Dancing Turtle Rescue was founded by Debbie Philp, a wildlife rehabilitator in New York’s Adirondack Park who chose to work primarily with freshwater turtles because of her spiritual connection to and love for them. Then she learned that more than half of the world’s 350 turtle species are threatened with extinction.

After surviving for 200 million years, turtles are now among the most threatened vertebrates on Earth. Many turtles die on the roads, but loss of their wetland habitats, pollution, and over-harvesting for food and pets are the big causes of population decline. Debbie, with a great board of directors backing her up, started Dancing Turtle to expand beyond rehabilitation into pet turtle rescue, public education, and wetlands preservation advocacy to address those issues and save our Adirondack turtles.

Currently, Dancing Turtle Rescue operates a nonprofit, home-based pet turtle rescue, using space in Debbie’s house and yard and in a converted bus “wildlife clinic,” in addition to continuing wild turtle rehabilitation. Debbie presents a variety of environmental education programs to teach the public about turtles and other reptiles and amphibians, with a focus on those found in the Adirondacks, and awareness-building programs about wetland habitat conservation.

OUR MISSION

The mission of Dancing Turtle Rescue is to save native freshwater turtles and their wetland habitats in northeastern New York State by providing care for injured, ill, neglected, and abandoned turtles and by cultivating interest in and advocacy for turtle and wetland conservation through public education programs.

Dancing Turtle Rescue and Education Program, Inc. is a New York State nonprofit corporation pending Federal 501(c)(3) status.

Adirondack Inclusion Movement, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization focused on creating accessible community spaces in the Adirondacks. AIM is located in Schroon Lake, NY. AIM is organized exclusively to support the development, renovation, or addition of facilities, entities, and scholarships that promote and encourage inclusivity for people with disabilities in all aspects of everyday life.

The East Shore Schroon Lake Association (ESSLA) works to preserve Schroon Lake as a pristine recreational resource

Our Vision for Building Strong Communities Across the Adirondacks

Focusing on our five “whole community” areas allows us to build charitable resources to meet the needs of our communities today, as well as unknown needs of tomorrow – putting us in a position to accelerate philanthropy in the Adirondacks with clear vision and leverage. Our Strong Community Framework - the first-ever philanthropic vision for the Adirondack region - guides our approach to investing in promising opportunities, addressing critical challenges through Generous Acts and hundreds of other funds, and uniting people, institutions, and resources to produce widely shared lasting results through strategic initiatives like our Adirondack Birth to Three Alliance.