WHEEL WORLD NEWS
March 2018
11
I was 33 years old. This was an especially productive time for me as my parents and I purchased the condo I live in today and I served as Ms. Wheelchair AZ.
For me, working made everything seem more normal. After all the preparation to move beyond the disability, find a new way and go to school, a job just seemed like the right thing to do. In June of 1997 I was hired as the Co-Supervisor of Loloma Station in Scottsdale. It isn’t there anymore, but at the time, it served as the transit station for the area and I worked full-time in the station for about a year and also contributed to their bus driver training. About a year later, I was hired as the Transportation Coordinator for the Community Forum and monitored bus routes for accessibility, ran a program to help people with disabilities learn how to ride the bus and another program to help bus operators learn how to best assist passengers with disabilities. The department that I worked in got merged with Easter Seals and I was promoted to the Director of Transportation. Plans for the light rail happened at this time and I became part of a committee that helped with the accessibility on the light rail platforms and the Operator Training Program was implemented in Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe. My transportation career lasted about 15 years.
While working in transportation, I served on the Board of the Statewide Independent Living Council. I made the move to SILC Program Coordinator in 2008 and was responsible for education and outreach activities, emergency preparedness and legislative issues. I testified at the State level and attended independent living events nationally. This position ended when AZ had harsh cuts to its budget in 2010. The timing could not have been better to join the STAT Team at the AZ Center for Disability Law! I have been providing individual advocacy and disability rights information for the past 8 years. It is the most personally challenging, yet also personally rewarding position I have held.
My advice for newly under folks is to make mistakes. They are inevitable regardless of whether you have a spinal cord injury or you don't so you might as well not be afraid of them. Have a plan B and sometimes you will need a plan C. Ask for help when you need it and for company when you don't. Finally, don't ignore the symptoms we're told to watch for but remember that your disability is part of your life, not the whole thing.
-Donna Powers