Boy Scouts of America

* Our Disability Services coordinator is a registered merit badge counselor for the Disability Awareness Merit Badge. For more information, send an email to Mike Ritter at mritter@missouriwestern.edu.

*Our Disability Services coordinator also works with the Boy Scouts to make scouting and camping more accessible for scouts with disabilities. For more information, send an email to Mike Ritter at mritter@missouriwestern.edu.

The Tree House for Everyone - Providing a Higher Level of Inclusion

Staff members in the Office of Disability Services and student members of Alpha Delta Alpha are working with the Adventure League and Friends of the Park to build the first fully-accessible, public tree house in St. Joseph - the Tree House for Everyone. When completed, our tree house will be accessible for everyone, regardless of age or disability. Our mission is to provide the tree house experience for those who would otherwise miss out on this opportunity. Our goal is to build a tree house that includes everyone and excludes no one.

Click on the pictures below to see larger images of the Tree House for Everyone. Special thanks to Joe Stock and River Bluff Architects for donating their time and talent to bringing our tree house to life!

Our first tree house will be located in the small grove of trees just west of the entrance to the Bode Ice Arena. This site was chosen because it already attracts many visitors to the existing amenities which include: outdoor basketball courts, Phil Welch Stadium, Bode Ice Arena, and the Multipurpose Athletic Facility. We also plan to make the tree house available as an outdoor classroom for K-12 educators. The Tree House for Everyone will provide an excellent environment to teach topics such as: diversity, inclusion, tolerance, disability and accessibility as well as topics related to education about and the preservation of our natural environment. We plan to have our groundbreaking ceremony in October of 2012 and the grand opening in October of 2013.The month of October is designated as Disability History and Awareness month in the state of Missouri.

Future sites for additional tree houses may include: the Remington Nature Center, Krug Park, Bartlett Park, Hyde Park and Corby Pond. The group also plans to work with St. Joseph Parks and Recreation to improve accessibility at all of our parks and playgrounds.

To find out more about how you can help build the Tree House for Everyone, please contact Stan Weston at (816) 261-0022 or Mike Ritter at (816) 271-4330.

Thanks to the following sponsors and the efforts of numerous volunteers, we have already raised $11,215.00:

Aaron's

On-Site Golf
Face Designs

Fairview Golf Course

Todd's Tire Service

Dr. Andrew Trout

Southgate Grill and Lounge

Coach Bill Snyder

St. Joe Mustangs

The Golf Club

Schlitterbahn

Heaton-Bowman-Smith and Sidenfaden Chapel

Family Investmnent Center

Hy-Vee

St. Joseph Optimist Club

Bill McKinney

Sam's Club

Cruise Hollidays

Sadtks Furniture

Colony House

Cecil Myers Mitsubishi

Jim and Rene Roth

Sue Comley

Steve and Jane Jones

George and Nancy Hammer

Carolyn LaFever

Connie Weston

St. Joe Harley Davidson

Snow Creek

St. Joe Beverage

Stetson Hat

Cracker Barrel

Disney World

Altec Inductries

Heartland Foundation

Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Royals

Olive Garden

CVS Pharmacy

Dairy Queen

Community Resources  - Updated July 2010