Break the Barriers

★Nick Gurtler

To piggyback on Mrs Moody's review, I'm the dad and I want to elaborate on some of the missed days. When Mrs Moody stated there was sickness involved in missing some days most of those were me and since I was the only one available to take our son it falls to me to get him there. Not a sob story or poor me thing, but I had recently undergone a procedure to confirm a life threatening illness and I was not physically able to go some days. We openly admit to missing some of the days which we own that piece. However when the owner called and berated my wife for wasting her time we stated there were health issues preventing us from bringing him. She said her point stood and she wasn't going to sign our son up. It's one thing to have a discussion about missing days. An individual who is missing days is taking up a spot that someone else could take. We aren't blind to that. It's a different issue when there is disrespect on a level that had me telling my wife she needs to hang up the phone on the owner due to how she was speaking and acting. For someone to be running a program for children with special needs you need compassion and a conscience and to me it's clear that's not the case. After reading other reviews it's obvious we aren't the only ones who feel this way so this isn't a matter of one disgruntled family speaking out. Now why did we wait this long to make this review? Good question because it could appear slightly suspicious, but we are looking into other programs since we wouldn't go back there even if invited and in speaking about our experiences with the owner on top of the highly dangerous and irresponsible scenario of not even having a first aid kit it's pretty obvious word needs to get out that this breaking the barriers isn't what it advertised itself to be. Parents need to be informed on what this organization is truly like.

★Diana Moody

I use CVRC to help obtain opportunities for my autistic son. We have been signing him up for swim classes for over a year. The lady who runs this program is not kind. She doesn’t respond or acknowledge when or if your child is accepted or scheduled. The sign up documents clearly state the days/times you need/want but every time, I had to personally call and stalk this woman to confirm she received the paperwork and his acceptance then she would ask for times/availability which is on those forms. My CVRC rep would submit the paperwork the moment it opened except for one time when I didn't do it fast enough. The lady at Break the Barriers would claim it was submitted late, almost every time I spoke with her. She'd say that the day I want was full already. And then say she was squeezing us in. The last time we were signed up winter of 2025, we missed several classes, our fault, sickness, and holidays from November and December, also the pool was closed around 2-3 times because of incidents where it needed to be cleaned (that were supposed to be made up for us later, but this never happened). I submitted his forms to sign up for January, the lady called me and tore into me nastily about him missing classes which I of course apologized for, I own that, but she said basically thst she won't be letting him sign up anymore. My CVRC rep said this lady is rude to their people as well including lack of communication. My son loved this program, I loved it, but this program is not being run by someone who is interested in bring kind, supportive or inclusive. On a side note, my son fell while there one day scraping his knee on the rubber mats by the pool entrance. It created several bloody scratches, they didn't have a first aide kit and were dismissive about not having one. Poorly ran program and safety issues on that.

★M P

My 8 year old with severe autism has been nicely dismissed by Debbi twice bc he is aggressive & has no control over his hands or loud noises (nonverbal) very anxious boy, they’re staff are not trained to work & accommodate children with disabilities they favor children with no disabilities, they repeat over & over children who are not on the spectrum might copy my son’s behavior. For a none profit organization this place is not affordable at all $550 for 30mins a week is crazy. I’m happy to take my business elsewhere.

★★★★★Marcella Zalpa Anthony

Break the Barriers has been such a great experience for our family. My boys have tried both parkour and now gymnastics, and it’s been amazing to see how much they’ve learned in such a short time. The coaches are incredible—patient, encouraging, and truly invested in the kids. They create such a positive and supportive environment, which makes a big difference. It’s been so fun watching my boys build confidence, learn new skills, and actually look forward to going each week. We’re really grateful to be part of this community.

★Tori

This nonprofit organization claims to be inclusive, but they are unable to take on any challenges that might inconvenience them. Instead, they avoid helping those in need. My son was completely discharged from their program due to his medical disability and miscommunication on their part before the program even started. Even though a doctor’s note stated that my son was able to participate and break the barriers and cleared him to work with their facility, he was still discharged and excluded. They might need to change their name to something that better reflects their true purpose, which is protecting their own interests rather than helping autistic and medically challenged children. There are plenty of other facilities available. I would not recommend this organization because they lack the understanding and commitment that it takes to work with special needs individuals. Breaking barriers is about opening doors for people not shutting them and locking out those who need more support.