NED NORTON
NED NORTON RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS
QUESTION 1: You have deep commitment to helping people in need. It is interesting that in life we all have the opportunity to walk away from helping others, and it is equally interesting that some people don’t take those steps away from others in need. What were the main factors in your life that encouraged you to walk toward people in need and devote a significant part of your life to helping others? Please elaborate some about each factor.
RESPONSE: As a young kid I was often sick even hospitalized and was very underweight for my age. Like most kids my age I dreamed about one day becoming the world heavyweight champion like Muhammad Ali or play for the New York Giants in the NFL. To this day decades later I can remember lying in my bed in the hospital wishing that I was big and strong, someone that others would emulate like my idols in boxing and in the NFL. My family was worried about me, and my uncle thought that the unused weights he had in his garage might be something that could help me. I put them in my cellar next to a giant oil tank and started with the empty bar. It was just about all I could lift and instantly my life began to change. I began to read Muscle magazines at the drug store from cover to cover till they yelled at me that it wasn’t a library. I spent hours in my cellar gym lit by a single light bulb. My uncle’s gift was the turning point in my life.
In a short time I built myself up and became strong enough to play football in school and compete in Weightlifting and Powerlifting competitions never missing a workout. I will be 63 in a few weeks and that fact remains the same, I never miss a workout. I had made such a dramatic transformation that many of my friends sought me out for info on how they could do the same. I was more than glad to show them. The feeling of self-confidence that I got from my workouts actually exceeded the size and strength that I gained physically. I was eager to share that same feeling with others. After school I was fairly successful in competitions and I became very successful in training others both for weightlifting and powerlifting competitions and strength and conditioning for athletes. I became fairly renowned for my knowledge and ended up becoming a strength coach for some Olympic teams and Olympic athletes in addition to athletes of all levels such as football players. In fact, I helped train Jeff Blatnick, the 1984 Olympic gold medal winner, who won gold after overcoming Hodgkin’s disease. My passion for transforming your life through weight training was enhanced with my desire to share with others that same feeling.
That desire rose to an entirely different level when a gym member brought in a friend of his who had recently become spinal cord injured and a wheelchair user. I found myself more motivated to help him than the athletes I worked with. He made such rapid progress both physically and psychologically that when he went back to the hospital, they sent him back to me with five other spinal cord injured individuals. I loved it…it was the ultimate challenge for me. The challenge was so much more than helping somebody win trophies, medals or scoring touchdowns. This challenge directly related to improving their lives. I was hooked and started working with people with disabilities exclusively. So in conclusion, the passion and desire that I wanted to show others what I had experienced in my own life was indeed the driving force of how I have spent every day since my uncle dropped those weights off in my cellar.
QUESTION 2: When you started your nonprofit, what were the main challenges? Please explain the main challenges and how you overcame them.
RESPONSE: Initially I had about six people I was working with, all spinal cord injury. A local sportswriter who worked out at our gym found the incredible transformation one of the initial six had made worthy of a newspaper article. One day after the newspaper article appeared I went from 6 to 40 people with disabilities looking to empower themselves to greater independence through my strength training program. I had to make a decision. I was training them for free while I was employed working at the gym. The owner of the gym wasn’t paying me to work with all these people for free let alone having them use the facility for free. So I had to make a quick decision and I did. I quit my job at the gym, leased space at the gym, and hoped that I could figure out how to keep things going. I never thought twice about the decision even though I truly put myself in deep financial peril. None of the people I was working with had any money, so it wasn’t like I could charge them. But even though my passion for what I was doing was so great that I would do it for free, the reality of things is that you have to live, eat and pay bills like everybody else. I sought the advice of the community relations person from the bank I did business with, and she referred me to the local Community Foundation where I could get information on starting a not-for-profit, learning how to fund raise and write grants and how to do business as a not-for-profit. The woman at the community foundation could not have been nicer to me. She thought I was crazy like most people who meet me the first time, but she walked me through the process of Warriors on Wheels becoming a not-for-profit organization. She patiently taught me how to write grants and where to find sponsorships and grant funding. Although I gave her fits at times, her patience paid off. That first year I was able to receive grassroots funding to at least keep our program rolling and throw some money my way to pay my bills. So I guess my advice based on my experience is if you’re going to make that leap to start your own not for profit make sure your passion for what you are doing is so strong that you would do it for free regardless of the personal financial repercussions you may endure. Then once you take that leap-do whatever it takes and figure it out how to make your dream of helping others become a reality.
QUESTION 3: What suggestions would you give to university students who are committed to helping others in need and are considering starting a nonprofit?
Not trying to be redundant but my main suggestion would be to be so passionate about the way you desire to help others in need that not only would you do it for free but you would do it even if you would have to endure difficulties personally. I believe it is imperative that your desire to help others must be stronger than any desire you have personally. I know that sounds corny, but it is absolutely true. In the 30+ years I’ve been doing this, I often had no idea how I was going to keep our doors open as the financial struggles tested me to my very core. My desire to help others always outweighed whatever personal pain I was forced to endure because of my choice. But if that passion is deep inside of you, you figure it out, you do whatever it takes, and you will find a way. I have found in all these years that you are so much more capable than you believe and that if you give it your all and never quit under any circumstances you will find a way. The people you serve will benefit from your struggle and you will benefit from the satisfaction that you gave all you had to help change someone else’s life. How can you possibly beat that?
