WHAT IS TULGEY WOOD?
The mission of Tulgey Wood is to create integrated community for people with and without disabilities to live, play, create and adventure together. We have been organizing annual retreats in Massachusetts since 2006. Originally located on the island of Nantucket, Tulgey Wood held our August 2022 retreat in Deerfield, Massachusetts at Woolman Hill, a Quaker retreat center.
Typically, during summer retreats, we explore the community, make art, swim in rivers and lakes, practice yoga, make music and play sports. These are some of the ways we practice community and develop new connections based on mutual trust and respect, and deepen lifelong friendships between ALL participants.
our model: a GOAL OF FRIENDSHIP
We believe everyone should have access to inclusion and community. It is important to us to make friendships that are as equal as possible. For that reason no one pays or gets paid to attend Tulgey Wood. We are all here because we love being part of this community.
We celebrate disability! Our differences elevate what we do together. At Tulgey Wood, all people are valued as equal participants and everyone is responsible for supporting each other’s participation in the group. We believe that when we connect to people different to ourselves we can understand the world, and each other better. Producing musical performances, creating art and pottery, singing and dancing together are some of the ways we create space for creative expression and develop meaningful friendships.
Making activities accessible and inclusive
Amazing activities like swimming in the ocean, doing yoga, moving around town on cobblestone streets can be inaccessible to many of our participants. With support from our close-knit community, we make sure everyone is able to explore and enjoy the world around them — with the help of their friends.
Building life-long friendships through creative expression
In addition to boating adventures, surfing waves, and excursions to sunny beaches, we also like to create space for many different forms of creative expression. Through pottery, art, dancing and singing, everyone at Tulgey Wood can express themselves and what is important to them through different artistic and creative projects and activities. As we learn more about one another, our friendships deepen.
Every summer, Tulgey Wood puts on an original musical. Creating musicals together allows us to strengthen friendships around trust, humor, dance and song. Our performances celebrate disability and brings to life the spirit we create at Tulgey Wood. Through acting, writing lines, learning choreography and singing in harmony, Tulgey Wood participants collaborate on a production that highlights our group’s tremendous talent and creativity.
