Cara Barrett, CTRS
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
cara@svasp.org
208.726.9298 x108
Cara Barrett is program director of Sun Valley Adaptive Sports. She is also a PSIA Certified Level 2 Alpine instructor, PSIA Certified Level 1 Adaptive instructor with the Sun Valley Company, and has been a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) for 11 years.
After graduating from East Carolina University, Cara worked as a recreational therapist at United Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County (UCP). At UCP, she organized and led trips for adults with developmental and physical disabilities. These trips included weeklong vacations in Boston, Washington DC, Baltimore, and other cities. These trips included fishing excursions, ski trips, museum visits, and theatre performances. When Cara wasnt out on trips with her clients, she organized and led evening activities such as arts and crafts, bowling, and movie nights.
In 2001, Cara then moved to Arlington, VA, and worked as a recreational therapist at the National Rehab Hospital in Washington, DC. She helped organize various outings and activity groups for those with spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, and stroke. Cara started a horticulture group at the hospital that planted seeds and flowers in wheelchair-level planter boxes so patients could comfortably work in the hospital garden.
In 2001, Cara took a job with Western Spirit Cycling as a mountain bike tour guide. She led gourmet backcountry camping tours in Utah, Arizona, Idaho, and Wyoming. After spending a summer leading backcountry hot spring tours out of Sun Valley, ID, Cara fell in love with the Wood River valley and decided to build her career in recreational therapy in Ketchum, ID. She contacted Sun Valley Adaptive Sports and began volunteering with various sports and recreation programs. Cara became an adaptive ski instructor with the Sun Valley SnowSports School. As the winter season came to an end, Cara was asked to create and manage a summer day camp for children with disabilities.
For two years, Cara worked part-time as program coordinator for Sun Valley Adaptive Sports. She also started the first 12-week day camp in Blaine County for students with special needs. After that, she started a teen outing program for the local adolescence in the Wood River valley and an adaptive bike program. In October of 2005, she was promoted to a full-time program director position. By winter of 2006, Cara began building the therapeutic wounded warrior program, Higher Ground.
Cara has lived in Sun Valley, Idaho, since fall 2001. She loves spending time riding bikes and skiing with her husband and son. Cara also enjoys, skate skiing, mountain biking, hiking, camping, and trail running with her two dogs.
