The Sabrina Cohen Foundation

My foundation is on the precipice of big growth and the Elevate Prize will offer a global platform with expert leadership and coaching to further empower me to be even more strategic in forming relationships with people, businesses and global ambassadors. I will refine my public speaking skills, master social media and these growth opportunities, coupled with my passion for helping people, will best position me to exceed my ambitious short-term goal of completing the Adaptive Fitness & Recreation Center in Miami Beach, and my long-term goal of scaling the development of inclusive spaces to do better for the disabled community.  I will refine and replicate the model of a private/public partnership for developing inclusive spaces for millions of people worldwide. My vision is to replicate this model, create accessible, innovative spaces and develop and execute health and wellness programs using adaptive sports and wellness activities to serve the underserved.  The funds and mentorship I would receive would be a game-changer for me to further shape the future of health and inclusion and put me on a much larger stage to do even more work.

When I was 5-years-old I told my mom I wanted to be a Social Worker to help as many people as possible when I grew up. 

As a teenager, I was a healthy, happy and athletic child who loved swimming, the ocean and getting involved in as many activities as possible. Then my life changed in an instant. At 14 years old, I was in a devastating car accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury. I've been confined to a wheelchair since. 

Within weeks of going back to school, my principle asked if I would talk to the seniors before prom. I said yes, and there began my path to motivational speaking. To date, I've spoken to over 30,000 elementary/high school students about life with paralysis, driving safely and the importance of making good decisions in life. 

From 2003-2008 I traveled the country advocating for stem cell research and founded my nonprofit in 2006 to advance research and quality of life initiatives. 

My accident has been a catalyst in understanding my life's work - to be an advocate for the disabled, creating programs and solutions to keep them as active and healthy as possible, while sensitizing communities at large.

One billion people, or 15% of the world's population, experience some form of disability, and disability prevalence is higher for developing countries. One-fifth of the estimated global total, or between 110 million and 190 million people, experience significant disabilities.

61 million adults in the United States live with a disability (that's 26% (one in 4) adults have some type of disability).

In Miami-Dade County alone, 29 percent of residents have a physical or intellectual disability, the second highest city in the US.

Exercise is an activity many people enjoy to strengthen bodies and calm minds. It's especially beneficial for those living with catastrophic illness, injury and secondary health conditions related to long-term disabilities. In many communities, however, gyms and leisure centers are “no-go zones” for the disabled because these facilities often lack ramps, lifts and automatic doors, making them difficult to navigate. Insurance runs out, high membership fees, inaccessible locker rooms, no specialized equipment and inexperienced staff are other issues. Heading to the beach is even more complicated. The sand is a natural barrier to entry. 

SCF is turning these barriers into opportunities, transforming outdoor spaces into fully accessible places and building an Adaptive Fitness & Recreation Center in Florida. 

To safely enjoy our beaches, in addition to the basic “beach stuff”, people with disabilities also require specialized equipment, multiple trained professionals to assist them and other costly necessities. Without beach mats, specialized chairs and lots of trained help their ability to enjoy the beach stops where the sand begins.

With this in mind, Sabrina approached her hometown with a novel idea. Let's create a beach for ALL. In 2016, she launched “Adaptive Beach Days,” a twice-monthly, pop-up program that provides full-service access into the ocean and beach. To date, thousands of residents and tourists from all over the world have experienced the beach like never before.

Because of its success, Sabrina is now spearheading an effort to make beach access and adaptive fitness a permanent resource in South Florida by building an “Adaptive Recreation Center”, a first-of-a-kind oceanfront facility on the east coast catering exclusively to individuals with mobility challenges.

Operated by a team of qualified staff and volunteers, the Center will be open daily / year-round to South Florida residents, attracting tourists from all over the world. It will feature a state-of-the-art fitness and technology space, alongside a fully accessible beach, offering daily, monthly and annual memberships.

We have a big vision and are sticking to it. Despite all odds, opposition, proving a demand and securing oceanfront property from a city that is almost completely maxed out of spaces to develop, we have never wavered. Everything is falling into place step by step. 

Our efforts are impacting our community on the day-to-day. From beach access days, to online virtual fitness classes offered daily, to a wheelchair tennis clinic, to developing adaptive playgrounds so children of all abilities can play, to building our nations first-of-a-kind Adaptive Fitness & Recreation Center - we are impacting people and families of all ages; children with special needs, adults with all types of physical challenges, wounded warriors and seniors with mobility challenges. Our work is aimed at keeping our participants as active as possible, while empowering them to believe and feel  included and capable of living a full life - like everyone.

