Each year, the Foreseeable Future Foundation focuses its funding on ensuring cost, location, or circumstance does not determine who gets to participate. In 2025, that commitment reached communities across the country through 50 grants, 100 scholarships, and $200,000 in funding.
This is what participation looks like
At a New York City–based camp serving children who are blind or have low vision, more than 95% of campers come from households living below the poverty line.
Many families are navigating food insecurity, language barriers, and systems not designed with their children in mind. Without outside support, most of these children would not attend a summer program at all.
No transportation.
No adaptive equipment.
No specialized staff.
No environment built for them.
As the program team shared, “without this support many of these children would continue to experience isolation.”
Instead, campers arrive each morning from across all five boroughs and step into a space designed around how they learn, move, and participate.
Shared experiences
On the first day at the Kings Bay Y/JCC Brooklyn Camp for Children Who are Blind or Have Low Vision, staff asked a simple question: who had ever been in a pool before? Out of fewer than 30 campers, only four hands went up.
One child stayed back, holding the wall. He had never been in the water. The noise, movement, and unfamiliar environment felt overwhelming.
Progress that first day was quiet. Sitting at the edge. Reaching out. Touching the water.
The next day, he came back. Then he put his feet in. Then he stayed longer.
By the end of the summer, he was swimming independently – laughing with other campers and asking each morning when it would be time to get back in the pool. What changed was not just skill. It was how he saw himself.
Another camper, a 10-year-old attending for the first time, arrived after years of bullying. He avoided conflict and often withdrew when he felt unsafe.
Over the summer, he participated in activities like martial arts, building awareness, confidence, and a sense of control.
When he returned to school, he faced another bullying situation. This time, he identified the student by voice and stood up for himself. Something his teachers immediately recognized as a shift.
When asked what had changed, he pointed back to camp.
A third camper arrived with no experience in outdoor activities like climbing or hiking. Her world had been limited to familiar environments.
At first, the climbing wall felt overwhelming. Heights and uncertainty made it difficult to begin. Over three weeks, that changed.
Step by step, she climbed higher until she reached the top and rang the bell.
Before leaving, she set a new goal: returning next summer to try the “pirate’s plank,” a camper-designed feature that involves stepping off the top and descending using an auto belay system.
Her mother has already signed them up for a hiking and rock scrambling experience. She shared that while it still feels intimidating, she now believes they can do it together because she has already seen what is possible.
Reaching communities where options are limited
Through a Foreseeable Future Foundation grant, Camp Abilities Four Corners brings sports and outdoor recreation to students in the Southwest.
Participants spend the week in movement, skill-building, and connection – experiences that are not consistently part of their everyday lives.
“Without our camp, they wouldn’t get physical activity, social interaction, friendships, or the lessons learned from engaging in these activities with others.”
When the opportunity is there, participation follows.
What donor support makes possible
This funding supports more than programming. It covers transportation, staffing, adaptive equipment, and operational costs so families are not forced to choose between financial stability and opportunity.
It allows programs like Kings Bay to operate at no cost to families across New York City, and helps Camp Abilities reach students in areas where specialized programming is limited.
It also creates environments where individuals are not expected to adapt to the experience, the experience is built for them.
As one staff member shared, “these experiences do not end when camp does. They show up later, in ways you do not always expect.”
Beyond the numbers
Grants and scholarships are often summarized in totals. 50 grants. 100 scholarships. $200,000 in funding.
But each one represents a person who was able to participate in something that was previously out of reach. That is the impact behind the numbers.
To learn more about the Foreseeable Future Foundation or to support future grants and scholarships, visit foreseeablefuture.org.