Special Olympics Florida, Inc.

Our primary goals are Quality, Awareness, Sustainability, and Growth. We strive to:
- Deliver impactful sport, wellness and leadership activities to all participants in a safe environment.
- Improve awareness of our programs, improving the perceptions of persons with an intellectual disability.
- Increase our cash donated funds, directing at least 80% to program services while maintaining a fun workplace.
- Create opportunities for Floridians to participate in one or more sport, wellness or leadership activity.

Special Olympics hopes to serve 60,000 healthy athletes using 34,000 volunteers through fundraising that generates $19m+ supporting cash revenue by the year 2024.

As stated in our goals, our vision is to create a community where everyone has the lifelong opportunity to develop physically, emotionally, and socially through sports, wellness and leadership training. We will enhance current standards and models for sports, health, community, and educational events by: increasing staff and volunteer knowledge of all available programs and expected levels of implementation or execution; ensuring consistency and reinforcement of standards for local programs; developing and implementing a quality VIP family engagement program at competitions; elevating the formality and quality of our athlete leadership training programs to a recognizable and prestigious level; streamlining the on-boarding process of our committee development at the highest levels; and updating and training all staff and volunteers regarding new guidelines, materials, expectations and formats as they arise.

Special Olympics Florida receives consistent feedback from the medical professionals we work with that they often do not receive any type of specialized training during their schooling regarding how to treat individuals with intellectual disabilities. According to a cooperative study between Special Olympics Inc. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 80% of U.S. medical school students report not getting any clinical training in the treatment of people with intellectual disabilities. To combat this, Special Olympics Florida is extensively involved in helping to develop curricula that colleges can utilize for their health programs. We have written articles and our information is being used by coaches and educators in local colleges, high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools.

Special Olympics Florida also has a statewide database: Games Management System (GMS) wherein we keep and update our registered athlete information regarding sports participation, medical information, and awards received. Additionally, we have our health program screening and referral information and results.

Our programs have evaluation criteria built in and are measured via participation, return-on-investment, and mission driven outcomes. Our employees, donors and corporate/community partners play important roles in our Committee Structure and their feedback is essential to our ability to adhere to "best practices" and self-evaluation. Special Olympics Florida plans to raise more than 19 million dollars annually in order to continue to grow our capacity to serve more athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Our Operational and Strategic Plans were developed by our staff, volunteers, athlete leadership and Board of Directors; and for the next three years, have outlined a culture-of-health action plan that will improve the quality of competition and training at all levels; increase availability of health screenings and medical referrals on an ongoing basis; increase athlete leadership opportunities; develop, automate and consistently communicate best in class sports guidelines and policies; increase the number of certified coaches; continue to grow our in-school programs and initiatives (Young Athletes, Unified Champion Schools, Get Into It, Fans in the Stands, the R Word Campaign, Education Leaders Network, Youth Activation Committees and SO Colleges); improve school and adult day program opportunities; continue to remove barriers to participation by reducing common transportation issues, offering more mobile options to reduce costs or make it easier to complete medical requirements; identify and attract more candidates for our Athlete Leadership Program and continue to train and retain participants; transition our Class B Volunteers to Class A; increase and sustain our SOFL volunteer base; and expand support for The Champions Foundation.

Special Olympics Florida is a leader in innovation, implementation, communication, and advancing the agenda supporting the health and well being of athletes with ID and DD. We began with a small sports program in 1972 and brought that program into the public school system because it resonated with teachers and students with disabilities. More sports were added, competition evolved, and county and state games were developed. Unified Champion Schools began to bridge enormous gaps for teachers and coaches. We provided curricula support, equipment, training and competition that worked parallel with the FHSAA and now have State Championships for Track and Field, Basketball, Flag Football, and Bowling. For the students with ID/DD who do not play a sport but would like to participate, we started Cheerleading. We know that we have improved the image and awareness of the public perception of people with ID/DD. In public schools, we have had 78% Student Impact, 84% Healthcare Professional Impact, and 75% Student Advisor Impact.

We began our Health Programs in order to strengthen the training and competitive experience of each athlete with the ultimate purpose of supporting the athlete's health, fitness, and quality of life. In 2022 we conducted screening events and screened thousands of athletes and consumers and made over 626 doctor referrals. We provided free of charge: prescription glasses, sunglasses/sports goggles, insoles, mouth guards, and fluoride treatments. We hired Community Outreach Managers to enhance our outreach in strategic areas: Tampa, Hollywood, Jacksonville and Southwest Florida. We have aligned with strong healthcare partners and we are in the teaching curricula in the Ophthalmology, Audiology and Dental schools in Nova Southeastern. Resident Students there are trained as Community Outreach Managers and conduct screenings for us at our State Games.

Special Olympics Florida was invited to host informational booths and conduct screenings at major venues such as Family Cafe' furthering our outreach in the state. Our Community Outreach Managers will continue to recruit and train Clinical Directors to further support the ID/DD community locally. Classes in Healthy Eating and Healthy Habits are being taught now and as our Health Programs continue to reach more in our communities, the possibilities for expansion are boundless. We are serving 55,340 athletes thanks to the support from 24,688 volunteers and 2,360 coaches who help us at 270 competitions throughout the state of Florida.