Episode 6: Special Olympics Massachusetts: The Power of Inclusive Sports

Jordan: Welcome to the Plan for Special Needs Trusts podcast presented by PLAN, the Planned Lifetime Assistance Network of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Our plan is your plan, and I'm your host, Jordan Rich. 

Today, we welcome Mary Beth McMahon, President and CEO of Special Olympics Massachusetts. The mission to provide year round training and sports competition in a variety of olympic type sports for all children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop  for physical fitness, prepare for entry into school and community programs, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in the sharing of gifts, skills, and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and in the community. PLAN of Massachusetts and Rhode Island is very proud to support the efforts of Special Olympics of Massachusetts. It’s a great partnership reflecting the values, allowing PLAN to fulfill the mission of preserving assets, protecting benefits, and living well. 

First question for you, Mary Beth, is how you arrived at Special Olympics. It's obviously the place you want to be. 

Mary Beth: So actually, I have a long journey with Special Olympics. It started back when I was in college. I've been involved, not that I want to age myself, but over 35 years with the movement. Started in Rhode Island at college and then went about my world and wanted to be an international financiar. So instead of going, you know, pursuing a career in Special Olympics, I went into the financial industry in Boston, but kept volunteering at Special Olympics, kept kind of dragging me back in. And then I had an opportunity to kind of take a leave, I guess the best way to say it, and take an opportunity to go work at Special Olympics in the DC area. And from there, I just kind of never went back to the dream of being the international financiar there, but more importantly, working with the organization. So started really as a volunteer, kind of moved up the ranks of the volunteer role, ended up taking this opportunity in the DC area, worked down there for a while, worked in Special Olympics Maryland for a while. From there, I went out to California. I worked in Special Olympics Northern California, and then also worked in Special Olympics Nevada. I came back here to home in Boston almost ten years ago now and took the opportunity to come back here, work with Special Olympics Massachusetts. And when the CEO retired, I decided to go after the CEO role. So I became CEO back in 2013. And I've been here ever since and love it. 

Jordan: You obviously love it. And the people who work with you have a great passion for it. Let's talk about the impact that it has on the individuals that you service, because it's not just the events we hear and see the events, and it's colorful and there are ribbons, but there's a whole lot more that goes into what we're doing with and for these athletes, 

Mary Beth: That's such an important question. So thank you for asking it, because one of our biggest issues is our perception. I think we have a great brand. Everybody says, oh, you work for Special Olympics. That must be great. And it is, and it's wonderful. But then they always the follow up question is, when is it? And I'm like, it's not when is it? It is every day in every community. And that's the piece I think the word Olympics kind of makes people think of that one time event that happens every other year or every four years, summer and winter, and they don't think it is really happening at the most local of levels and grassroots of levels, which is in the community of Massachusetts. And we have over 14,500 athletes here in Massachusetts, the youngest age is two, and the oldest is 93. And what I like to say to families that get involved with Special Olympics is that we're here for life. No matter what age you come in, you can do as many sports as you want. You can do as many activities as you want. We're here to be your kind of partner in life, in sports and recreation. And more importantly, these days, we're doing a lot more inclusive programming, both in the schools and in the community. And I think everybody needs more inclusion, especially coming through the last 18 months we had. So I think people realize, like I said, we highlight the events, and that's what people see. But what they don't realize is the training and prep that goes into those athletes achieving their personal best at those events. And that's what happens every day in every community. So we're always looking for volunteers. We're always looking for more athletes. We know there's plenty more out there, and we're always looking to bridge the programs we do in the school with the programs we want to do in the community. So we're constantly looking to grow and build and provide more. And I think the Pandemic has shown us all that what lack of involvement and engagement and being around people really means to each of us. So if it wasn't for Special Olympics, a lot of individuals with intellectual disability wouldn't have that opportunity. 

Jordan: Well, Mary Beth, it's all about, as you say, training, but also development of a teamwork approach to life and self responsibility, taking care of one's health. We all wish everyone would exercise and get involved in recreation, but in the case of these Special Olympians, it becomes a lifestyle, doesn't it? 

Mary Beth: It does become a lifestyle. And I think that's what's really great about us. And I think something we learned from the pandemic is that the activity is what's important, that we can put in a basketball there, but it also can be a walking club. It can be a, you know, just go out and walk with a couple of friends, go find a trail. We've done some cycling clubs, we've done some hiking clubs. We just kind of changed what we were doing and it was more about fitness, health and activity, and more importantly, just being out and engaged in a very safe manner. So the things that are exploding right now are walking clubs, hiking clubs, cycling clubs, cornhole because we were able to send cornhole kits to group homes that they could still be out and engaged in doing activity. So we were trying to send as much stuff as we could to the home environment that we could keep our athletes engaged. But it was our goal. 