And the beauty of our work doesn't just impact the people we are designed to serve. From family members, to kids, to politicians and community leaders, the education component and volunteer opportunities are sensitizing our community about difference and what TRUE inclusion means.

We are directly serving 800-1,000 people per year through our Adaptive Beach Days, Wheelchair Tennis and Virtual Fitness programs, and upwards of 36,000 children per year at Sabrina’s Playground. The Playground is the City of Miami Beach’s first Adaptive Playground that we developed together in 2017.

We are also directly affecting thousands of others in our community ranging from our participants' families and friends to highly-qualified trainers and our large and loyal army of volunteers.   This cadre of friends are also now sponsors, advocates, in-kind supporters, and a powerful resource to advance our mission further on a local and national scope.

In one year, we anticipate the completion of the Adaptive Oceanside Park and Beach. This outdoor space will serve hundreds of thousands of people each year, residents and visitors alike.  We intend to program the park to bring people with disabilities together with able-bodied individuals to foster a truly inclusive community and celebrate our City, one that serves ALL!

We strive to have a permanent, year-round impact on the disabled community, as well as the broader rehabilitative medicine and wellness fields, as providing experiences that sustain a better quality of life for our Miami residents and the nation at large. Success includes deepening relationships with current medical partners into an everyday presence at the Center. Programs will expand from a daily virtual class and bimonthly program into a facility open year-round from 9am-5pm each day.  Our Community Play Dates at our Adaptive Playground will offer children of all abilities the freedom to play together and experience unstructured opportunities for joy and friendship and bring together 1000 children and their families. 

We will increase awareness through marketing, public speaking and partnerships and measure progress by growing attendance from serving 50 to 350 per day and increasing membership by 90 % per year. 

Our development projects aim to push the boundaries beyond ADA and focus on inclusive design.  We aim to educate and inspire other leaders, businesses and designers to also create inclusive projects through education, press, and partnerships with the Greater Miami Hotel Association, the Chamber, the City & County and more.  We will recognize these projects on our website.  

There is a lack of understanding about people with disabilities, and their needs.  We are helping to overcome these barriers through education, for both adults and children. But it’s an ongoing effort.  

Winning the Elevate Prize would provide with me a highly visible, global  platform to tell my story (and the stories of so many other brave friends) in a way that helps sensitize people, leaders and communities.  Through this awareness, kids can grow up as informed adults, businesses can do better by hiring and promoting people of varying abilities and the disabled community across the world can rise together, with confidence, hope and progress.

As a small non-profit doing BIG THINGS, we are focused on programs, fundraising and developing inclusive spaces. We have BIG IDEAS and want to stand out on social media and engage with people with disabilities and the able-bodied community; however, we do not currently have capacity for extended outreach and consistency. The coaching, branding, outreach plan, and community this Prize offers will directly impact my ability to fundraise, advocate, and raise awareness of SCF’s programs and our long term, large-scale goal of fostering greater well-being and confidence for individuals with disabilities around the world. 

Winning the Elevate Prize will connect us to a highly-achieving group of innovators, leaders, risk-takers and exactly the group of both peers and mentors who can help us create a winning strategy to expand outreach and re-think what meaningful content is to make a positive impact.  

We would aim to create a dynamic press campaign around the award, secure speaking engagements to educate larger audiences, Ted Talks, and readings with children. We would leverage this momentum and PR around the foundation’s progress to formalize existing partnerships that advance our goals, while further cultivating new ones.

The driving force of all of our work, internal and external, is about building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive leadership team by bringing people from all walks of life together, as each person's personal journey contributes to our brand of empowerment & inclusion.

Our vision is to further develop and formalize our inclusive organizational leadership team. We are creating an “Advocate & Outreach Committee,” representing people of varying abilities to ensure people making decisions reflect the inclusivity we embody in our mission. We aim to engage 10 individuals to serve on this committee in the next year, ranging from leaders from the Disabilities Committees at the City & County level to participants to notable athletes and artists of varying abilities. Our program requires an active roster of volunteers. By outreach, word of mouth and collaborative efforts, we aim to grow this base by 50 % and recruit individuals who range from: physical therapy students, to ocean rescue, parents of children with special needs and able-bodied citizens who want to make our city more inclusive. We are always recruiting  people of all abilities, races, genders, sexual orientations, and financial and education backgrounds to build our team of qualified, sensitized ambassadors.

