Beyond Boundaries

About

Beyond Boundaries is a non-profit based in Richmond, Virginia that specializes in guiding outdoor adventures for individuals with disabilities, veterans, underserved youth, and individuals in recovery programs.

Categories Program Adaptive Sports Adults Children & Youth Community & Advocacy

Program Details

The mission of Beyond Boundaries is to offer individuals of all ability levels, no matter physical, cognitive, or economic situation, the opportunity to experience outdoor activities with the surrounding community. This year, we are advancing our three principles that serve as guiding ideals for Beyond Boundaries. Access. Community. Empowerment. These standards are at the core of everything we do. As we continue to expand both our organization and our programming, we are challenging ourselves, our volunteers, and our community to live up to these standards.

ACCESS: Ensuring that all people, no matter their physical or financial situations, have access to adventure opportunities that challenge and empower them, and increase their quality of life. We also aim to create spaces that are physically inclusive and prioritize the use of inclusive language. Access not only means more opportunities, it also means safer access to opportunities, which is why our adventures include adaptive gear.

COMMUNITY: Making sure all of our participants feel they are part of the community. To go a step further, we at Beyond Boundaries work hard to make sure that participants have the opportunity to find a place within Richmond’s community and our Adventure communities. We love hearing that participants now call themselves paddlers, anglers, and hikers. Feeling like you belong in the community is something we ALL want to feel.

EMPOWERMENT: Continually working to provide experiences for our participants that empower them as individuals. Teaching and supporting participants so they make it to the top of a rock climbing wall helps increase confidence. Educating participants on Leave No Trace (LNT) practices while we pick up trash on our hikes, so that our public green spaces stay beautiful for those who come after us, creates a sense of pride in the future generation of environmental stewards. Learning safety skills in the outdoors creates a curiosity to explore more. We are here to empower our participants to chase their goals and acquire the tools to adventure on their own.

Contact Shep Roeper, Executive Director shep@beyondboundariesrva.org (804) 615-5999 Beyond Boundaries

Populations Served
We work with people with cognitive and physical disabilities, veterans, underserved youth, and people in recovery programs. We serve both adults and youth.

Services Offered
We offer hiking, biking, fishing, pontooning, kayaking, standup paddleboarding (SUP), whitewater rafting, indoor/outdoor climbing, snow sports, Adventure Clubs, day camps, and overnight camps.

Cost to Participate
The cost to participate depends on the program our partner organizations choose for their participants. We were able to fully sponsor about 44.5% of all participants in 2024, and were able to partially subsidize the rest through grants, sponsorships, and general donations from our community. We always strive to make our programs as financially accessible as possible.

Staff Composition
Shep Roeper – Executive Director
Katie McLernan – Program Director
Alek Wiggins – Community Director
Sara McWilliams – Internal Operations Coordinator
George Florence – Program Director, Richmond
Travis Overstreet II – Program Director, Roanoke
Branden Pegeas – Community Events Facilitator

Two individuals sit at a picnic table and smile at the camera. The individual on the left is in a wheelchair and wearing an orange Beyond Boundaries t-shirt. On the table are various organic materials like flowers and leaves.

Six individuals wear helmets and life vests and hold paddles while riding in an inflatable raft. The raft is in water that is white with churning waves and flows through a rocky landscape.

An individual in white snow gear and reflective sunglasses sits in an adaptive ski chair. Next to the individual are two people in purple snow gear, and one is kneeling and has a snowboard attached to their feet. In the background, there are other skiers atop a snowy hill.

A grown man in the foreground stands with a bike in front of children on bikes in the background. Other volunteers help some children within the large, open room. All those on bikes are wearing helmets.

On a wooden dock over calm water, a man in a life vest helps a young boy pick up and hold a brown catfish. This fish was held in a blue bucket with other brown fish.

A camera looks down at an individual scaling a rock wall. The individual is attached to the rock with ropes and wears a blue helmet, as they smile at the camera and hold two thumbs up. At the bottom of the rock wall, other participants can be seen.

A black pontoon glides across calm water with a forest on its banks. In the pontoon, some participants stand while others sit in wheelchairs.

Recent Case Studies

Surrounded by an abundance of green, a participant reaches up to carefully inspect a particular branch of leaves during one of Tremont’s herpetology SANCP classes.

Program

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont is a nonprofit field school situated within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It offers immersive, nature-based programs that enhance health and spark curiosity across all ages through profound engagement with the natural world.

Two participants in climbing gear sit on top of stacks of large rocks to celebrate a successful climb in Grand Teton, Wyoming.

Program

City Kids Wilderness Project

City Kids Wilderness Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the development of youth from under-resourced communities in Washington, DC through innovative outdoor experiential education and career readiness programs

Program

Outdoor Afro

Outdoor Afro is a national nonprofit that celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature. We are advancing health and wellness outcomes in Black communities through three flagship efforts: our Volunteer Leader Program (VLP), Making Waves (MW), and our newly launched Outdoor Afro app.