UNITED SPINAL’S RESOURCE CENTER

TACKLES TOUGH QUESTIONS

Annie Mitchell reached out to the Resource Center for accessible gardening ideas two years after becoming a paraplegic.

She ended up with several ideas for home modifications and other hacks that Bill Fertig and his team came up with to enhance her quality of life.

“We try to phone people, rather than email,” Fertig said.

“Rather than answering a quick question from a category on a form, it gives us the opportunity to chat and respond more fully and directly.

Hers was a typical case where we were able to identify so many areas of information that she could utilize comprehensively.

When our information specialists make direct personal contact with people, very good things happen.”

On the gardening end, the team suggested a short-handled gardening rake for gardening from a wheelchair.

The gardening chat let to simple home modifications such as:

Spring hinge pins for exterior doors to simplify door opening/closing from a wheelchair

Adding a magnetic catch to the back of the door to keep the door open when needed.

Fold-down kitchen cabinet rack choices for quick accessibility to upper kitchen cabinets.

Vanity drain and trap options to facilitate roll-under bathroom vanity access.

 

 

 

 

 

UNITED SPINAL’S RESOURCE CENTER

TACKLES TOUGH QUESTIONS

Thanks to a combination of Daniela Castagnino’s personal knowledge, contacts at D.C.-based home-health agencies, a local center for independent living, department of disability services and the local United Spinal chapter, the team was able to help Wes Holloway find a PCA and make the move.

“It is great to see that the Resource Center responds quickly in a personalized, thorough and individualized way.

I didn’t get the call center, voicemail runaround,’’ says Holloway, who hopes to teach at the university level while continuing with socially-engaged art projects.

UNITED SPINAL’S RESOURCE CENTER

TACKLES TOUGH QUESTIONS

Wes Holloway reached out to the Resource Center for help finding a personal care attendant when he moved to Washington, D.C., from Houston to pursue a Master of Fine Arts at George Washington University.

An accomplished artist, Holloway took his first year of coursework via Zoom.

But when in-person classes for his second year demanded a quick relocation adjacent to campus, the scramble was on.

Castagnino, who is based in D.C., remembers getting an email on a Friday afternoon that Holloway needed PCA help for the weekend.

“Bill and I put all ideas to work and put all hands on deck at the last minute.

I checked a Listserv for caregivers, CILs and agencies and showed Wes how to narrow a search on Care.com,” says Castagnino.

UNITED SPINAL’S RESOURCE CENTER

TACKLES TOUGH QUESTIONS

Shannon Cobb participates in wheelchair lacrosse, searches for more adaptive sports in her location an hour-plus away from Chicago and is interested in extreme wheelchair sports.

Fertig wrote a letter of recommendation to help Cobb with a grant to fund a wheelchair that stands up to the abuse of WCMX.

The center also has helped the budding social worker with peer advice on how to stretch the paltry disability payment that she receives each month.

Lindsey Elliott, a social worker who serves as United Spinal’s director of member initiatives and as an information specialist, invited Shannon Cobb to one of the Resource Center’s new Zoom-based nationwide peer sessions.

“Her participation led to resources and information from her peers who were on the call — United Spinal members from all over the country.

She was on the call with notebook in hand, furiously taking notes on all the resources,” says Elliott.

“We started these calls to address the isolation born of COVID. They are a time to kick back and chit chat about all kinds of things.

Lots of questions are asked and information is shared.”

“I have learned to be very resilient. I cannot imagine how my journey would have been without the team of people at the Resource Center,” says Cobb.

UNITED SPINAL’S RESOURCE CENTER

TACKLES TOUGH QUESTIONS

Shannon Cobb, a sociology student at McHenry County College in Illinois, says she is one of the Resource Center’s most frequent users.

“I’ve sent so many random questions to the Resource Center — it’s hard to list all the things they’ve helped me with.

Overall, it’s nice to know someone has your back,” says Cobb, a paraplegic who uses a manual wheelchair — often pulled by Princess, her Rottweiler-Shepherd service dog.

“I was having a lot of problems figuring out how to get things done when I was first injured [in 2018],” she says.

“The Resource Center has helped with finding accessible housing, adapting a home to be more wheelchair-friendly and helping me find a wheelchair and getting grants.”

DOGS AND CATS WALKWAY AND SCULPTURE GARDENS

MAURICE A, FERRÉ PARK DOWNTOWN MIAMI

Earlier this month, work took me to Cali Colombia — where I toured colorful public art of cats at Parque del Gato on Rio Cali.

Back in Miami, I visited the Dogs and Cats walkway on Biscayne Bay, inspired by Cali.

The wheelchair-accessible free public art is in Maurice Ferre Park near the Frost Science and Perez Art museums.

The downtown Miami exhibit was packed with people when I visited on a breezy Sunday morning.

My favorite is the Siamese Cat Michi by artist Lucia Morales.

UNITED SPINAL’S RESOURCE CENTER

TACKLES TOUGH QUESTIONS 

“Rehabilitation stays have decreased so dramatically over the years I’ve been involved in the field, and it can be so difficult for people to get all of the information they need in such a short time,” Jane Wierbicky says.

“It’s very gratifying to talk with people to help them drill down to the information they need when they need it and hopefully feel supported and less overwhelmed.”

“This is why the Resource Center is here: to fight for people and give them the support they need — on a personal and professional level — to attain the best quality of life possible,” says Fertig.