On Thursday, January 26th, 2023, the virtual Disabilities & Conditions of Aging Network, which is comprised of organizations and individuals who are part of the disability community in Indiana and hosted by Advocates Personal Care, gathered for our first meeting of the year. Rather than focus on a few spotlight organizations for the month, we had an open agenda with introductions and updates. In an effort to be more inclusive, we utilized closed captioning with this meeting. Please note that the captioning is Zoom’s “auto-captioning” which, while useful, is not always accurate. You can watch the session in the video below:
While we try to get to every attendee, this month a few people had to leave before the end of the hour. My apologies to anyone who did not get an opportunity to introduce themselves, their organization, or share any new initiatives for 2023. If you are interested in joining us in February, please use the link below. While we do try to give everyone an opportunity to share, please reach out to Jeremy Warriner at [email protected] in advance for specific time on the agenda. Hope to see you at the February session; all are welcome! (Please use the link below and feel free to share it with all who may benefit!)
Honored to have my story, and the path that led to Walking Spirit featured on the Give Back Economy Podcast based out of Toronto Canada! (click the link below to listen):
The December meeting of the Disabilities & Conditions of Aging Network, held on Monday, December 19th, featured highlights from the Alzheimer’s Association, Advocates Personal Care, and KidsFirst Adoption. This session also demonstrates an error in accessibility, which has a negative impact on inclusion, due to my own technical inability to activate the captioning. A technical challenge that I will address before the January meeting. January’s meeting is currently scheduled for Thursday, January 26th, 2023. Enjoy December’s meeting in the video below:
Join us in January, and feel free to invite anyone who can benefit from connecting with organizations and people who work within the community of People with Disabilities and/or Conditions of Aging in central Indiana and beyond! While we do attempt to give everyone a chance to introduce themselves and their organizations, please email [email protected] for specific time on the agenda. Have a happy holiday season, and a safe and happy New Year! Hope to see you in January on Zoom at:
On the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, December 3rd, 2022, I had the honor and pleasure of “representing” the United States in an international panel discussion about Ableism in the Media! The panel discussion, hosted by the World Disability Advocacy Leadership Group, is part of an ongoing series of webinars intended to raise awareness and provide guidance regarding advocacy for the human rights of all People with Disabilities, a global culture that incorporates the largest minority in the world. Watch the panel discussion here, and please leave comments. Enjoy!
I will check for comments regularly and try to respond within a week. Thanks for watching and be well!
The November session of the Disabilities & Conditions of Aging Network, hosted by Advocates Personal Care. Our goal is to create a regular opportunity for individuals and organizations that work within the community of People with Disabilities and Conditions of Aging throughout central Indiana and beyond to connect, coordinate, and celebrate in an effort to better support the communities we serve.
Our monthly agenda has been relatively relaxed, with a spotlight on a different organization each month, followed by a speed round of introductions & announcements. I took the spotlight for our 6th session; sharing a bit of my origin story as a person with a disability, in an effort to let the members of the network know more about the person who has been their facilitator from the start…yours truly. With the 17th anniversary of my Survival Day having just passed, and Thanksgiving a few weeks away, it was a pleasure and an honor to give thanks for my life, how my acquired disability set me on the path to create this network, and all of the people who have supported it!
The December meeting of the Disabilities & Conditions of Aging Network is scheduled for 10am on Monday, December 19th, 2022 (zoom link below). Due to the holidays, this is a variation from our regular 4th Thursday of the month schedule. Though we do attempt to give everyone an opportunity to introduce themselves and their organization, please reach out to me at my Advocates Personal Care – Outreach Consultant email, [email protected], in advance if you would like specific time on the agenda to share your organization’s efforts, announcements, or community concerns. Hope to see you in December!
The 17th anniversary of the day that forever altered the course of my life occurred this past weekend, on Saturday, October 22nd… Time has wrapped around again to the Survival Day being on the same day of the week. It was a Saturday when the accident happened, after a long stretch of workdays, looking forward to a Halloween party and a few days of rest. Little did I know that I was about to take a six-week nap…by this date, October 26th, in 2005, I was already asleep, experiencing another world that would fill my mind with memories from that time that did not happen…at least not on this plane of existence. This caused a great deal of confusion as I regained both consciousness and cognitive acuity.
