New Hampshire

Give Back NH: New England Disabled Sports

Published

3 weeks ago

February 14, 2026

Give Back NH: New England Disabled Sports

Every other week on NHPR, we like to put a spotlight on people and places doing interesting things around the state on Give Back NH.

Learn more about all that New England Disabled Sports has to offer, including volunteer and donation opportunities here.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Just up the Kancamagus Highway in Lincoln, nestled on Loon Mountain, is New England Disabled Sports. Since 1987, NEDS, as it’s affectionately referred to by its staff, has been providing adaptive sports instruction to students of varying abilities at both Loon Mountain and Bretton Woods.

Jessica Harney is the board chair at New England Disabled Sports. It was her father who co-founded the organization in 1987. His reason for doing so? To involve her sister in family activities.

Jessica Harney: I have a younger sister who lives with a cognitive disability, and we were here as a family, vacationing. She didn’t have tremendous motor skills at the time, and my dad was trying to teach her how to ski with bungee cords and a walker and two skis.

She says the impact adaptive sports — skiing in particular — had on her family was life changing.

Jessica Harney: It gave us the opportunity to have something to do as a family outside in recreation. And, you know, it quickly became that we could go anywhere in the world and be able to ski together. And skiing became biking and biking became swimming. And I truly believe that because of the motivation and the power of skiing and how it drives the motor skills and social skills, she gained other opportunities in life.

Vance Perry, development director at New England Disabled Sports, says the joy families feel is what keeps him coming in to work every day.

Vance Perry: A family came up with a child that has a disability, and they never thought that they would be a skiing family. I was able to take that kid out on the hill, show them what skiing is all about. And now the family kind of opened up their eyes to say, wow, we actually can be a skiing family.

For Geoff Krill, working at NEDS hits a bit closer to home.

Geoff Krill: So I started as a student actually in 1995, after I had my spinal cord injury accident and I was skiing ten months later and kind of started to build a career around it, you know, made those first few turns and next thing you know, I’m like, I really love this. It was all here for me. And I’m like, this could be a career for me. So it kind of then just evolved from that.

Geoff is the senior sports coordinator at New England Disabled Sports. He says that while teaching people to ski is what they do, it’s more than that.

Geoff Krill: You’re teaching people that they can do something they thought they might not have in their lives anymore. And to just be a part of a community together of people that understand, but also normalizing disability at the same time.

That is what drives Vance as well.

Vance Perry: We’d love to teach ourselves out of a job, right? If a family comes in here with maybe a child that has a disability, our goal is to get them to be able to ski as a family, and they don’t need NEDS anymore. They can go out there and say, hey, I’ve gotten the base skills and now I can take it out with my family and go ski independently, and I don’t have to come in for a lesson anymore.

One of the learning areas at New England Disabled Sports.

During my visit, I was able to see all that NEDS has to offer from several pieces of adaptive equipment designed to fit every need, to the slopes in the back where they teach students, and even downstairs into the locker room where I met Tom Walsh, a volunteer with NEDS. He says that volunteering is rewarding to him when he sees the progress the students make.

Tom Walsh: Everybody shows some signs of progress, and that’s very rewarding. And it’s fun for us to get out and ski.

It’s volunteers, like Tom, Jessica says, that make the organization feel like a family.

Jessica Harney: It’s amazing. You know, we have over 200 volunteers here, and it’s like having 200 family members with you every weekend year round. It really is about the family aspect. Everyone is here for the same mission, vision, goals and that is to have fun through sport and recreation, whether that be the winter or the summer.

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New Hampshire

Cher’s Son Arrested Twice In The Granite State | Child Rapist Gets 15 To 30 | Crashes: Nearby News NH

Published

8 hours ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Cher’s Son Arrested Twice In The Granite State | Child Rapist Gets 15 To 30 | Crashes: Nearby News NH

CONCORD, NH — Here are the Top 10 most popular stories and posts from around New Hampshire Patch sites last week.

Elijah Blue Allman Arrested Again In New Hampshire, Charged With Burglary In Windham After Concord Incident: After being accused of assault at St. Paul’s School, the son of Cher and the late Gregg Allman was arrested for mischief, breach in Windham.
Elijah Blue Allman Arrested After Incident At St. Paul’s School In Concord: The son of Cher and the late Gregg Allman was accused of threatening, trespassing and assault in New Hampshire.
Man From Concord Sent To Prison After Raping, Taking Pictures Of Young Girls In 2022 And 2023: Follow-Up: Jonathan Shaw of Concord pleaded guilty to sexual abuse images and sexual assault charges and was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison.
Downtown Shooting | How Much Income Makes Someone ‘Rich’ | Sex Sale Gone Bad On Facebook? Nearby News NH: Also: Teen accused of “unprovoked” attack; meth distributor sent to prison; Boston MedFlight relocates; DUI arrests; wrestling results.
4-Vehicle Crash On The Concord Heights Sends Drivers To The Hospital: Video: 2 drivers were taken to Concord Hospital after a multi-vehicle crash on Loudon Road on Wednesday afternoon.
Third Arrest Made In Facebook Cleaning Services Or Sex Sale Gone Bad Stabbing Case In Manchester: Melysia Caron, a Queen City career criminal with several convictions and suspended sentences, faces robbery, kidnapping, and other charges.
Mass. Man Seriously Injured After Being Struck While In I-93 Breakdown Lane: NH State Police Roundup: Londonderry man arrested after domestic incident, standoff. Plus, arrest blotters from around the Granite State.
Concord Police Investigating Minivan Crashing Into Guardrail And Down An Embankment: The driver, a man from Epsom, was taken to Concord Hospital on Thursday night after a crash at Route 106 and Loudon Road.
Man Struck In Breakdown Lane | Thief Accused Of Robbery | Income Tax Proposal Floated For Schools: PM Patch: Declining pool of nurses raises concerns; NH DOS settles sexual harassment lawsuit; child advocate nominee praised and criticized; more.
Cher’s Son Arrested Again In NH, Accused Of Burglary | Freezing Rain, More Snow Coming | More: PM Patch NH: NH wrestlers head to New Englands; fun things to do; historical society to get climate control upgrade; nonprofits get $1.8M from casino.

Here are some other posts readers may have missed:

Identity Of 1986 Human Remains Found In Bristol Confirmed Via DNA Investigation

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New Hampshire

Donna Soucy: The road to 2028 runs through New Hampshire

Published

20 hours ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Donna Soucy: The road to 2028 runs through New Hampshire

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New Hampshire

School health insurance rates are increasing across New Hampshire. There’s more at play than just GLP-1 weight loss drugs

Published

1 day ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

School health insurance rates are increasing across New Hampshire. There’s more at play than just GLP-1 weight loss drugs

Duane Ford has managed budgets for the Bow and Dunbarton school districts for more than a decade, but nothing quite prepared him for this year’s health insurance bill: a 16% jump in premiums, the steepest increase he’s ever seen. “It’s a part of the budget that we don’t have any control over,” he said. The […]

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