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Equestrian Therapy Program Director Wins Statewide Angel Award A Folsom woman who has helped hundreds of children cope with various disabilities through therapeutic horseback riding was named the statewide winner of the 2004 Angel Award presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. Sue Cheveallier was named the overall winner from among five finalists honored for outstanding volunteer efforts on behalf of Louisiana children. Cheveallier was on hand to accept her award at a banquet held Friday evening at the Audubon Tea Room in New Orleans. As overall winner, she receives a $25,000 grant for the charity of her choice, and the remaining finalists receive grants of $10,000 each. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Angel Award, which has honored more than 75 deserving individuals and awarded more than $300,000 to charities chosen by the award’s winners. The other finalists for the award included Sue Bernie and Al Hindrichs of Baton Rouge, Wayne Gaupp of Luling and Mandi Sills Masters of West Monroe. More information on the Angel Award program, including a searchable database of all past nominees, finalists and winners, is available online at www.angelaward.org. After more than 30 years of service with the Volunteers of America, Cheveallier and her husband Clint retired to a horse farm in St. Tammany Parish. They began a therapeutic horseback riding program at the farm for people with disabilities and continued it even after the farm was sold. Today, the New Heights Therapy Center, now an affiliated member center of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA), serves up to 25 riders weekly. It was relocated in 2004 to the Folsom Equestrian Center, which provides additional facilities such as a covered arena for the therapeutic activities. Cheveallier concentrated her first efforts on fundraising and community awareness and became the center’s executive director in 2000. Fluctuations in the staff, however, have required her at various times to be bookkeeper, clerk, volunteer coordinator or direct care volunteer, walking alongside riders to provide support and encouragement, pitching in to feed the horses and even mucking out their stalls. Although therapeutic horseback riding – also known as “hippotherapy,” from the Greek root word “hippo,” meaning “horse” – has been available for more than 40 years in this country, it has not been a well-known concept in Louisiana. Now six years old, the New Heights Therapy Program has changed that. Hippotherapy is a medically proven treatment for people with certain disabilities or diseases such as muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, autism and learning, sensory or developmental disorders. All services at the center are authorized by physicians and performed by a licensed professional therapist or a NARHA registered instructor. In addition to weekly riding lessons, which adults and children can participate in year-round, the New Heights Therapy Center provides a summer horsemanship and riding camp at which children without disabilities serve as peer models for those riding for therapy. More than 30 young riders are served by volunteers and staff over a three-week period. Cheveallier’s young charges all have experienced improvement from the equestrian therapy she and her staff provide. Whole families have benefited from the increase in strength, balance and fine motor skills in their special-needs children. Even parents who brought their children to the center “just to have fun” have been surprised at their children’s progress. The bond between horse and rider can produce psychological and emotional benefits as well as physical improvement. As one mother wrote, “The wonderful staff and volunteers at New Heights are not only helping my son physically, but they are helping his self-esteem and confidence as well. You are making a wonderful difference in my little boy’s life.” Working with Blue Cross as sponsors of the 2004 presentation ceremony were: Gold Wings
Silver Wings
Bronze Wings
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is Louisiana-owned and -operated. Marking its 70th anniversary this year, the company is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. It is a tax-paying mutual company, owned by its policyholders. The company is taking a leadership role in keeping health care affordable through its educational campaign, “Seeking Solutions. Together.” For more information or a copy of the brochure Understanding Health Care Costs, visit the company’s website at www.bcbsla.com. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana also has district offices in Alexandria, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans and Shreveport. The company’s subsidiaries include HMO Louisiana, Inc. and Southern National Life Insurance Company, Inc. |
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