Us Too Gymnastics Inc

Us Too Gymnastics aims to offer an inclusive, fun, and safe space for children and teenagers with AND without disabilities to learn gymnastics and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Us Too Gymnastics was founded in 2004 by Dena Lusardi, a young mother, whose son had been diagnosed with Autism. Dena, who has a background in gymnastics, understood that physical activity in a fun environment was something that could benefit not only her son, but other autistic individuals as well.
After many failed attempts to find a place that could provide classes for her son, Dena decided to create this space herself.

The gym was founded with the hopes of providing a safe and welcoming environment for children and teenagers diagnosed with autism and other disabilities. 'Us Too Gymnastics', then became one of the first and few fitness centers in Orange County, California and the United States to offer these types of services.

The gym's main goals are: to provide gymnastics classes that encourage social interaction, promote a healthy lifestyle and positive self-esteem, and to help each student progress to the best of their ability while feeling included as part of a community.

Over the past two years, local requests for our inclusive gymnastics programs have skyrocketed by 100%.

While our curriculum successfully helps 75% of participants build vital physical coordination and social confidence, our limited capacity forces us to place dozens of children with disabilities on a waiting list.

To bridge this gap and eliminate our waitlist, we require immediate funding across three critical areas:
• Staffing & Specialized Training: Investing in advanced certification and competitive wages to recruit and retain coaches skilled in adaptive gymnastics.
• Administrative Infrastructure: Hiring a dedicated administrative and accounting professional to streamline compliance, intake, and scheduling, allowing coaches to focus entirely on the students.
• Equipment & Community Engagement: Securing specialized adaptive program supplies, safety equipment, and funding to host community events that bring inclusive sports to more local families

Our facility is located in the City of Lake Forest in the 92630 zip code. We serve all areas of Orange County, with about 80% of our student population being from South Orange county. Main cities we serve are: Lake Forest, Foothill Ranch, Mission Viejo, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Laguna Hills. Other cities include: Santa Ana, Tustin, Anaheim, Buena Park, Fullerton, and San Clemente.

As Executive Director, and as a mother of a child diagnosed with Autism, one of my main goals is to shorten the gap in price between what parents of children with disabilities have to pay for recreational activities vs. what those families with neurotypical kids pay. While I understand that services offered to those with disabilities require providers to have a higher level of education, and sometimes even specialized education, I believe this difference could be less noticeable with more organizations like Us Too Gymnastics. 

And with the number of children being diagnosed with autism on the rise, I know more and more people need to be educated and made aware of the needs of this very vulnerable population.

My wish is that more organizations and individuals would be willing to do their part to create a more respectful and accessible environment for disabled people.

Since becoming familiar with this organization, it's open my eyes to the lack of services available to the autism community and other disabilities as well. This organization and its staff understand the importance of having a place like Us Too Gymnastics open and committed to really helping these families. I choose to volunteer at Us Too Gym because their mission is important to me as a human and as a member of society.