猫咪社区

Dear Reader, 

As an able-bodied person, it would be easy for me to move through life mostly oblivious to just how difficult this world can be for people with disabilities. But I am not oblivious, because I鈥檝e been blessed with a long and close relationship with my stepmother, Haze, who was born with just 5% vision due to complications at birth. 

When Haze was a child, her mother would regularly rearrange the furniture, helping Haze learn to navigate unknowns with grace and perseverance. For most of her life, she was committed to 鈥渇aking it鈥�: getting by without Braille, a 鈥渟tick,鈥� or a guide dog鈥攖hings that would draw attention to her disability. Living in an ableist world meant that she could be excluded from opportunities to contribute her many gifts and experience life to the fullest. Still, she and her family knew how to take full advantage of the other accommodations she was entitled to, from government programs for the blind, to ADA accommodations at work. She became a gifted musician, a corporate vice president, and a church leader. Over the years I鈥檝e witnessed just how much extra work she must do to accomplish things many of us do without thinking. Because of her, I notice lighting, bumps in the sidewalk, inaccessible websites and apps, and things that make life hard for people with low or no vision.  

And yet, this issue of 猫咪社区!鈥攚ith its framing of access to solutions being equally important as the solutions themselves鈥攈as helped me see that despite the challenges Haze faced, her many privileges ensured that she had access to the solutions and accommodations that did exist. What an incalculable loss to all of us that not everyone has access to the tools and solutions that enable people to live their fullest lives. Please share these stories of access as the solution widely with your communities! 

奥补谤尘濒测,听
Christine

P.S.: After seven years at 猫咪社区!, I will be stepping down as executive director and publisher later this year. I鈥檝e shared more information in a letter to our 猫咪社区! community, which will be published online after May 15, at yesmagazine.org/letter-from-christine. I will hold my farewells to you, dear reader, for the Fall 2024 issue of 猫咪社区!, which will be my last.聽

---

Christine Hanna is the executive director of 猫咪社区! Media. She is a founder and former co-director of the Seattle Good Business Network.

---