With GivingTuesday right around the corner, we wanted to highlight one of our RAWZ Fund partners and their incredible founder: Jill Gravink! Those who know Jill know she’s an accomplished and passionate leader of a very successful non-profit, Northeast Passage (NEP), which empowers individuals with disabilities to achieve their therapeutic recreation and adaptive sports goals.
One may think that building a life-enhancing organization like Northeast Passage was always Jill’s plan. In reality, upon graduating high school, Jill thought a competitive ski racing career at the University of Vermont was her path. She pursued an education and skiing career at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), where she discovered the field of recreational therapy. Her true passion was to use recreation as a path to achieve functional improvement.
Shortly after graduating from UNH in 1986, Jill became a certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, starting her career with Northeast Rehab in Salem, NH as a physical therapist. In her senior thesis, Jill came up with the idea of a program that used recreation to build functional skills. This idea later became the foundation for Northeast Passage. But like most big ideas, NEP didn’t just instantly become the life-changing not-for-profit organization that it is today. Founded in 1990 from the back of Jill’s car, NEP has experienced explosive growth over the last 35 years in a wonderful partnership with UNH since 2000, where Jill became a clinical professor in 1993. Just last year, Northeast Passage served over 8,700 individuals, hosted more than 2,200 events and clinical visits, and had over 900 attendees at their veteran recreation events.
While all of us at RAWZ are well aware of the amazing work our RAWZ Fund partners do, just this past week my teammate, Homer, and I attended Northeast Passage’s event which celebrated Jill’s 35 years of leadership. What an inspiring group of team members, participants, and supporters filling the room as a testament to Jill’s impact. Sitting across the table from me was a gentleman who played sled hockey with my brother, Andy, for NEP. I’ve always been amazed by and admired Andy’s determination to build a life of contribution since his injury and appreciate the confidence boost NEP gave him.
Beginning with the great programming NEP offers at Krempels, and most recently a fun-filled day water skiing, the wonderful impact of therapeutic recreation continues to enhance my life. Reminded of the positive impact that NEP had on both Andy’s and my life and seeing all they do today leaves me with one final message: Thank you, Jill, and the amazing team at Northeast Passage!
