have a place where athletes all over the state, as you mentioned, can come in and have a place to be in home.

(light music) - [Kylie] For many local athletes, - My name is Max, M-A-X, Erhardt, E-R-H-A-R-D-T. - [Kylie] The new facility offers a sense of consistency and pride.

- For years, we traveled around.

We didn't really have a place to call home.

But now this building, SOMI, it's nice because we can call this home.

Because, like I said, we traveled around for years and we always had to go somewhere else, there, and now we get to come here.

- [Kylie] Max Erhardt is a long-time member of Special Olympics Michigan, serving as a global ambassador and athlete leader.

- I've been with SOMI for 10 years.

I started at eighth grade.

I got involved because I have a disability and sometimes it's hard for me to try to focus on school work and all that.

Special Olympics helps me get my mind off of it and helps me stay active and healthy and move around a lot.

(light music) I'm an athlete leader.

It's the athletes who are building Tomorrow Camp.

For being an athlete leader, it helps guide the way for all the other athletes, lighting the torch, guiding them through the tunnel of the dark tunnel, giving that pride and hope, and it feels nice.

- Max actually served on our capital campaign.

So when we bought the building, so buying the building was the first part, and then it's like, oh, we've got a lot of money we need to raise.

We wanted to make sure that we did not carry a debt or a note on the building.

And then also the renovations on to make this truly a innovative space, quality space for all of our athletes.

And so Max was in that first meeting and served on the campaign and raised a lot of money for the building, the capital campaign as a leader.

Another great individual who just continues to give and support.

Just a role model not only for our athletes, but for me and all of our staff.

- [Kylie] But it's not all work with Max.

There's still time for fun and games.

And when he isn't busy helping others or participating in Special Olympics campaigns, you can find him on the basketball court.

(basketball ring clangs) (audience cheers) (Max laughs) - I've rim nicely.

(Kylie laughs) I play currently, I play in basketball.

But I am, after basketball I'm gonna get into volleyball too this year.

I forgot what it's called, but I'm like a guard or center right under the hoop getting rebounds and shooting back up in the paint.

My size helps me gets in the paint a lot and I can make lot of rebounds easier being tall.

It's been basketball.

I have been playing for years, but after basketball, the state tournament, I will get into volleyball after that.

- [Kylie] He says Special Olympics programs can be a great outlet to try new things and meet new people, like fellow SOMI leaders Britain Applebee and Jess Strandz.

- [Tim] So Britain, he was the first athlete who was employed by Special Olympics Michigan at this facility.

And he handles some of the maintenance elements and some of the facility and parts.

- I restock the toilet paper, take out the trash.

Make the place look nice.

- [Kylie] What is your favorite part about working and playing with SOMI?

- [Britain] Come and see my co-workers every morning.

- And it's really cool because I'll see him during the day and he's always got a great, great smile on his face and the staff love being around him.

And then I'll see him, you know, at poly hockey practice and he's a different person, right?

Because he's out there and going down the court and slapping shots.

And so it's really cool to be able to see the different sides of them.

- [Kylie] Britain, like many athletes, plays a variety of sports at Special Olympics Michigan.

- Basketball, flag football, bowling, poly hockey.

- [Kylie] But his favorite, just like Max, would have to be... - Basketball.

- [Kylie] As for Jessica, who can be found anywhere and everywhere at the Unified Sports and Inclusion Center.

- I'm an intern for three different organizations, Disability Advocates of Kent County, Special Olympics, and Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan.

- [Kylie] Her sport of choice comes from a special place of family tradition.

- My family grew up, my dad's family, my mom's side of the family grew up bowling, doing tournaments and then also they were big on, just, it was their passion.

So that's when I started, when I was born, I started to think of, "Okay, what do I wanna do?"

So I did bowling for a lot of years.

So bowling was the biggest one and are part of our family.

(light upbeat music) SOMI was a big part of my life because I interned here, but not only in the building, but in three different organizations.

So, it's important because not only am I building friendships, but a lifetime and I feel loved around people that are in the building.

- [Kylie] As workers and leaders in the center, the two say they're grateful for the opportunity the new expansion and Special Olympics Michigan as a whole offers to prospective athletes.

- I think everything is perfect.

Just being around here makes me a better person every day.

So, it makes me not only a better athlete, but a better teammate and a better staff member.

