Thank you for your support of our successful campaign last year, helping us to build our first stone-paved pathway on campus!

This year, we’re implement Phase 2 in our 2026 Community Giving Project, Pathways to Connection: The Next Phase, where we will be extending our pathway system to our Back Cabins, creating a level, safe trail that joins last year’s inaugural pathway, the Barn, and the Back Cabins. Learn more about Phase 2 or donate here!

Pathways to Connection: Our 2025 Community Giving Project

A picture of the new pathway in front of the horseshoe cabins at Boyds Mills

Last summer, in honor of our 40th anniversary, we entered the first phase in our committment to inclusivity on campus with the launch of Pathways to Connection: A Community Giving Project for Campus Accessiblity. Thanks to the support of our community, we completed the first phase of the project last year.

With the successful construction of our inaugural paved pathway, we have begun the vital work of physically linking buildings—and peopled—across our 66-acre campus.

A Commitment to Accessibility

For 40 years, Boyds Mills has served as a place where stories grow—from place to place and generation to generation. From our humble beginnings in 1985, we’ve made meaningful changes to the nonprofit we’ve become.

That’s why, over the years, we’ve invested in accessibility in a variety of ways, both online and at our retreat center in Boyds Mills:

  • Scholarships for storytellers
  • Adding ADA-compliant rooms in our Lodge
  • Enhancing technology (closed captioning, PDF readers, audio-visual resources)
  • Equipping doorways with threshold ramps and rubber mats
  • Increasing outdoor lighting for nighttime visibility
  • Securing support for ASL interpreters

Looking Forward: The Future of Our Campus

While the completion of the first path was a major milestone, our work is far from over. We view accessibility as an ongoing journey rather than a finished destination. Moving forward, we will continue to support and expand this project through:

  • Continued Expansion: We are actively planning subsequent phases to extend our network of paved paths, ensuring every storyteller can navigate the retreat center with ease.

  • Sustainable Stewardship: We are committing resources to the long-term maintenance of our new infrastructure, ensuring these paths remain safe and accessible through every season.

  • Ongoing Community Engagement: We continue to listen to the needs of our visitors to ensure our future campus developments reflect the actual needs of our storyteller community.

Each pathway we build symbolizes our unwavering commitment to connecting all storytellers who visit Boyds Mills. We are grateful to the community that helped us lay this first stone, and we look forward to the miles of connection still to come.