Services: Speakers Bureau

Forever Young Treehouses is excited to announce a service to communities and organizations thinking about building, promoting the building of, or actively building an accessible tree house in their community. Bill Allen, Cofounder/Treehouse Advocate of Forever Young Treehouses and Dr. Phil Trabulsy, cofounder of Forever Young Treehouses will come to your community to talk about their experiences building universally accessible tree houses, and strategies for getting you started.

Bill Allen co-founded Forever Young Treehouses of Burlington, VT with Dr. Philip Trabulsy. It started when Burlington financial advisor Bill Allen talked Dr. Trabulsy into building a tree house at his home in Colchester, VT. During the process, the two of them began thinking about a tree house camp for kids; as members of the board of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Bill and Phil were particularly sensitive to the needs and limitations of sick kids, and it occurred to them that this was probably an experience that most handicapped kids had never had.

The idea of a universally accessible tree house began to take shape; the pair began work on their first handicap-accessible tree house. The end result drew raves from engineers, architects, and handicapped kids alike, and the pair next approached Ted Kessler at Camp Ta Kum Tu, which provides the camping experience to children with cancer. That tree house, built in 2001, overlooks Lake Champlain and covers 600 square feet with a 191-foot wheelchair ramp.

These successful projects led to the founding of Forever Young Treehouses, a private, non-profit organization that creates, develops and constructs handicap-accessible tree houses for people of all ages and abilities. "Our goal," says Bill Allen "is to help everyone, regardless of ability, see the world differently, and enjoy the freedom and peace that tree houses can provide." The organization has now built seven tree houses in four states and there are more on the way. Their goal is a tree house in every state by the year 2008. Projects include: a tree house at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp founded by actor Paul Newman that serves over 1,000 sick children each summer. Working through the Make-a-Wish Foundation, they also built a tree house for a young boy in a wheelchair in Milton, VT. At Crotched Mountain Foundation in NH a tree house for kids with disabilities. Future projects include an ADA accessible tree house at Oakledge Park in Burlington, VT and Candle Light Ranch in Austin Texas. "Those," says Bill Allen, "will be built for everyone - the disabled, the elderly, and the able-bodied."

The simple act of building a tree house together proved an inspiration all on its own. Bill Allen can share this inspiration with your community or organization. He can share the insights he has learned building seven tree houses and offer advice in how to get from the idea of a community handicapped accessible tree house. Sitting in his office, Bill reflected on his journey in this unique venture: "Building a community accessible tree house can be rewarding on many levels: bringing communities together, giving every body a chance to sit in a tree house and give everyone a chance to contribute in many different ways to a worthwhile project."

To learn more about Forever Young Treehouses and building your community's first universally accessible tree houses contact: Bill Allen at 802-862-4630 or email him at bill@treehouses.org

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