- Just seeing the growth, like I said, of the leadership from our athletes.

Really, they just need the opportunity to be heard or to be, you know, having their gifts shared and just seeing the development and growth for that perspective for each day.

(light upbeat music) - [Kylie] And it's this kind of development and growth that Tim says makes Special Olympics Michigan a leader in the world of inclusive sports and networking.

- So it is the world's largest Special Olympics facility that's dedicated to athletes in training.

And we don't want this to just be a secret here in West Michigan.

And again, we have athletes from all over the state that will come; athletes from Marquette, Michigan to Detroit will come for training, education, some of our healthy athlete clinics.

But the word is really spreading about this being a great model.

A great model for, again, athletes having an opportunity to do a myriad of different Special Olympics programs, but a model of collaboration.

So we've had individuals here from Special Olympics International that have come and visited.

We have a banner right when you walk in that says, "I Choose to Include", and you look at that banner and you see individuals from Australia, from Wales, from South Africa that have come here, as well as Special Olympics North America.

One of having our own facility has allowed us to be able to plan and work with Special Olympics North America on new programming and different opportunities.

And so in 2025, we're gonna be hosting athletes from all over the country for some special competition here in the fall.

- [Kylie] While Olympics is in the organization's title, the group offers a variety of levels for athletes to compete, taking it all the way from beginner programs to representing their country in international competition.

- So I think, you know, one of the great things about Special Olympics is that there's something for everyone, right?

So we have athletes that are just, you know, maybe learning a specific sport and it's individual or team sport.

And we have skills and developmental.

And then one of the things that separates us from sports organization is divisioning.

And so, we have athletes at an extremely high level of competition, and again, athletes that are learning.

And all of them is working to strive to be better and compete and train.

But one of the great things about Special Olympics is also, we're in every county and every community in Michigan, but there's opportunities to see the world.

And so every four years there's Special Olympics World Summer Games, Special Olympics World Winter Games, and we send athletes from Michigan to those games.

Just next year in February is the Special Olympics International World Winter Games 2025 Torino, and we have four athletes from Michigan that are gonna make our state so proud, but they're gonna be competing in Alpine skiing and cross country skiing.

And so, we love it that it's a grassroots level organization, but also has opportunities for the world to see our athletes and for their athletes to showcase their gifts and abilities.

(light upbeat music) - [Kylie] One of SOMI's high performance athletes to watch is Kayla Cornell of Grand Rapids.

As a competitive skier, she's part of the 2024/2025 Special Olympics North America Leadership Cohort and runs a local ski and snowboarding program at the YMCA.

- I am actually hoping to train and be able to make the Athletes Without Limits ski team.

And that is actually the Paralympics.

So that is a step above from Special Olympics.

- [Kylie] Her journey with Special Olympics Michigan started in her pre-teens and has grown into a lifelong connection.

(light upbeat music) - My middle school teacher introduced Special Olympics to me and my mom.

And I attended state winter games for skiing.

So I started out with just skiing, and my mom wanted me to continue to do Special Olympics because I was the child that stood in the corner and didn't talk to anyone.

So, my mom realized that Special Olympics would help me grow in areas that I didn't know I could.

(light upbeat music) Skiing has kind of been the first sport and the sport that I've loved.

And so I went out to Oregon this past summer to a training camp to learn to ski better.

I like it because I feel like I'm free on the hill.

I feel like everything is just set aside and there's nothing else there.

Plus, I run a program for skiing at the YMCA.

I've been their lead at the YMCA for their ski and snowboarding program for the past three years.

So even just integrating and teaching and running programs like that now have made me really see that I wanna pursue it even more.

When I am training, it's usually like, if it's my non-skiing sports, I am just training once a week within that sport.

But skiing, I am out skiing outside of my practices and getting on that hill as much as possible to improve my skills.

So, I have a machine that allows you to strap your boots on and you can actually virtual ski with it.

- [Kylie] Her dedication to skiing has not only brought accolades, but memories with loved ones.

- [Kayla] And it's something that my family's got involved in.

I made my mom learn how to re-ski.

My stepdad skis with us now.

So it's now like a family thing we do.

- [Kylie] And she says it's in SOMI's holistic approach to growth that athletes, volunteers and community members are able to find themselves.

- Special Olympics taught me how to interact and communicate with others.

