Leisure Services

Sports give your life structure, discipline and a sense of personal accomplishment. New Hope Community advocates for participation and play in a wide variety of athletic venues; the agency boasts a health and fitness center with state-of-the-art cardiac equipment, a heated, wheelchair accessible swimming pool, basketball courts, softball field, a bocce court, walking trails and a multi-purpose room which can be retrofitted from a Wii fitness tournament to a Zumba dance class or a volleyball match.

Sporting doesn’t stop on campus. Enthusiasts of athletics routinely embark on adventures. A small example of outings include hiking clubs, over night camping at area state parks, to Yankee Stadium for baseball games or to Albany, NY to see ice hockey when in season.

We believe in the concept of team. New Hope Community participates in Special Olympics sporting events throughout New York State and holds training sites for athletes. New Hope hosts a wide variety of intramural events which gathers spectators and athletes together in the spirit of gaming fun.

New Hope Community’s art studio is alive with brush strokes of color and endless creative opportunities.  It is here that artists explore their own respective language to express culture, experience and feelings. Individuals participating in the Arts Academy enjoy routine excursions to area museums including world renowned venues in New York City. New Hopians have ventured to the unique and highly regarded scenic backdrop school, Cobalt Studios in White Lake, NY to create "Four Seasons" of backdrops.  

Exhibiting opportunities present themselves routinely for participants in the Fine Arts Academy. Artwork generated in the arts studio have been on display at the Catskill Art Society, The Sullivan County Historical Society, area businesses and most recently at the Smithsonian Institute of Art in Washington, DC.

"It inspires me, I go to learn and have fun," shares exhibiting artist and New Hope community resident, Laurie Chase. 

The Performing Arts Program at New Hope Community is dynamic and effervescent.

We find creative solutions to practical problems that stand between the individuals with disabilities that we support and the life enrichment gained through participation in Theater, Film and Music. With our staff's specific expertise in this area we are able to support our residents in the performance of original plays and films, as well as a varied array of music projects, from the most inclusive to the most advanced. The sense of empowerment achieved through the creation and performance of these Arts is an invaluable experience for all. We dedicate ourselves whole-heartedly to this important goal.

The greenhouse environment provides the community a healthy setting in which to learn, cultivate, reflect and relax. Green programs give participants an opportunity to grow flowers, fruits, vegetables and houseplants year round in the 3000 sq foot indoor growing space. The green curriculum has members learning best practices with organic gardening, permaculture, vermiculture, composting and various propagation techniques.
 
Gardening provides the rewarding aspect of role-reversal – instead of being cared for, participants are in turn nurturing plant life, building endurance, stimulating memory and all the senses. The greenhouse is a hive of activity, from construction to cooking the harvested goods, both plant life and people prosper here.

New Hope Community’s Stables at McCoy Meadow is a program that hosts equine among other animal therapies. The horses are here for people to ride, build endurance, foster confidence and increase physical activity. The world looks different from on the back of a horse and life is enhanced by spending time in their company. The miniature horses afford people a chance to pet, groom, lead and participate in a wide variety of riding arena games.

The Stables feature an indoor riding arena which is used year round and a viewing room which allows spectators the comfort and convenience of observing riders and games in action. The Stables are also home to a shower stall to groom horses and a tack room for housing horse-wares. This unique space make for an excellent backdrop for horse shows, dog obedience classes, and for large scale festivities such as a Halloween haunted forest.