When the pandemic began, athletes could no longer do in-person activities; this is when Fernanda and Ricardo stepped up to provide continued support for athletes with online sports and activities like dancing and crafts. In their project, they will expand upon this work and establish new Unified Schools. Fernanda and Ricardo hope to create greater inclusion in schools and their community at large through these activities.

Over 6 months, Fernanda and Ricardo will build on their previous work by better organizing current activities as well as offering a more extensive catalogue of activities. With the hard work they’ve already done, Fernanda and Ricardo have created a beautiful family of students and athletes, so now they want to spread this model to other schools to get even more students interacting with athletes. Their hope is that this project can expand to a national level and help students everywhere understand that having an intellectual disability is anything but a negative. Fernanda and Ricardo believe that these unified activities will make schools more inclusive and encourage people to see that individuals with intellectual disabilities are just as valuable as everyone else.