To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never allowed so many days to pass between a Survival Day and an anniversary blog update. This has been a challenge for me this year, due to many things, none of which really have much, or anything to do with the loss of my legs. Typically, I prefer to spend the anniversary in seclusion for as much of the day as possible. This gives me time to reflect, to acknowledge how time has marched forward from that day that became a new measurement of time for myself and those closest to me.
For those who don’t know, during my commute home that night, a sixteen-year-old driver made a mistake behind the wheel of another car. I had the right of way and swerved to avoid the collision, but the other driver sped faster into the intersection instead of hitting their brakes. After a heroic, divinely inspired rescue effort by normal people who didn’t witness the accident but were traveling the same dark county road and risked their lives to free me from the twisted burning wreckage of my Jeep Wrangler, I was Life-lined to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where I was placed into a medically induced coma. About 6 weeks later, I awoke to find that, among other injuries, both legs had been amputated from above the knee due to severe burns sustained in the accident.
It was a tragic event, more than a lifetime’s worth of physical, emotional, and mental trauma sustained in what seemed like an instant. It was also a miraculous event, in that I survived. That miracle took place over the course of weeks and was brought about through the hands of my rescuers, my first responders, my ambulance & LifeLine crews, my medical teams at both Methodist Hospital and the Richard M. Fairbanks Burn Unit at what was then Wishard Hospital (now at Eskenazi Hospital), and my tissue donors. I recognize that I had a role to play in that as well, as did all of the people who focused their love, energy, prayers, spiritual strength, and hope on my survival.
As I said, I prefer to spend my Survival Day in seclusion; this year that was not possible. Sadly, on this anniversary, my family was gathered to celebrate the life of my cousin Susy’s husband John. He was the best of men with the kindest of souls. Cancer, a thing I fear even more than sixteen-year-old drivers, took him from us…less than a year after claiming their son Chris. With all I have experienced, I have no idea how to console John’s family with this loss. I know that both John and Chris live on in their own spiritual journeys and are part of the divine energy that permeates this universe, thus closer to us than they ever could be in their physical forms, but that does nothing to make up for their tangible absence in this physical realm. Their absence is felt, they are loved, and they are truly missed.
John and my cousin Chris were among those who focused on my survival seventeen years ago. They were among those who gave me spiritual strength when my body clung to life…I was told there was a point when my heart was the only organ in my body that was functioning without assistance. Over the past 17 years, I have contemplated what I experienced while my body was in that state, and I know that for a time I walked on the other side of the veil. I’ve been where they are now, and a part of me will be happy to return there when the time comes.
I am lucky to be alive and am grateful for that every day, though some days it is easier to be aware of that than others. I am lucky to experience each new day and as each year has passed, I find myself amazed at what has transpired. I think back on the progression from barely being able to sit up in bed, to being discharged from the hospital to mom & dad’s house at a point where their relatively new next-door neighbor had to help carry me upstairs to bed each night, to living in my own home again… John and Chris helped modify my home by personally installing a wood laminate floor so my wheelchair could move through the house unencumbered by carpet; John also helped build a deck and pergola in my back yard so that I could access and enjoy my outdoor space… to learning how to walk on three different sets of prosthetic legs, to becoming a husband and step-father, to the point in time that the seventeenth Survival Day has passed. The challenges that I have taken on this year, I would never have contemplated attempting even a year ago.
This has been a year of challenges. Not that every year isn’t full of challenges but, somehow, the time between the last Survival Day and this past Saturday has felt exceptionally full. Some challenges have been bad…two rounds of covid, just to name a few…and many have been good. I could take this in a dark direction but would rather focus on some of the positive challenges that I have faced with my family and friends at my side.
This past year I personally added a hardwood floor in our entryway, with the help of a friend…
I began practicing martial arts again, and modifying martial art forms, “Katas,” for both the wheelchair and prosthetics with crutches…
My father and I added a vinyl plank floor in our dining room…
The whole family flew west to Bellingham, WA for my uncle’s finale year as Artistic Director of the Bellingham Festival of music. While there, Irena and I went whale watching in a tandem open water kayak (has a rudder that Irena had to manage with her feet) and attempted to circumnavigate one of the San Juan Islands. (Currents were too strong for us to make good time so, our guide had us turn around).
The trip west finally presented the opportunity to introduce my beloved wife, Irena, to my aunt Jean. Aunt Jean lives on a remote and relatively inaccessible island in the San Jaun’s. My sister Sarah and niece Madeline made the journey with us. Her home is one of the most beautiful places that I’ve ever seen. To get there, you have to take a water taxi, then ride in her SUV as she drives up a steep gravel road to the highest point on the island, where she has a view of the Cascades, the Olympics, and Mt. Rainier (on a clear day).