As the CEO living with a spinal cord injury, I know the physical and emotional barriers and have made it my life’s work to advocate for others. I’ve spoken to over 40,000 students educating them about paralysis, spoken on Capitol Hill, the United Nations and prestigious Universities such as Harvard, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins. I’ve learned how to effectively fundraise, manage legal and accounting, create and execute programs, direct public relations and social media, and secure extensive in-kind support. 

Our Executive Director is an able-bodied woman who has a 20-year career fundraising and building audiences.  She is educating, inspiring and engaging new audiences about the role they can play to support our work.  We share a similar vision—to help people thrive.  Through this lens, we build our board, campaign committee, and volunteers of all abilities, all ages and all sexual orientations.

Our Advisory Board includes: Dr. Raj Ratan, Burke Cornell Medical Research Institute; Dr. Joshua Hare, University of Miami; Dr. Hunter Peckham, Case Western University; and Dr. David McMillian, Miami Project to Cure Paralysis - a key to remaining at the forefront of new technologies and rehabilitative medicine, and developing bold and replicable solutions to the problems our community faces.

I was 15 years old (3 months post-injury) when the principal of my school asked me to speak to 600 students about reckless driving. Just out of the hospital with a neck brace on, in a wheelchair and life turned upside down, I said yes. There began my journey of learning to use my biggest challenge to inspire others.  

Over the years those leadership skills of adaptability and perseverance have helped me discover the DNA of my foundation, “We keep moving forward no matter what.”

We were years into developing the plans and heading into a referendum for a 99-year citywide lease when hundreds of neighbors allied together to tear our project down. Personal attacks were made and discriminatory remarks were shared (“if this community comes in, we’re moving out”). We thought we were on our way to a victory, but instead our item got pulled. It was a devastating blow and I wound up in the hospital for days from an emotional breakdown. 

Close to giving up, I found the strength to lead this effort. It’s my destiny to get us to the finish line. We just accepted a $2.5M lead matching grant to build in our new location!

I have spoken extensively around the United States and been featured by numerous news outlets including: CNN Headline News, NBC, FOX, CBS, ABC, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Deco Drive, NPR, Jim Defede Show, WebMD Magazine (nominated a 2009 American Health Hero), Wall Street Journal, America Inspired, The Miami Herald, Ocean Drive Magazine, Self Magazine, Sun-Sentinel and the Wall Street Journal.

Disabled woman  helps to inspire others: https://www.cnn.com/videos/hea...  

City of Miami Beach votes on $2.5 million deal to build nation’s first adaptive fitness center for people with disabilities: https://wsvn.com/news/local/mi... 

The Beach Reimagined: https://magazine.realtor/good-... 

Architectural Digest, Best Pro Bono Projects of the Year: 

https://www.architecturaldiges...

Our small but mighty organization is on the rise, building momentum every day. The funds from the Elevate Prize would bolster our Foundation and directly support our rapidly-growing programs.  

In addition, your investment would be matched dollar-for-dollar by the City of Miami Beach and would support our fundraising goals and timelines required by the City of Miami Beach.  The Elevate Prize would help propel our capital campaign further, bringing us closer to opening  the nation’s first Oceanside Adaptive Park + Beach and Adaptive Fitness & Recreation Center.  This world-class facility was awarded best Pro-Bono Project by Architectural Digest. 

The Elevate Prize will also help attract notable Champions ranging from Para-athletes to Adaptive Surfers, visual artists, dancers, and other role models who are thriving with disabilities and can partake in the adaptive water sports program, fitness programs and art therapy programs.  We will offer athlete- and artist-in-residence programs for these champions to engage with and inspire the public. 

Our programs are geared to merge all sectors of disabilities and ages to truly maximize opportunities for children with special needs, seniors, wounded warriors, injured athletes, and others, as well as their friends and family members on an on-going basis. We have partnered with Burke-Cornell Medicine on a 12-week study to publish the first study proving exercise from home is beneficial for individuals with a wide range of physical disabilities. We cross promote our daily virtual adaptive classes with DPI Adaptive Fitness and The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. 

We have skilled volunteers and promotional partnerships with like-minded organizations including: The Woody Foundation, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Shake-A-Leg, Jackson Memorial Hospital, and University of Miami. We are speaking with The Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago and Baptist Health about offering continued care to patients when they leave the hospital and need to stay healthy and finding their new “normal.”   

We are identifying “Champions” overcoming physical and developmental challenges who we plan to recognize for their achievements in their respective fields and who will serve as ambassadors for the Center. We will honor these champions at the Grand Opening of the Oceanside Adaptive Park + Beach in 2022.