Jordan: Everyone knows the term pivot after these last 18 months, but that's interesting. You say bringing the recreation to them in some cases, many people think, oh, Special Olympics, you must have a training facility and you must have one field and one field house, and then the Olympic Games. But it's really all over the state, all over the region, where you're sending out volunteers and helping people. 

Mary Beth: Yeah, we really are. And I think the pivot from the pandemic was we got much more involved with the families and the athletes at their home base. We're very much set up like teams, sports leagues, facilities here and there across the state. What we want to do is both for the virtual environment of the Zoom. We did fitness classes, dance classes, athlete chats, and then we also sent equipment home. So we've got a lot of athletes involved in sports they would have never thought of because there was equipment we could send to their house or their community where there was a couple of athletes that wanted to get involved. And I think the other thing we've learned is that we're now doing these drop-in centers across the state where on a Saturday you can just drop in and learn more about a different sport. And what that's allowed us to do is it's allowed our athletes to meet new athletes in their community and also learn new sports. And we have a different age bracket. So we have young athletes in the morning, teenagers in the mid to late morning, and then our older population. And then we do an open gym. And some we're getting to stay the whole time and some are just dropping in and out, but it's a way to just kind of get, again, the community involved in what we're doing, but more importantly, activity and fitness every week back where our athletes are living and working. 

Jordan: Well, we're thrilled to have you as a guest on this important podcast presented and produced by PLAN of Mass and Rhode Island. I know that it's only been about a year since you've connected with this organization, but why did you do it? Why did you sign on with PLAN? And what benefits does PLAN offer Special Olympics? 

Mary Beth: First of all, they're sponsoring company brand for us, so at a time we really needed it we do offer everything for free to our athletes and their families, which anybody who's listening who has kids in sports. That's a pretty powerful statement. I have two kids in soccer, and I'm constantly writing checks out, buying uniforms. So when we can say we offer our programming for free, there's no economic boundary. No matter how many sports you're involved in, no matter how many times a year you're involved, we need support from companies like PLAN. And without that support, we couldn't do what we do. So their donation through sponsorship to us is going directly to the programs and the athletes in the communities throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. So I think that's really important for people to know, because without that support, we wouldn't be where we are today and offering the programs we are. And then I think also we are kind of an organization that becomes kind of a Jack of all trades and expert and none. This is probably the best way to put it, because Special Olympics is one of those organizations you can come to as a family because we offer sports, there's an automatic assumption that we have a lot of other resources that are at our beck and call and we don't. So what happens is when we get questions, we're always looking for partners that can help. And when it comes to planning for your child in their later part of life and planning on what you're going to do with your assets and your estate and how they're going to be taken care of, we're not in the business of that, but we get a lot of questions. So partnering with PLAN allows us to have a partnering agency that we can send our families and athletes to as they have these questions. And I prefer something like that happening to me saying, I'm sorry and having them to go somewhere else. Individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families are constantly being told to go find the information and go find. I don't have it. Can you go, sorry, go talk to this person. So it's kind of this, like, phone tag situation. And the more resources we can actually gather, the more partnering agencies we can have so that Special Olympics does become kind of, like I said, that Jack of all trades. We might not know specific things, but we can at least send you to the right resource that will answer your questions. And that's what's the beauty of PLAN is that this is a resource that when we're asked a question, we can directly send our family members, too. And in return, they're a partnering agency that allows those athletes to get on the playing field charge. It's all about connection and resources and getting those resources to the right people at the right time. 

Jordan: And that's a wonderful service you're providing just by relaying this opportunity to people. I want to circle back and talk to you again about the athletes. And you mentioned there's a two year old and a 93 year old. You must have a quick story or two of recent note, just an example of what we're talking about at first name only, of course, some young or middle aged or older person who's had a life changing experience with Special Olympics Massachusetts. 

Mary Beth: Oh, I have a lot.

Jordan: no doubt we could do 4 hours, but

Mary Beth:I could definitely do a lot more. But I think the one that really over the last couple of the collective athletes, what we heard that the pandemic was a constant question of when are we getting back? What's happening? What are we doing? And we were trying to be, as you mentioned earlier, pivot to doing just anything to get anybody involved. But watching those athletes come back and more importantly, watching the volunteers come back and seeing the smiles and just seeing the camaraderie that came from being away from each other and coming back, you realize that Special Olympics does so much for the athletes, but it also does just as much for the volunteers and family members to see this kind of family of Special Olympics that they've grown up and been around. So it's been great watching all of that come back in person. And also we just got our OK to hold our flag football state Championship at Gillette. And it has been one of those things. Are we going to do it? Are we going to do it? Are we going to do it? Are we going to do it? And we were able to say we did it. And I can't tell you the reaction of the athletes. I think this is the first time they feel like, okay, we're really getting back out of this. 