The next day we drove to the top of Mt. Baker, which is the tallest mountain in the Cascades. I walked out to some places that I should not have. The view was worth it.
We returned home and I continued with a summer long project of turning over and rearranging all of the paver stones in our back yard to both create a new patio & firepit area, and to put landscaping fabric underneath the pavers. (I’m getting too old to weed whack from a wheelchair multiple times a year). After completing the paver/patio/firepit project, I designed a pergola to go over the deck of our “new” house. (We moved here five years ago, from the house that John and Chris helped modify…I’m now doing the things that they helped me accomplish all those years ago).
Friends and family helped me build the pergola, and I spent the day after my Survival Day adding the finishing touches. Tonight, I’ve enjoyed taking the time to contemplate my continuing journey, sitting underneath the lattice in a space that would not exist, had I not survived 17 years ago…and every day since, grateful for the challenges that have brought me through this Survival Day and into my new year.
On Thursday, September 22nd, 2022, the Disabilities & Conditions of Aging Network in central Indiana met for its fourth meeting, hosted by Advocates Personal Care. With 22 attendees, the network continues to grow! The goal of the Disabilities & Conditions of Aging Network is for people and organizations in the Disability Community to regularly connect, engage, celebrate, and support each other’s efforts to empower people who are living with disabilities or conditions of aging in Indianapolis, central Indiana, and beyond. With a loose agenda, we promote introductions and organic conversation…
The October meeting of the network will be held in-person to allow an opportunity to share physical Information & Referral materials and to celebrate together before the holiday season. Advocates Personal Care will provide bagels, coffee, and hot cider. We will meet on Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 from 9:30am – 11am (to allow social time with official meeting at 10am) at Coxhall Gardens in Carmel, IN. Coxhall Gardens is located at 11677 Towne Rd, Carmel, IN 46032. We will meet outside in the Children’s Pavillion. To ensure we have enough bagels & beverages, please email Advocates’ Outreach Consultant, Jeremy Warriner at [email protected] to confirm your intent to attend.
We will return to our normal virtual format in November, meeting over Zoom at 10am on Thursday, November 17th, 2022. To join the November meeting, please use the following link:
On Thursday, August 25th, 2022, Advocates Personal Care hosted the third meeting of the new Disabilities and Conditions of Aging Network. This month our agenda featured an “in-depth” introduction of PrimeLife Enrichment, Inc followed by a speed round of introductions, updates, and organic Question & Answer based conversation. The goal of the Disabilities and Conditions of Aging Network is to regularly connect providers and individuals who make up the community of People with Disabilities, which includes Conditions of Aging, to better serve those whose self-defined independence we are here to support.
Excited by the number of organizations that joined in this month, I neglected to start the recording until after my opening introduction, and at the end of our host Inna Pecar’s intro, President of both Advocates Home Health Care & Kid’s First Adoption. The rest of the meeting, including Julie Barnes’ introduction of PrimeLife Enrichment’s services can be viewed here:
The next meeting of the Disabilities & Conditions of Aging Network will be held via zoom on Thursday, September 22nd, 2022, at 10am. Please reach out to [email protected] if you would like dedicated time on the agenda. To join the 9/22 network session, simply click on the link below:
After acquiring a disability, a Purdue Alumnus created his own consulting business to improve access for people with disabilities throughout the hospitality industry by offering Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion assessments and training from a Disability Lens.
On Thursday, July 28th, 2022, Advocates Personal Care hosted the second meeting of the new Disabilities and Conditions of Aging Network. With a loose agenda, topics ranged from education for children with disabilities to managing assets to meet eligibility for support services as conditions of aging present themselves, and several others in between. The goal of the Disabilities and Conditions of Aging Network is to regularly connect providers and individuals who make up the community of People with Disabilities, which includes Conditions of Aging, to better serve those whose self-defined independence we are here to support. Due to both technical difficulties and (full disclosure) a bit of covid related confusion, we were only able to capture a 45-minute excerpt of the meeting…
The next meeting will be held via zoom on Thursday, August 25th, at 10am. and can be accessed via the following link (please feel free to share with any who might be interested):
If you would like time on the August agenda to share your activities, celebrations, or community news and concerns with the network, please email [email protected] before 4pm on Wednesday, August 24th. If you have referrals for Advocates Personal Care, please send those to [email protected].
