Here She Is

Don’t call it a beauty pageant. The name might imply that Ms. Wheelchair America is related to the contest that pits bikini-clad women advocating world peace against each other. Ms. Wheelchair America is a contest with a different slant entirely.

Women with disabilities from all over the United States met in Richmond, Va., July 27 to Aug. 1 to vie for this year’s title. After several days of demonstrating academic, vocational and personal achievement through public speaking, Cinda Hughes, Ms. Wheelchair America for 2004, passed the scepter to Juliette Rizzo, Ms. Wheelchair of Maryland.

Rizzo is a single, 36-year-old who, at the age of 3, contracted a systemic infection resulting in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma and fibromyalfia. Currently she is director of communication and media for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

As the new national titleholder, Rizzo will advance the goals of the all-volunteer Ms. Wheelchair America program, which requires being a spokesperson and ombudsman for the more than 50 million Americans with disabilities. Rizzo’s platform, power through participation, advocates personal development through community involvement. Getting to a place where the wheelchair is not the most important and visible part of a person’s identity, she says, is the goal of her campaign.

“Ms. Wheelchair America promotes participation beyond just having a physical presence in the community,” she says. “ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has broken down many barriers, but it’s the realization of each individual’s identity through community life — participating in everything from your own physical health and fitness to voting.”

The Ms. Wheelchair America program is deeply tied to home medical equipment, and organizers are looking for ways to strengthen those ties. From donating equipment to allowing Ms. Wheelchair representatives to use a company copier, organizers say there are a number of ways HMEs can participate, and they are open to creative suggestions.

A Richmond, Va., HME was the reason this year’s national Ms. Wheelchair competition was held in Virginia. Wayne Sale, chairman of Ms. Wheelchair Virginia and president of Health First Home Medical Equipment, which supplies respiratory equipment and services, lift chairs, bath aids and more, dove in head first to bring the Ms. Wheelchair competition to Virginia.

“I got involved with Ms. Wheelchair Virginia because it is a fantastic way to build a network for women in wheelchairs who want to speak out and brighten the future for all people living with disabilities. Running the state, and this year the national, programs is both personally enriching and a natural extension of our business at Health First, where we see community involvement as integral to our business success,” Sale says.

Rizzo herself testifies to the importance of HME. “Without my wheelchair, I couldn’t have possibly had such great successes in my life, such as my employment and winning Ms. Wheelchair America,” she says. “I’m here now because of durable medical equipment. It’s this type of equipment that allows me to participate in my personal life and has helped my personal adjustment to my disability.”

HMEs can contact their state’s Ms. Wheelchair coordinator, found at www.mswheelchairamerica.org, to learn more about the program. If your company is in a state that does not yet have a Ms. Wheelchair competition, contact Pat O’Bryant at 877/679-4335.