Youth Challenge celebrates 30 years of caring
By Zachary Dzurick
Sports
Published August 16, 2006

Mary Sue Tanis with Brian Evans and Tanner in August 1998. (Photo courtesy of Youth Challenge)

Mary Sue Tanis didn't plan the last 30 years. The founder and executive director of Youth Challenge had no real aspiration to create a groundbreaking organization. In fact, the Fairview Park native picked a college in a place almost completely opposite of her hometown.

She could have never guessed that 2006 would be the 30th anniversary of Youth Challenge or the countless lives the organization would touch.

Tanis was a pre-law major at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Her college job and the heart of a servant led her in another direction.

"I was working the front door of the Rec center for my work study program," Tanis said. "And one of the professors had a swim program every night for the vets who came back amputees. I used to do laps when I finished and the professor asked me to swim with this one vet who had no arms and no legs and swam like a dolphin."

The Vietnam War was still going on and Tanis' older brother was smack in the middle of it. She agreed and a lifetime of working with the physically disabled began.

"The vet was a very upbeat guy who told great stories," she said. "I can't say that is the profile in the next eight years working with vets, but that experience was enough to hook me to double up my major."

Tanis stayed in Colorado over the summer and also majored in recreational therapy. She spent a lot of time with the rehabbing veterans.

"I ran track with them," she said. "I skied with them. We set up a boxing bag so they could hit from a wheelchair. I enjoyed it and did it as a hobby while I pursued my major.”

John Crawford assists Jessica Hockey getting out of her yacht during the annual Regatta this summer. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

After graduation, Tanis spent her winter working in Vermont where she volunteered helping veterans ski. She returned to Fairview Park during summers where she worked for the Fairview Recreation Department. Her first summer, she volunteered with the Fairview Women's Club swim program at the Fairview High School pool for all kinds of kids with special needs.

"It was the first time I had worked with disabled kids," she said. "The next summer we started the Fairview Special Children's Program. I asked the rec if we could use Bain Park and the shelter for crafts, arts and games. I was told there was no money in the budget but I could do it. Maybe they could give us $200 to buy some crafts. We had about 12 kids, many from the Fairview Women's swim program. I knew we needed help, so I rallied some neighborhood people and some kids from the Fairview High Drill team."

The summer of 1976 was the birth of Youth Challenge. Over the years the program grew and eventually incorporated in 1983. It may have started simple with duck, duck, goose and finger paints, and evolved into having a board of directors and rock climbing, but the concept stayed the same.

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"The biggest thing anyone needs in life is a friend," Tanis said. "It doesn't matter if you are 5 or 85. The one thing we have done is that we provide a friendship with a purpose. I love the quote 'It was the oarsmen who made the Vikings great.' We have had a lot of oarsmen. It has never been me. We have gotten where we are today because there are a lot of people from a lot of areas who had an oar in their hand."

Tanis made a simple discovery and it is the foundation of Youth Challenge. Three separate groups have forever changed for the better because of the organization.

The most obvious is the many disabled and challenged children (and their families) who have found friends, confidence and a world willing to adapt for them through the Youth Challenge's many programs. Kids are allowed to be kids as the organization has offered everything from sailing, team sports and horseback riding to drama and arts.

"Especially in the early days and even now, parents are really protective of kids in wheelchairs," Tanis said. "They say 'You really want to take my kid and let you take them up a rock wall?' We have built up that trust with parents."

Goodwill and technology have made almost any activity possible.

"The evolution of the wheelchair allowed us to start contact sports," Tanis said. "All those years they used wheelchairs that didn't work. People were stuck in those chairs. But technology has changed that. A lot of little kids had never been in a little chair and now they can fly around and do wheelies and play sports."

The second group that has benefitted is multiple generations of 12-to17-year old able-bodied kids.

"One of the most unique and successful parts of Youth Challenge is the 12-to17- year old volunteers," Tanis said. "They have so much energy and no one is asking them to do anything. We are just asking them to go with us and help 'Amy' drink her lemonade or help 'Amy' into the pool, because once she is in the pool, she can swim fine. These kids get the satisfaction that someone else could not have bowled that day if they were not there. In between all that, there is a bunch of smiles and a lot of giggles. That is the magic of putting a lot of kids age 6 to 17 together and giving them purpose and something to do. It is a fun time for them to make a new friend, whether it is a disabled child or another volunteer. It gives them purpose."

