Chloe, a beautiful baby girl, was the Kaalund’s 3rd child and all appearances indicated that Chloe was a healthy baby. As Chloe grew and started to miss a few milestones her mom, Erria became concerned. Chloe’s pediatrician who was consulted continued to indicate Chloe was fine but Erria knew better. Chloe’s family continued to advocate for her and when Chloe was two she was diagnosed with Downs Syndrome.
Chloe is now 31 years old and is a client of UCP’s Applied Abilities Program in Tracy. She attends the program 3 days a week, so she has time to work out at the gym and participate in various weight lifting tournaments. You heard right…Chloe is a weight lifter and competes regularly. How does someone become a weight lifter you ask? Well when Chloe was in Jr. High School she was athletic but like many shy teens she found it difficult to participate in team sports. Her gym coach approached Chloe and Erria and asked if Chloe might be interested in an open position in the school’s weight lifting team; so began Chloe’s adventure to become a weight lifting champ.
Chloe works out under the direction of her coach, Jesse Burdick at Combat Sports Academy (CSA) in Dublin, CA. She practices her dead lifting, bench pressing and does cardio on alternate days. Coach Burdick says, “Chloe is a hard worker, but is a typical young lady who at times needs to be reminded to finish her workout repetition.“ This isn’t Coach Burdick’s first time working with an individual living with a disability. He also coaches a few individuals who compete in the Paralympics. According to Burdick he doesn’t specialize in working with people with disabilities, he just coaches anyone who is interested in the sport and treats them all the same with tough discipline and high expectations.
Chloe competes in her own weight division where she has won two WABDL (World Association Benchers & Deadlifters) trophies in both bench press and deadlift. This year under the coaching of Burdick, Chloe competed in Las Vegas where she set State and World Records in the bench press at 155.34 lbs. and 314.23 lbs. for dead lift.
Although Chloe can lift most people she knows… she is still all girl. You can tell by her pink weight belt and matching shoes. She used to use pink chalk for her hands until it became too difficult to locate…now she just toughs it out without chalk. When she’s not competing Chloe enjoys playing computer games and nights at the movies. Chloe likes participating in UCP’s Applied Abilities Program and says her favorite staff is Jane Fass. She likes going out into the community with her fellow program participants whether it’s shopping, dining out, volunteering at other non-profit agencies or going to the movies. It is UCP’s goal to provide a person centered program design specific to the needs of our clients. Whether a person wants to aspire to be a world record setting bencher or someone who wants to learn to traverse their community using public transportation UCP is here to help our clients live a Life Without Limits.
