A superwoman is transforming Miami Beach’s landmarks into an all-accessible facility for people with disabilities.
Sabrina Cohen, founder of the Sabrina Cohen Foundation, suffered a tragic car accident in 1992. After visiting the beach one day and rolling over her chair on the sand, she quickly decided her calling was to help others access the ocean, describing the moment as if “a light bulb had gone on.”
“It just goes hand-in-hand with my life purpose,” said Cohen.
The organization provides disabled individuals, seniors, veterans and children with special needs to better experience a day at the beach.
Now, she has helped over 12,000 participants. One of them is Alan Brown, who remembers swimming to the beach after breaking his neck 35 years ago.
“To be able to get back in the ocean safely is absolutely amazing,” said Brown.
Despite thje presence of volunteers this past weekend, rip currents did not allow anyone to go in.
In partnership with the City of Miami Beach, Cohen built the first ADA accessible playground for children with special needs on 64th Street and Collins Ave. Now, the foundation is developing “Pathway to Inclusion,” a plan to redevelop the park at 53rd Street and Collins Ave. to an updated, fully accessible park using commemorartive bricks.
A four-by-eight inch brick costis $500 and an eight-by-eight inch one goes for $1,000. The paver path is expected to open early 2027.
In addition, the money that is being raised will go towards a $22 million campaign to build the nation’s first adaptive recreational center.
Still, Brown says he hopes to see more developers involved in the process.
“There’s so much money in this area right now and development going on that it’s kind of a shame that none of the developers have jumped on to kind of let this happen and make it happen,” said Brown. “Somebody should own it and they should be proud of it.”
Click here to learn more about the foundation. The next pop-up will be in November.
