Local officials and community leaders took the Leap of Faith and walked the high wire Wednesday, March 9, in celebration of the grand re-opening of SalusCare’s Challenge Ropes Course.
“WOW – that was exhilarating,” said SalusCare Board Chair Marshall Bower after diving from a high wire 30 feet in the air while attached to a harness for safety.
The Challenge Ropes Course, located on SalusCare’s Vince Smith Center Campus at 2450 Prince St., is a network of cables, poles and ropes, offering physical and emotional team-building activities for companies, school groups, camps, civic organizations and sports teams. The course promotes leadership development, communication, decision making, trust and problem solving.
Fort Myers City Council members Johnny Streets and Terolyn Watson participated in the ribbon-cutting and spoke to the crowd of about 100 supporters, many of whom challenged themselves by participating in the course. The course was recently re-certified and is now available to serve area groups wanting to build trust while working their way together around the course.
The course was originally installed in 1992 with a grant from the Southwest Florida Community Foundation to help teens recovering from substance abuse and mental health disorders learn trust and team-building. Since that time, many area businesses and non-profit organizations have utilized the course for their own staffs and clients.
“You work with your teammates to achieve a mutual goal and real sense of accomplishment,” said Director of the Vince Smith campus Steven Hill. “The ropes course coordinator puts teams through a combination of icebreakers, warm ups and games that provide both low and high challenges.”
For a modest fee, groups of up to 12 participants can experience the high excitement and adventure of the Challenge Ropes Course in either half-day or full-day formats. Low ropes elements are also available.
Groups interested in reserving the course should call Ropes Course Coordinator JoEllen Keller at (239) 470-3128 or email her at jkeller1@saluscareflorida.org.
Did you know you can text SalusCare at 239-275-3222? Text one of our key words -- “appointment”, “refill”, “billing” or “MAT” for the MAT clinic to let us know how we can help!
