A North Texas nonprofit that uses scuba diving to build confidence and mobility for people with disabilities received a $1,000 donation through this year's 11 Days of Giving campaign.

The Adapt-Able Foundation, based in Fort Worth, works with veterans, first responders and people living with cognitive challenges, chronic pain or physical injuries. The group trains participants in the pool at Texas Wesleyan University, where many say they experience a sense of freedom they rarely feel on land.

Kari-Ann Melendez, the organization's president, said the program was created for people who are used to limitations. 

"There's so many no's that come along with being a person with a disability, and our take on this is... the answer is yes," she said.

Melendez, an experienced diver, helped start the foundation to share that feeling with others. 

"If you can do this, what else is out there that you thought you couldn't do?" she said.

Participants often describe scuba as both physically and mentally therapeutic. Robbie Green, an incomplete quadriplegic and Navy veteran, said the water eases the pain he lives with every day. 

"All I know for me, it helps with my pain, helps relax my body," he said.

He said diving is one of the few places he feels calm. "It's quiet, it's calm, it's peaceful and very relaxing."

Thirteen-year-old Fin McKeag, who has cerebral palsy, said diving has changed the way he sees himself. 

"For the mental aspect, it helps me relax, and I feel weightless like an astronaut on the moon," he said.

The donation from Tom Thumb and Albertsons will support the foundation's adaptive diving programs, which continue to grow as more North Texans look for accessible forms of therapy and recreation.

Melendez said their mission is simple. 

"We can change the world one diver at a time," she said.