Homeward Bound Adventure Club: A North of North Experience
May 15, 2026
This winter, Homeward Bound officially launched our new Adventure Club with an inaugural trip to Ely, Minnesota. Using our new Rec Bus for one of its very first major trips, a group of three people we support, and three staff headed north for a four-night trip filled with adaptive outdoor recreation, laughter, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. This trip came together through Homeward Bound’s emerging partnership with the Steger Foundation, who connected us with Sean and Jill Leary of North of North Resort. North of North Resort specializes in making outdoor adventure experiences accessible for everyone, which made it a perfect option for our first trip!
For the staff members and individuals going on the trip, arriving in Ely meant being immediately surrounded by beautiful northern Minnesota wilderness. Snow-covered trails, frozen lakes, and the quiet of the Northwoods set the stage for what would become an unforgettable adventure that nobody fully realized the impact of until they experienced it firsthand.
The resort’s fully wheelchair accessible cabins and amenities created an environment where each person on the trip could focus on enjoying the experience of being immersed in the wilderness instead of worrying about accessibility barriers. The design of the cabins allowed staff members to provide high-quality care while still creating an unforgettable experience for the people we support.
During a recent conversation, Sean, the owner of North of North Resort, shared with me that grant funding obtained through the Minnesota Department of Human Services Disability Services Division helped make adaptive programming possible at the resort. Using that funding, he was able to schedule guided adaptive dog sled tours and a SnowBear ice fishing experience for the people we support and staff members at no cost. What a deal!
We are incredibly grateful to Sean, Jill, and all the guides who helped create these experiences. Opportunities like these give the people we support a chance to experience the outdoors in ways that many people may never experience, and the impact of that was visible throughout the entire trip.
According to the staff members who went on the trip, the biggest highlight was the adaptive dog sledding. For many of the individuals on the trip, this was their first time ever seeing sled dogs up close, let alone riding behind them on an ice-covered lake.
Justin, one of our staff members who attended the trip, shared one of his favorite moments:
“When we were getting everyone ready for dogsledding, Evelio was pretty nervous about it. At first, he was saying that he didn’t want to go, but Jeremy and Eric kept supporting him and cheering him on and he
eventually decided to give it a try. I was on the sled with him, and I could hear him laughing over the dogs yelping. It was really sweet to see both Eric and Jeremy support him in a way that he responded well to. Afterwards, they both asked him if he had a good time and all he could say was that he wanted to go again. Really cool stuff! It was really cool to be able to experience something with them that most people are never able to in their lives. Jeremy still talks about it all the time, and he keeps asking me what trip we have planned next!”
The dog sledding experience also created one of the funniest stories from the trip. During a recent conversation I had with Sean to plan more trips, he asked me if I knew about one of the dogsled guides getting “punched in the face.” At first, I was a bit terrified at what Sean would tell me next, but then he started laughing and reassured me it was a “good punch in the face.” I didn’t know those existed, so I asked him to elaborate.
Sean explained that one of the dogsled guides called him after the experience to let him know that he got punched in the face going across the lake. When Sean asked him to explain, the guide said Jeremy became so excited when the dogs got up to speed that he began cheering and flailing his arms around. While doing that, he accidentally punched him in the face! The guide then explained that getting punched in the face brought him a lot of joy because it showed how much excitement and happiness the experience created for Jeremy while he was strapped in the dogsled.
Another major highlight was adaptive ice
fishing inside a SnowBear. If you have never seen one before, a SnowBear is a tracked ice fishing vehicle that allows people to comfortably fish out on the ice while staying protected from elements.
One of my favorite pictures from the trip was shared by staff member Ben Kampf. In the picture, Jeremy is sitting inside the SnowBear smiling while Ben holds up two fish Jeremy had just caught. Ben said Jeremy caught so many fish that he decided he needed to take a break to rest. After about a 15-minute break, Jeremy decided he needed to start fishing again and was able to catch one last fish before going in for the day.
Ben shared another moment that really showed the impact this trip had on people. While staff were setting up the cabin on the first night they arrived, Eric was already
asking Scott if they could come back again. Ben said Eric continued asking throughout the week when they could come back. According to Ben, Eric was “grinning ear to ear” the entire trip. He said that every night when staff helped him get ready for bed, he was still smiling and chuckling about the experiences from the day.
That’s exactly why we created the Homeward Bound Adventure Club.
This trip was about much more than recreation. It was about creating opportunities and adventure. It was about inclusion, confidence, friendships, and making sure the people we support have access to meaningful life experiences that many people never get the opportunity to enjoy. Most importantly, it showed that adventure truly can be accessible to everyone.
This was just the beginning for the Homeward Bound Adventure Club and our relationship with North of North Resort, and we’re already excited about what’s coming next. Thank you again, to the Steger Foundation for making this connection. And most importantly, thank you to Sean and Jill from North of North resort for working with us to design even more impactful trips!
“With Adventure Club, our goal will be to make travel in any season to North of North available to as many Homeward Bound residents as possible and to continue designing even more unique large-scale adventures that appeal to them,” said HBI CEO Rob Edwards.
Grant Haley
Vice President of Operations
