Portland, October 3, 2015. Incight and over 320 generous friends and supporters gathered at the Portland Art Museum to celebrate over 11 years of Incight leading the way for people with disabilities. The Benefit raised over $230,000 for the organization’s empowering suite of services. Amy Coe-Ingalls, Emily Wooton and Beth Horton were in the spirit of the event. The night was full of derby-themed surprises and the program kicked off with a recorded welcome from Ronnie Turcotte, rider of Secretariat, winner of the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973. KGW’s Drew Carney was the 2015 Derby Gala MC, and spoke warmly about his passion for Incight’s mission to unlock the potential of people with disabilities.
West Livaudais and Courtney Smurdon
Rebecca Taylor and Michelle Heubner
Adriana Dameron and Danielle Friess
Scott Hatley on stage.
Johnna Wells and the room full of supporters.
The event featured games, silent auction gifts, a vacation package raffle, and an exciting live auction led by Johnna Wells, international auctioneer champion. Gala attendees came adorned with derby attire, and enjoyed Mint Juleps, Kentucky Lemonade cocktails, and a menu that was both delectable and fun. The excitement was amplified by the Swindells Charitable Trust who offered a match of contributions during the paddle raise portion of the evening.
Incight hit the highest mark to date in support raised from the event, which will go towards the organization’s adaptive recreation programs, scholarships for students, employment workshops and networking events for job seekers, high-level diversity and inclusion trainings for employers, and towards everything that Incight does in the community to bust stigma and pave the way for people with disabilities to lead a fulfilling life.
Incight was honored to have a number of amazing sponsors support this event, including presenting sponsor Safeway Foundation, platinum sponsors The Standard and Immix Law Group, and gold sponsor Aequitas Capital. Other supporting sponsors were Albina Community Bank, Pacific Power, Cambia Health Solutions, McKesson, FedEx, The Boeing Company, Keen Healthcare, the OSU Foundation, University of Portland, CareOregon, Mass Mutual, PAC MET, OHSU, Oregon Health Authority, Moore Excavation and Pacific Continental Bank. The community truly came together for this event, as Incight also received in kind support from Helioterra Winery, Pacific Pie Company, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Miles Nursery, LNS Captioning, B & B Print Source and many other local businesses.
From Incight:
Incight is a 501(c) 3 non-profit that supports and empowers key life aspects of education, employment, and independence.
More potential resides within the disability community than has been historically realized – and that much of that potential is unfairly locked up due to stigma, resulting in low expectation.
Incight offers three distinct programs that provide resources to help people who experience disability realize their potential and encourage the community at large to consider greater inclusion. We have created projects that do not reinvent the wheel of disability services, but support and embolden existing systems. Each program is built on the back bone of our anti-stigma approach.
We aim to create a culture of inclusion by leading an important conversation about disability in our community. Our vision includes workplaces free of stigma surrounding disability, support systems for students to access all necessary resources to successfully complete college, recreational opportunities for athletes of all abilities, and a safe forum for people who want to learn more.
Our services directly impact hundreds of students and jobseekers; thousands of athletes, families, educators, non-profits, and business professionals; and countless community partners, corporations, and schools.
OUR HISTORY
Founded in 2004, by Vail Horton, who is a congenital amputee, and Scott Hatley, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The name Incight comes from a hybrid of the word Incite – to spark a passion, and Insight – to possess intimate knowledge. This hybrid describes the founders original intention – to destroy the stigma that surrounds disability and fill in the gaps of other support services.
They found studies reporting that only 16% of people with disabilities earned college degrees and 76% were unemployed.
They observe, that since 1990 with the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, there are protected rights for people with disabilities and that accommodations and accessibility have increased 10x, the statistics for higher education and employment accomplishments have barely increased.
Significant obstacles remain for people with disabilities – and the largest of all is the stigma – or incorrect attitude and perspective. Lastly, they rightly recognize that this stigma is a two-way street. It occurs internally – within the disability demographic. It also occurs externally – as too much of society discounts those with disabilities.
Recruiting their college roommate, Jerry Carleton, to the cause – Incight was born. Jerry, Scott, and Vail built a team of staff, board members, and volunteers who are deeply committed to affecting real change in their communities.
It was truly exciting to be part of such a fun event that raised money for such a worthy organization.