Anne Whitney Hotchkiss
High Performance House Fund
The Anne Whitney Hotchkiss High Performance House Fund is officially established within the Tribal Adaptive Organization to help fulfill our mission of using sports as a tool to improve the health, wellness and independence of Native Americans with disabilities. The AWH High performance house will provide on-site housing for individuals post high school in order to prepare for a future as a collegiate level adaptive athlete. Many Native Americans with physical disabilities reside in remote locations without access to adaptive sports programming, inadequate educational preparation and overall lack of awareness about resources that exist to fund vocational/college costs. The AWH High Performance House will provide a housing situation that will be adjacent to the Tribal Adaptive Organizations office where they will have daily interaction with our services. Residents will have daily opportunities to train and compete athletically while simultaneously attending San Juan Community College and preparing a plan with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation to fund the remainder of their 4-year degree plan pursuits.
The Anne Whitney Hotchkiss High performance house consists of 2 fully accessible apartments designed to foster independence. Each apartment will house 4 individuals with one being for men and the other for women. There will be 2 onsite home health aides residing on the property as well. The property is in Kirtland New Mexico on the border of the Navajo Nation, the largest reservation in North America. In addition to the apartments the property houses the main office of the Tribal Adaptive Organization, a fitness center with accessible equipment and an outdoor basketball and tennis court. Residents will be charged a monthly fee of $350.00 which will include housing, utilities and access to facilities and services.
The Anne Whitney Hotchkiss High Performance House Fund is established to cover any gap costs for residents and erase any financial barriers to participation. Native American communities have the highest unemployment rates and lowest per capita income of any group in the United States. This fund, in combination with the innovative low-cost design of this opportunity, will ensure that financial concerns will not prevent any individual, willing to apply themselves, from participating. Our program design includes public/private partnerships with Medicaid, Department of Vocational rehabilitation, Pell grants, Tribal nations and the athletic directors of the prestigious universities that provide adaptive athletic programming such as the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, the University of Arizona and 14 others. All studies show that participation in athletics for individuals with physical disabilities improves outcomes in education, employment and overall wellness.
About Anne Whitney Hotchkiss
She was born January 16, 1954 to Joseph and Janie Hotchkiss of Greenwich, Connecticut. Anne will be remembered for her grace, positive outlook, wry sense of humor, tenacious zest for life, and above all, the never-ending joy and love she brought to all who were fortunate enough to know her.
A diving accident at the age of 13 forever changed Anne’s life, leaving her a quadriplegic. Despite the many obstacles thrown in her path, Anne graduated from the Greenwich Academy and St. Andrews Presbyterian College. She then went on to enjoy a successful and impressive career as a systems analyst, starting out at the Reader’s Digest and moving on to General Reinsurance, where she worked for 20+ years.
Wherever Anne lived, worked, or studied she forged deep connections and created a sense of community. She was known for organizing festive class reunions, fun family vacations, and other celebrations to mark special occasions of those within her circle. Likewise, Anne embraced all that Greenwich had to offer. She was the first to rally a group to attend a new exhibit at the Bruce Museum or Bush-Holley House or alert her friends to concerts on the Island Beach ferry. She especially looked forward to the Greenwich Town Party, where she would rock out with her friends until late in the night.
With a passion for water, Anne sought every opportunity to be near a lake or ocean. If not paddling on Squam Lake, you could find her on her daily jaunts at Tod’s Point, taking in the sun at Island Beach, having a picnic dinner at the Greenwich Boat and Yacht Club, or visiting her dear friends in Rhode Island. Anne was also not without a streak of competitiveness and had a love of sports, particularly tennis. She was a formidable Scrabble opponent and was unusually good at picking the winning teams in Super Bowl and March Madness office pools
Above all, Anne had a deep love for her family and friends. She was especially dear to her nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, and many godchildren, always showing interest in their achievements and celebrating the milestones in their lives.
Tribal Adaptive 