Our Main Programs
Java Joy
Java Joy began as a summer camp coffee service called the Bouncin’ Bean and has grown to become Java Joy. Java Joy is a mobile coffee cart enterprise that employs adults of all abilities allowing them to serve coffee and our unmatched joy within community business walls.
In 2016, Java Joy started serving throughout the Athens community after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Now, Java Joy has begun spreading and will one day be the largest employer of adults with disabilities.
360
360 is esp’s year-round recreation and family programs. This includes daily afternoon enrichment in the Fall and Spring, inclusive sports programs through the esp Miracle League, 8 weeks of summer camp in June and July, and ongoing family support through monthly dinners, family events, counseling, and more.
360 is open to participants of all ages and abilities, and all families regardless of their finances. 360 aims to create an inclusive community of quality recreation and support for each person to thrive.
Hooray
Hooray, esp’s Summer Camp signature brand, currently runs eight weeks of camp, including both day and overnight camp in Athens, Atlanta and Rome, Georgia, serving over 500 participants a season. Over the next few years, join us in watching our dream expand and develop into a year-round, universally accessible overnight campus.
Imagine a camp with no limitations, a camp where campers of all abilities can access every part of camp, where accessibility is not just an afterthought but instead the forefront of every camp activity. Camp Hooray is the future camp for people of all abilities.
We Also Offer
Miracle League
The Miracle League is a national organization that brings the magic of accessible baseball and play to kids of all abilities by removing the physical barriers that keep children with disabilities from active participation. In 2018, esp announced the dream to provide our community with its own Miracle League facility!
esp Teams play baseball on custom-designed, rubberized turf fields. The Miracle League Playground provides universally accessible opportunities for recreation and inclusion to not just esp participants, but to the entire community. Children of all abilities will engage in play together, and children without disabilities will continue to include kids with disabilities as they grow up.
esplay
You know what sounds like fun? Playing some music, making new friends, and hanging out at esp! We get to do all of these things at esplay! Every Friday from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm, we invite participants aged 0-4 years old and their families to come spend time with us.
esplay engages our participants in what is called music therapy- this is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship. It is a well established allied health profession that uses music therapeutically to address behavioral, social, psychological, communicative, physical, sensory-motor, and/or cognitive functioning.
espsibs
This program is specially designed for the siblings of our esp participants. Our espsibs program will be a space for siblings to connect with others who also have a sibling with a disability. These events will feature opportunities for siblings to learn from one another, talk about their experiences, and most importantly, have fun!
For the adults who run them and for the agencies that sponsor them, Sibshops are evidence of their loving concern for the family member who will have the longest-lasting relationship with a person who has a disability. However, for the kids who attend them, Sibshops are pedal-to-the-metal events where they will meet other sibs (usually for the first time), have fun, laugh, talk about the good and not-so-good parts of having a sib with special needs, play some great games, learn something about the services their brothers and sister receive, and have some more fun.