Every year Youth Challenge trains 300 brand new teen volunteers. It has given many young people a new perspective on volunteering and the disabled. Sometimes, the effect is so strong that after being in the real world, many return home to Youth Challenge.

"Thousands of teen-agers have gone through our doors as volunteers," Tanis said. "On a staff of 16 this summer, only two were not volunteers at one time. We are very much homegrown. They have all had bigger and better jobs and came back because they decided this is where they wanted to land."

And the staff is the third group. Tanis said they are the ones who have benefitted the most.

"People ask me a lot who in my family was disabled," Tanis said. "What they don't realize is how much fun it is to work with these kids. Since day one in 1976, this has been a win-win. The journey has been amazing and we are still going strong. It has given a home to many volunteers and staffers who were trying to find where they belonged. And the disabled kids have made it all make sense. If anyone thinks that everyone involved in Youth Challenge has not got as much out of it as the disabled kids, they are kidding themselves."

There have been two key moments in the history of Youth Challenge. The first happened on Super Bowl Sunday in 1983. Tanis, encouraged by a World War II veteran and amputee, Paul Leimkuehler, met with the group's most loyal supporters and showed them her plan.

"I had a blueprint of what we wanted to do, I actually put the plan on blueprint paper," Tanis said. "I got a group of people together and I told them I was willing to leave my job if they were willing to help and support me. Paul was the instigator with me. He nudged me. He said you have a good idea and I will help you. He was a wonderful mentor, very much like my father. I don't think I would have done it without his push."

Tanis got her support but the first few years weren't financially easy.

"The first couple of years was tough," Tanis said. "Gary and Bill Oatey of the Oatey Co. and Paul and his company really supported us. And we had a lot of great volunteers."

That first year's operating budget was $14,200. It increased to $24,000 the second year and was up to $40,000 in the fourth. It is more than 10 times that now. But the organization still gets the most it can out of every dollar.

"We still run a lean budget," Tanis said. "It is under $500,000, and I have eight full-time staff members and six vehicles. We are proud we don't own a pool. We partner with local municipalities to get pool time in Westlake, North Olmsted and Lakewood among others. We get ice time in North Olmsted and Magnificat lets us use their multiple purpose room and performing arts center. Lots of groups help us. We get charged a little sometimes, but other organizations help us so much. It has been a wonderful journey full of adaptations."

So while incorporation was a leap of faith, the second pivotal moment came via more of push. Youth Challenge spent 23 years in the Gilles-Sweet building in Fairview Park. It was perfect for their needs. The passage of the Gemini Project saw Gilles-Sweet torn down. Instead of being a devastating blow, it became a chance to fly higher.

"In 2003, it was shake up and rock and roll," Tanis said. "We were in that building for 23 years when it went down. It was almost perfect timing and the right stage of our growth to springboard us to go. We had built up 23 years of credibility and we were ready to expand.

After two years in cramped offices in the Westgate Building, last month Youth Challenge moved to 800 Sharon Dr. in Westlake. The organization has a lease to buy and now has room to run its programs and to expand. Its location allows it to be a hub to reach out to more kids across Greater Cleveland.

"The new location enables us to partner with other agencies much more efficiently," Tanis said. "It gives us a springboard to really further the new 18-and-up club. We are considering adding programs for kids ages 3 to 5. The building gives us potential to expand."

It is possible the organization will find another location, but right now the Westlake site seems to have a lot of positives.

"We have a lease with an option to buy," Tanis said. "We can see if the shoe fits. But we are attracted to the location. Now in our 24th year as a non-profit, we are very much aware we need to earn an income to support the kids. We don't sell cookies or widgets or brooms. In this building, we would be able to lease the front half of the building some day and we would have our headquarters in the back. That income would allow us to keep our focus on what we already do."

And that is bringing smiles and friendship as different groups of people adapt to each and work together.

"That give-and-take has made so many lives make sense," Tanis said. "And it was just an idea."

To make a new permanent headquarters a reality, Youth Challenge has started a capital campaign called "Fund for Our Future." The committee is chaired by Paul Leimkuehler's son Bob and Lori Coticchia. The goal is to raise $2 million. To date, over $950,000 has already pledged. To give to Youth Challenge call (440) 331-2050 or visit www.youthchallengesports.com.