But the one that kind of just brings tears to my eyes, and I still watch the clip now is that one of our athletes from Boston, she lives in Mattapan, and she has a dream of attending our USA Games, which are being held next year. She has trained. She has had this goal for a very long time. She has been doing everything possible to get to wherever she needs to be to qualify, to train, to be involved. And what she wanted to do is she wanted to run track at the USA Games. And we have a really big selective process for that because we don't get a lot of allotment for that. And we were able to surprise her with her selection with Robin Roberts from Good Morning America. It's a great story. And basically, Robin Roberts surprises her with the announcement and the reaction she has to being chosen to represent Massachusetts at the USA Games next year in Orlando is precious. It's just that you see a true the fact that we were able to keep it a surprise is one thing. But to actually see her surprise reaction and what Special Olympics is meant to her and I think important, most importantly, is that she was selected to be surprised by Robin because of her story, her perseverance, and what Special Olympics did to change her world and her life and give her goals and objectives as she graduated from high school, from the Boston Public Schools. And it's a great story. And she's an incredible woman and she's achieving her goals of going to the USA Games because of her perseverance and her ability and want to dream. 

Jordan: I'm welling up thinking about it because I happen to know a little bit about Robin Roberts, too. She's an amazing woman and she's persevered in herself. Before we wrap up a couple of quick things. Number one, volunteers, you've mentioned them more than once. What kinds of things are you looking for from volunteers? Because we'd love to have you use this platform to make an appeal. What kinds of things do they need to do? 

Mary Beth: So we have volunteer opportunities from someone who wants to give us a day a year to someone that wants to give us 10 hours a week. You can be administrative. You can be an assistant coach. You can come out for an event and just run a stopwatch or help support a competition that's going on. We have really a wealth of opportunities throughout the state because before the pandemic, we did about 600 events a year. But to give you an example, this weekend coming up and most weekends throughout the year, we have 6789 events. I have a small staff, so we can't be there at every event. So we do rely on volunteers to help us get these events off and then obviously rely on volunteers to coach. So any expertise that is in the sports world, we can put to work any kind of you don't know sports, but you want to come out, you can help with awards, you can help with registrations. You can help do food and meals. If you're into administration, we always have a ton of paperwork that has to be processed as well. So we can really use volunteers no matter what hour of the day you're available and no matter what time you can give. 

Jordan: Excellent. And I just wanted to toss this out. You do some of the most creative fundraising polar plunges for those who don't know, jump into the icy drink for a few minutes and you raise money. It's always interesting when Mass Special Olympics is doing their thing. Do you have anything coming up as this podcast is airing sometime in late October, anything coming up that we can promote? 

Mary Beth: Absolutely. Well, our plunges that you just said will be actually launching in November. So if anybody is interested to jumping in the icy cold water or last year we did it so you could plunge anywhere. So we had really some creative ideas. People were doing snow angels, people were dumping ice over them, anything to get wet. People had fire hoses being thrown at them. So that launches November 1 and then also we'll be launching our holiday run bike walk challenge which will be virtual for this December and hopes that we will get back and going again in 2022 with in person races and the plunges will be in person or where you want to plunge. So we're going to give people the option to actually do it at home or do it at one of our events. And the other thing is we will be the official Boston Athletic Associations, the BAA, 5K partner. If we have any 5K people looking for something in April to do, happy to have you as part of our team. 

Jordan: Excellent. What a great array of services and events and I can tell you live this stuff because you're obviously the executive director but you have a great passion. We hear it in your voice and I see it in your eyes. So listen. Thank you for your time and most importantly to all the athletes who have benefited and continue to benefit, we owe a great deal to the team at Special Olympics Massachusetts and the folks at PLAN of Massachusetts and Rhode Island are thrilled and honored to support you and also to serve as a resource. So Mary Beth, continued success. 

Mary Beth:Thank you very much. And anybody listening: athletes, volunteers, potential athletes, welcome. Please join us specialolympicsma.org for any of the information you need. Thank you very much for having me. 

Jordan: We want to thank you for listening to the Plan for Special Needs Trusts Podcast Presented by PLAN, The Planned Lifetime Assistance Network of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. PLAN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit company where the goal for every one of its clients is always to preserve assets, protect benefits and live well. For more, visit www.planofma-ri.org. We invite you to subscribe, download, rate and review this podcast, and thank you for sharing it with others. Our Plan is your plan.