Without them, I'd still be the child in the corner.

It has offered me a chance to be able to go to college, because I was told I wasn't going to be able to.

But I met two staff members, Nick and Heather, and because of them, now I'm studying to become a registered dietitian.

- [Kylie] Now Kayla's using the gifts she's discovered along the way to help others explore their own directions.

- So.

we have a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen, which is where I'll be teaching our Let's Get Healthy cooking class, which is a seven-week cooking class.

It has nutrition lesson plans and recipes for athletes to learn.

And the goal is that they'll be able to come in and learn how to cook healthy.

And learn how to make healthy meals.

So I'm really excited to be able to offer the kitchen space to bring athletes in.

And learn things that they didn't know about their own nutrition.

(light upbeat music) I feel like now that we're offering more programming, like Michigan offers a SOMIFit program, it's an eight-week workout program, and I see the difference between these athletes and the schools that participate.

To see the growth they have at the end of these programs, I see the growth, I see what it's doing, I see how it's helping.

(soft music) - [Kylie] It's a common thread Special Olympics Michigan says it sees as inclusivity grows and more and more people enter its doors.

- It is right, you know, the old saying, "It takes a village."

And it is in so many different parts.

You have it right in our title is inclusion and unified, right?

Unified sports, and that's bringing people together and everyone working together for what's great about humanity.

We're very fortunate, State of Michigan has been a great partner for ours in some of the funding parts and really believing in that model of inclusion.

So as you mentioned, in five years, all of the renovations, the work is gonna be done.

We're gonna have not only the world's largest, but the world's greatest inclusion place.

But our goal is that other programs will see this by example, right?

The value of collaboration, the value of partnerships, the value of athlete-led leadership, and that's what I'm really excited for.

The athletes are really the true leaders of Special Olympics and the Special Olympics movement.

You know, I get to have the nice title, but every day I'm the one that's learning from our athletes and leadership and perseverance and grit and joy.

- It gives them hope, it gives them, show some pride.

It help basically guide them through maybe tougher parts in life, through hard parts of their life.

Hopefully, playing here and playing basketball and guiding them, help them make it easier in life.

- [Kylie] And with the rapid growth inclusive sports programs are seeing, Special Olympics Michigan puts out a call to the community, to pass the torch.

- We've got this great facility.

We have state events all throughout.

And one of the great core things about Special Olympics is our volunteers.

We don't have Special Olympics without our volunteers.

So again, we have over 20,000 athletes who participate in sports and activities, but we don't have that without coaches, without chaperones.

And again, it starts off with every community.

And then we have athletes who're supported.

We have over 500 schools here in Michigan that are unified champion schools that have programming of Special Olympics.

But it also means we need more volunteers to get involved because they're really the backbone of the services that we have.

(light upbeat music) - If someone's watching our program and they maybe know someone, or they themselves, you know, think, "Oh, I never really thought about SOMI before.

Maybe I should go and get involved either as a participant or volunteer."

What would you say to them?

- I would encourage them to reach out to Special Olympics Michigan.

They can reach out to our field service coordinator right here in Grand Rapids.

If you're trying to get involved as an athlete, those are great ways to start to get involved, to reach out to.

But if you've never been to an event, you have to check it out at least once 'cause it's the best thing you'll ever see.

- Never had an individual come to a Special Olympics event and say, "Boy, that was a waste of time."

You know, it's really, it's the opposite of, "Boy, that was so great, I had a great time.

I saw what's great about sports, I saw what's great about community.

How do I get involved more?"

And I think that's one of the great things about our movement.

We say right now, the world is kind of a fractured place, but you come to a Special Olympics event and people are coming together and people are uniting and that's because of our athletes.

(light upbeat music) And again, if more people, more communities, you just listen and follow by that example, the whole world's gonna be in a great place.

(light music) - We'd like to thank Special Olympics Michigan and its amazing athletes for sharing their personal stories of journey through sport and community.

If this piece has left you wanting more, we as always have resources at the end of this episode.

Thanks so much for watching and for helping us be "Mutually Inclusive".

- [Announcer] Thanks for watching.

You can find this episode and others online at wgvu.org/mutuallyinclusive or by visiting our YouTube page.

But don't forget to follow WGVU on Facebook to keep up with everything happening here in West Michigan.

Thank you for helping us be "Mutually Inclusive".

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