United Spinal Association and ICS co-sponsor first annual conference to empower women with disabilities

United Spinal Association and Independence Care System (ICS), are co-sponsoring the first annual conference to improve the lives, health, and well-being of women with disabilities.

The conference titled From Within -- A Discussion About Self-Esteem, Self-Awareness, & Self-Empowerment for Women with Disabilities, will include a variety of workshops to enable women with disabilities to overcome many common obstacles toward a better quality of life.  

Open to the public, From Within attendees will have the opportunity to participate in frank and open discussions on self-image, parenting, fitness & nutrition, dating & socializing, relationships, abuse & domestic violence, and breast health care.

"Women with physical disabilities are invisible in our society.  You seldom see images of women using wheelchairs or other mobility devices in the commercial media.  And the special needs of women with disabilities don't show up in the diversity conversation either.  Our goal is to give women with physical disabilities an opportunity to discuss self-esteem and self-awareness and become empowered to take charge of all areas of their health and lives," says Marlene Harmon-Perkins, United Spinal's VP for Corporate and Donor Relations and an organizer of the event.

"This event is one of Independence Care System's initiatives to address the full range of the healthcare needs of women with physical disabilities," says Marilyn Saviola, ICS Director of Advocacy, who will be among the presenters.  "It will provide a special opportunity for women to think about all the aspects of their lives and health."

One of the event's keynote speakers, Wendy Crawford, who is founder of mobileWomen.org, a site dedicated to women who use wheelchairs, will talk about "The Raw Beauty Project," an innovative visual arts project designed to inspire the public to create new perceptions, transform stereotypes and break through personal obstacles in expanding awareness of women with physical challenges. Crawford also chairs United Spinal's Women Without Limits Advisory Committee, which is committed to enhancing the lives of all women with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D) by identifying and addressing the many issues that are relevant in their lives.

Recognizing the well-documented impediments that women with disabilities face in accessing healthcare, the Greater NYC Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure will also receive the inaugural "From Within" Award during the event for their efforts to improve the lives, health, and well-being of women with disabilities.  This includes their support for ICS's model Breast Cancer Screening Project for Women with Physical Disabilities, now in its third year.

• The conference is free and open to the public with advance registration. Lunch will also be provided.
• Saturday, May 22nd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• ICS Brooklyn Center
• 25 Elm Place-5th Floor (Btw. Fulton Mall & Livingston)
• Brooklyn, NY 11201

Other speakers will include Bobbi Linn, author of Ode to a Diet Coke, the harrowing account of the descent of this very independent woman with Cerebral Palsy into the nursing home system and the crucial role of self-empowerment in her struggle to regain her independence; Kelly McAnnany, Esq., Disability Law Center, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, on the challenges of access and the rights of women with disabilities to health care; and Denise Baker, Social Worker with the Non-Residential Domestic Violence Program at Barrier Free Living, NYC's only shelter for disabled adults, on the pressing issue of domestic abuse.