Quantum Leap Farm, Inc., a non-profit organization located in Odessa, Florida was founded in 2000 to serve local adults with mental and physical disabilities. Quantum Leap Farm's mission is to enrich and enhance the lives of handicapped adults by engaging them in a variety of equestrian activities designed to promote and improve phsycial, mental, and social well being. Quantum Leap was founded also to perform research documenting the many benefits of therapeutic horseback riding.
Incorporated January 19, 2000, Quantum Leap began its service on July 1st and received its tax exempt status from the IRS on July 5th of that year. As the only therapeutic horseback riding program dedicated to adults locally, Quantum Leap’s participant volume has grown and continues to grow steadily. In 2001, our first full year of service, we provided just over 1100 riding sessions to upwards of 80 participants from Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco Counties with the help of over 90 volunteers.
QLF participants’ ages range from 16 to 75 years and they are diagnosed with a variety of conditions including: Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, Down Syndrome and other developmental disabilities. Participants are referred to us by word of mouth and by other agencies serving handicapped adults. We have developed relationships with many of these agencies including: the James A. Haley Veteran’s Administration Hospital, the University of South Florida’s Aging Research Program, the University of South Florida’s Parkinson’s Support Group, the West Coast Chapter of the American Parkinson’s Disease Association, Morton Plant Hospital’s Stroke Support Group, the MacDonald Training Center, and many others.
As a relatively new non-profit 501-(c)-3 organization, we seek program support from a variety of sources. We charge handicapped riders $20.00 per riding session and offer scholarships to the many who cannot afford to pay. Riding sessions for our handicapped clients generate only enough revenue to cover a small portion of our expenses. It is for this reason that we offer horse-boarding, riding lessons to the general public ($35.00/session), sponsor and/or participate in numerous fundraisers, apply for grants, negotiate discounts from our vendors, recruit rider sponsors, and solicit contributions from individual and corporate sponsors on an ongoing basis.
We have received support from the Allegany Franciscan Foundation, Publix Supermarkets Charities, the USAA Foundation Charitable Trust, The Saint Petersburg Times, Odessa Equine Clinic, Nutrena Feeds, Inc., J.C. Saddlery, GATX Capital Corporation, the Community Health Purchasing Alliance, Inc., Digiscribe and many local individual contributors. Additionally, we were chosen as the benefiting charity for the August 2001 Old Hyde Park Live Music Festival, held a golf tournament with another local agency, The Red Apple School, Inc., in February of 2001, and sponsored an ongoing series of “Horse Health Clinics” for local equestrians, the proceeds of which were applied to support the handicapped riding program.
In 2002 we expanded our services to include carriage driving lessons. Driving is a very safe alternative for participants who are too physically impaired to sit astride a horse safely. Offering driving lessons allows us to include adults who have severe physical impairments and brings us closer to our vision of being a comprehensive equestrian facility for handicapped adults.
Quantum Leap Farm’s future plans include the expansion of services to incorporate development of a vocational training program for participants who want to work in the equine industry and a summer camp program for handicapped adults. Future plans for physical expansion include the construction of a covered riding arena with an observation deck and the construction of an on-site administrative office. Essentials in our future plans are continuing to expand our individual contributor base and developing our endowment fund to ensure that Quantum Leap Farm remains a viable and long-lived resource for Tampa Bay area adults with disabilities.