QUESTION 4: if a person wants to start a 501( C)3nonprofit corporation, what suggestions do you have based on your experience doing this? Did you complete the paperwork yourself or did you hire professionals? If you experience any problems with this process, please share the problems and how they were resolved.
RESPONSE: I don’t think anything I’ve ever done in my life has been by the book. I learned from a local banks community relations person that if I wanted any money for my program I would have to incorporate as a 501 © 3 not for profit organization. Then I could put in grant applications and ask for corporate sponsorships without obstacles. Now you must remember this was back in 1993 and I’m sure things are very much changed now. What I did was I filled out a not-for-profit organization application that was actually for sale at the local OfficeMax. Back then you needed to have a Judge review your paperwork and sign as a witness before you forwarded it to the IRS for their review. I was very lucky a Federal district court judge worked out at the gym where I was leasing space for the program. I had been good friends with him for years and he was just a great guy. While he was walking on the treadmill I told him what I was doing as far as filing for our program to become a not-for-profit organization. After a two minute conversation he commanded me to “just go get a pen.” He then paused the treadmill and signed my application on the console of the treadmill. I mailed it off to the IRS and it wasn’t too much of a wait and we received our 501©3 status and became a not for profit organization. Without even looking into it I’m sure today would be much different L O L. I’m guessing that it’s probably done all online and most likely doesn’t need to be signed by a judge while doing cardio! In all seriousness though as I’m sure you’re learning it is absolutely imperative to get your 501( C)3 in order for you to get any funding for your program.
QUESTION 5: The selection of members of the Board of Directors for a new nonprofit is important. What characteristics for board members do you believe are important? What contributions by board members do you believe should be expected? Did your board members receive any training if so please identify the training.
RESPONSE: In putting together our board it was very important for me to include people with disabilities who were active participants in our program. Everything about our program Is that everything we do is a two-way street. It’s not a dictatorship. I don’t just do whatever I feel like doing and making financial decisions just like I don’t order people around to do certain exercises because I feel like it. Everything we do is done together. It is their program and it is their body. Based on their life experience they know exactly what’s best for them. Together we make decisions on either program based issues or their exercise program. Because everything is done together our program is stronger for it. In addition to the people with disabilities from my program to select my first board I used common sense by asking people who we did business with. Our local bank, spinal cord doctors and surgeons who referred people to us, our local mass transportation company, lawyers who worked out at the gym and were eager to get involved and a certified public accountant and school district administrator who also worked out at the gym. So what you see here is a common theme. I selected people who I knew and respected and who had already knew a great deal about our program. As far as expectations go I’ve never had them written down but at our board meetings are usually two major issues we discuss. How our current participants are doing as far as reaching their goals and also reaching out to people with disabilities who have yet to hear about the opportunity we offer them. Secondly what do we need to keep the program thriving. Whatever the situation there’s someone on our board we can turn to for rock solid advice going forward. I know most boards are formed with the expectation that each member has to contribute X amount of dollars a year. I would never do that. That being said, our board are always quick to refer us to available grants or to corporations or individuals that might be interested in funding our efforts. During the pandemic our board took part in a diversity equity and inclusion training hosted by the University at Albany that all of us agreed was absolutely great. In answer to that we agreed to act on what we learned and added board members strictly to match the socioeconomic make up of our program. This initiative truly strengthened our efforts as a not-for-profit organization. When we say there is no obstacle to anyone participating in our program we just don’t talk the talk. Most of our program participants are minorities or other underserved individuals with disabilities. African-Americans and Hispanics make up about 70% of our program participants. Our program is just about 50-50 male- female. We are a mirror of society today. Almost every religion is represented as well as the LGBTQ community. Nearly all of our program participants live below the national poverty level. By developing a more diverse board our program has become more sensitive to the needs of all our participants while also strengthening our ties in the various communities they come from.
QUESTION 6: Most nonprofits benefit greatly from the contributions of volunteers. Proximately how many volunteers do you have? Proximately how many pay staff do you have? Have you experienced any problem recruiting volunteers? If so please share your experience what suggestions do you have for recruiting volunteers?
RESPONSE: Our facility is located about a half a mile from the Albany city court and Albany County Probation Department. For years both of these organizations have sent me adults and youth who need to perform community service as part of their judicial sentencing. So while not traditional volunteers nevertheless they are sent to the gym to help me with the daily operations of our program. In what is probably the biggest hidden asset of our program is to see young people sent to us for community service for violence or other serious crimes who instantly show unparalleled empathy for our program participants. The level of care, patience and compassion is off the charts. In particular the most notorious of those sent to us are often better than any paid aides that come to us with people from local disabled service agencies. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve spoke to either a city court judge or court personnel or probation department staff about how great someone is in helping us only to get a smirk or a wise answer not to turn my back while reminding me I have no idea why they were sent to me. I never ask and I don’t care. All I know is they’re better than paid staff and Inhave never asked or looked for volunteers.
Speaking of paid staff there’s only one and that’s me. It’s more stipend than a salary. I rely on the money I make as the physical fitness trainer at the local fire academy to support my family. I’m in charge of the fitness for recruits as they go through the grueling 16 weeks of training to become paid professional firefighters. I’ll be 64 this year and the young recruits keep me young as I desperately show them I can do whatever I ask them to do. ( Thanks to Motrin and Icy Hot LoL).