PLATINUM2022

Morgan's Wonderland

Where EVERYONE can play!

aka Morgan's Wonderland   |   San Antonio, TX   |  www.morganswonderland.com

Mission

To provide special-needs individuals of all ages with a safe, clean, beautiful and entertaining environment free of physical or economic barriers. To create a very special place where everyone can smile, laugh and make wonderful memories with family members, caregivers and friends. Our goal is to provide an atmosphere of inclusion for those with and without disabilities so everyone can come together and play and gain greater understanding of one another.

Ruling year info

2008

Principal Officer

Jessica Lizardo

Main address

5223 David Edwards Dr.

San Antonio, TX 78233 USA

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Formerly known as

Sports Outdoor And Recreation (SOAR) Park

EIN

26-1219640

NTEE code info

Public, Society Benefit - Multipurpose and Other N.E.C. (W99)

Family Services (P40)

Parks and Playgrounds (N32)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Morgan's Wonderland Admissions Support

“The World’s First Ultra Accessible Family Fun Park”
 
Morgan’s Wonderland has been carefully designed and constructed to totally redefine the possibilities of the accessible play experience. Of particular importance is that we have designed an extraordinary number of park features that allow even our most medically fragile guests to be able to enjoy an all-day experience.

Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Families

STRAPS is the first and only sports program in the Southwest to provide comprehensive recreational and competitive sports opportunities for those with physical disabilities including individuals who are visually impaired.
The mission of STRAPS is to organize, promote, administer and conduct a variety of adaptive and Paralympic sports for wounded warriors and veterans as well as other adults and youth. STRAPS organizes, hosts, and conducts regional and national clinics and tournaments for adaptive and Paralympic sports.STRAPS athletes strive to become role models and mentors to others with disabilities as they promote character development through sports.

STRAPS athletes work with schools and youth groups to promote the core values embraced by successful competitive athletes including the importance of teamwork, self-confidence, respect, good sportsmanship, self-discipline, perseverance and the value of setting and achieving goals that demand extraordinary personal commitment.

STRAPS athletes train and compete at the Morgan’s Wonderland Gym which is four miles from the San Antonio Area Medical Center (SAAMC) and the Center for the Intrepid (CFI). For that reason, the program places particular emphasis on offering adaptive and Paralympic sports that appeal to wounded warriors and veterans. As of July 2014, there are over 150 active STRAPS athletes 40% of whom are wounded warriors or veterans.

Population(s) Served
People with physical disabilities

A state report shows that almost six in 10 Texas public schoolchildren are from low-income families marking a troubling spike in poverty over the past decade. Impoverished and disadvantaged children are more likely to falter academically and drop out, and educating struggling students is costly.
 

Officials suggest that o help at-risk students, school districts should focus their resources on preschool programs to try to close the learning gap early and provide enrichment opportunities among other things. Morgan’s Wonderland has a plan to help close that gap and provide enrichment opportunities to low income students who would not otherwise have through our Educational Field Trips (EFT) program.

 

The EFT program addresses both early learning and enriched learning opportunities through a collaborative effort with education specialist at the Texas Education Agency, Region 20 Education Service Center in San Antonio. This group has created curricular pieces for a program which provides educational enrichment for low income students in under-performing or economically challenged schools. The target age group is Pre-K – 3rd grade for the general population and all ages in special education programs.

 

Lessons utilizing the park meet the state standards (TEKS) and will feature plans for activities before, during and after the visit centering on the following areas in the park:

Water Area- Science and Mathematics Activities

Fishing Area- English Language Arts Activities

Sensory Village/Market and Weather Areas- Science and Mathematics Activities

 

In order to encourage the learning of tolerance and the practice of inclusion, schools invited to participate in this pilot program at the park will be asked to present lessons of inclusion on their campus prior to their visit to the park. Each EFT field trip group will be met by park employees who will work with the teachers in using the park facilities to deliver the lessons.

Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Families

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Total number of free admissions

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

People with disabilities

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Total number of paid admissions

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults, Children and youth, People with disabilities

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Guided by its mission of inclusion, the park strives to bring together guests of all ages and all abilities through the power of inclusive play.

Every day we work to provide an extraordinary place where smiles and laughter lead to wonderful memories with family members, friends, and caregivers. We want Morgan’s Wonderland to be a place where the common element of play creates an atmosphere of inclusion for those with and without disabilities while encouraging everyone to gain a greater understanding of one another.

Morgan’s Wonderland is just like any other theme park except for a culture and environment that assures 100 percent enjoyment by every person entering the Welcome Center. Unfortunately, countless children and adults with special needs do not have access to facilities that enable them to enjoy outdoor recreation fully. Morgan’s Wonderland is changing that every day.

Because of Morgan’s Wonderland and its sister entities’ success in inclusion, the nonprofit Morgan’s Inclusion Initiative was established in 2020 to facilitate new developments, planning, communications, and fundraising efforts to ensure sustainability. Morgan’s Inclusion Initiative will support the growth of the Morgan’s Wonderland “family” and help expand the mission of inclusion worldwide. As the Morgan’s Wonderland family of facilities continues to grow, the commitment for all entities and new projects will be to provide Ultra-Accessible™ environments, which is at the organization’s core. Morgan’s Inclusion Initiative supports inclusion in action in San Antonio, Texas, and is committed to helping others around the globe initiate inclusion.

Ultra-Accessible™ is the term emanating from The Gordon Hartman Family Foundation (GHFF) of San Antonio, Texas, to identify barrier-free environments for people of all ages and abilities. This barrier-free environment was first made evident at Morgan’s Wonderland theme park and Morgan’s Inspiration Island splash park. Both of these unique parks’ mission is inclusion for all. These parks bring together those with and without disabilities in a fun, colorful, uplifting environment where the common element of play leads to enjoyment and a better understanding of one another. This same philosophy is incorporated into new endeavors, including Morgan’s Wonderland Sports complex, which offers baseball, basketball, football, pickleball, tennis, and more, as well as Morgan’s Wonderland Camp, which provides a summer-camp-type experience year-round.

When we celebrated our grand opening on April 10, 2010, Morgan's Wonderland became the world's first theme park designed with individuals with special needs in mind and built for everyone's enjoyment. We really did not know what to expect back then, but the interest in Morgan's Wonderland has been phenomenal. Since opening, we have welcomed over 2 million guests from all 50 states and 122 other countries.  In 2021, we provided over $450,000 of free admission for guests with special needs thanks to support from funders like yourself.


Our completely wheelchair-accessible park features more than 25 elements, including rides, playgrounds, and other attractions. Among the most popular are our colorful carousel, the Whirling Wonder Ferris wheel, the Sensory Village of storefronts encouraging imaginative play, the Wonderland Express train that travels for almost a mile around our 8-acre, catch-and-release fishing lake, and playscapes with multiple types of swings, including our exceedingly popular wheelchair swings.

Financials

Morgan's Wonderland
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

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Morgan's Wonderland

Board of directors
as of 02/22/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Mr. Gordon Hartman

Gordon Hartman Family Foundation

Maggie Hartman

Joe C. McKinney

Vice Chairman of the Board at Broadway National Bank

Dr. Marian Sokol

Executive Director Children's Bereavement Center of South Texas

Mark W. Roenigk

Head of Hardware Engineering for Facebook

General James Tom Hill

Ret. Commander of the U.S. Southern Command

Rolando Pablos

Co-founder of Cross-National Advisory Partners

Heriberto (Berto) Guerra Jr.

Chairmand and CEO of Avanzar Interior Technologies

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/2/2022

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

 

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data