TATT Chat Recap – July 15, 2021
Special Guest Speaker
Emily Felt, SC Director of Energy Policy, Duke Energy
View a video recap here.
View the presentation here.
Resource Update
Brandon Worley, Executive Director, Upstate-Carolina Adaptive Golf, spoke about the Program:
- Established in Oct 2018
- What started as a college project has become a full program.
- Training at Clemson U; got some students involved.
- Started our first clinic in July 2019 at Top Golf
- Build camaraderie, socialization.
- Veterans, adults, and children
- Started with 4-5 participants; now 46 participants.
- Well over 50 trained volunteers.
- Provide opportunities to help others discover their opportunities.
- Mostly GVL, some in Clemson and Anderson
- We are pushing to Spartanburg (Mary Black Fdtn)
- We will work with anyone with physical limitations.
*Read Brandon’s article about the program here.
Learn more about the Program: https://ucagnow.org/
Michael Hildebrand, Director, Upstate Mobility Alliance, featured a few exciting projects ongoing:
- Greenwood started their new transportation service; 5 mi radius around Greenwood, mostly medical transports.
- Abbeville has sent a grant request in; hoping to start a service (mostly medical) as well.
- Also in Greenwood, they are discussing how van pools can attract and retain workers.
- Spartanburg is also doing great work with van pools. The city voted in June to use funds for a 2-year pilot program. They are recruiting companies now.
*Learn more about the Upstate Mobility Alliance: https://www.upstatemobilityalliance.org/
Written by: Brandon Worley, UCAG Founder/Executive Director
Brandon Worley signed up for the Army after graduating high school in 2010 from Clinton High. Brandon served active duty as an artillery mechanic from July 2010- July 2014. Worley founded Upstate-Carolina Adaptive Golf (UCAG) in October 2018 while working on his Master of Science in Positive Psychology at Life University. Worley was inspired after volunteering for a Georgia State Golf Association adaptive golf program for visually impaired children hosted by David Windsor and now operates UCAG as the Executive Director. Worley has attended 2 national adaptive golf coach workshops hosted by David Windsor and is dedicated to the mission of UCAG to serve individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities and provide opportunities for adaptive golf. UCAG serves veterans, individuals recovering from physical or mental trauma, adults and children with developmental, cognitive, and physical disabilities. Brandon hosted an adaptive golf coach training at Clemson University in April 2019 and UCAG been operating consistent adaptive golf clinics since July 2019. Brandon just recently graduated in Dec 2020 with his Masters in Positive Psychology with a concentration in coaching.
The mission of Upstate-Carolina Adaptive Golf (UCAG) is to serve individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities and provide opportunities for adaptive golf. UCAG serves veterans, individuals recovering from physical or mental trauma, adults and children with developmental, cognitive, and physical disabilities.
UCAG’s therapeutic approach to adaptive golf coaching establishes a “no-fail” environment for those new to golf and utilizes adaptive equipment to maximize all levels of abilities. Our coaches implement mindfulness-based cognitive strategies to increase confidence, establish independence, and positively impact mental and physical health. The involvement in a community of people overcoming obstacles and pursuing common goals is therapeutic, and the opportunities to socialize and learn together that we provide are paramount. Our clinics provide benchmarks for improvements in physical health, psycho-social status, cognitive status, and recreation activity within the community to measure our impact on length and quality of life in the greater Greenville disabled Veteran and special needs communities. Galvanized by the ability to enhance lives, UCAG passionately pursues continued development and growth of our programming and capability to increase opportunities to make an impact on and provide a community for the participants we serve.
Greenville, SC l July 6, 2021 — After taking off a year due to the Global Pandemic, the 2021 grant period for the Hughes Investments Elevate Upstate Grants is currently open. On July 14th, Ten at the Top will host a workshop to guide applicants through the process and parameters of the grants. The workshop is from 1:30-3:00 p.m. at their event space at Park 37, 250 Executive Center Drive in Greenville.