Cincinnati nonprofit organization
What Disability Taught Kate
I am so fortunate that my work allows me the opportunity to get to know some incredible people who are so passionate about their cause. Kate Lopez is definitely among them. She and I met when I coordinated the marketing/public relations for the 2015 Cincinnati ReelAbilities Film Festival organized by LADD, Inc. and we are working together again on the 2017 Festival. Kate is such a joy to be around. On a big event, with so many missing pieces, it is great to be working with someone like her who takes initiative and does what it takes to get the job done and done well. And with a smile on her face! For this Festival, Kate is an instrumental member of our team and the amazing thing is she is doing it while living temporarily with her family in Nashville, Tennessee. She commutes back and forth frequently.
Something I didn’t realize until recently about Kate is that her passion for this work stems from her own disability. It was because of Krohn’s Disease that, at the age of 14, she underwent a 9 ½ hour surgery to remove her large intestine. It was the procedure that altered her life forever, not because of the loss of her organ, but because the over pressurization of her muscles from having her legs in one position for that long caused something called compartment syndrome. In other words, she lost most of the muscles in her lower legs.
For a teenage girl who was the star of her volleyball team, and an overall competitive athlete, that sudden change was not easy…even more so at such a sensitive period in a girl’s life.
“It was definitely identity changing but I had a supportive family and friends who gave me the power to turn my life into something,” she told me. “I wear braces most of the time but people don’t know I have a disability. I can’t run and be as active as I want to be but I try to do as much as I can.”
Below are Kate’s answers to my questions.
Lisa: Because of your early experience, you are now professionally helping others as you were helped.
Kate: I was a sophomore in high school when I began volunteering at the Drake Center, where I also participated in physical therapy. My parents didn’t think I would be able to drive again but I learned how to drive with hand controls at Drake Hospital. That combination of Drake’s impact on other people as well as my own life really is what influenced my career choice. I am a therapist now with a specialty in teaching people to drive with adaptations, if it is safe to drive. I want people to see that there is a way to live fully with a disability.
Lisa: What is a life lesson you learned from your surgery?
Kate: I learned life is more fragile than you think when you are a teenager but also that it isn’t just your body that can be strong. Your mind is what is stronger. It made me fierce in making me want to be independent and to make as much of a difference in the world as I can. I also learned that life doesn’t have to be what you expect. I keep learning that with each patient and each interaction.
It has made me more thankful for the people I have around me. I feel like I am not as alone as I may think because of my support system and that makes me want to be that support system for others. I don’t let anything hold me back – I travel extensively, I scuba dive and mountain climb. I do physical things, I just do them in an adaptive way now.
Lisa: How did you become involved with ReelAbilities?
Kate: I went to the first Cincinnati ReelAbilities Film Festival, then co-chaired the Veterans Committee of the 2015 Film Festival. The stories just meant so much to me. I don’t think I’d want to stray from them, as it is a connection with others who share my same passion. One of the best things that happened from my involvement was when I was talking to a friend who has a daughter with Spina Bifida. She shared how someone came up to her at ReelAbilities and said she doesn’t recognize anybody. That was the biggest compliment of the Festival because it demonstrated that we are reaching people who are not normally sought.
Lisa: You have define disability differently. Can you explain?
Kate: To me, I see a disability as something that would limit an aspect of life. An impairment, however, is something that is different and something is not working as well. Disability impacts your participating in life. Sometimes I am just in the impairment phase. One of the biggest things about wearing braces is finding shoes that I like but I’ve got it down to a science to find shoes I like and adapt them and make it work. I will not let the impairment get in the way.
Lisa: You have a seven year old son. What do you teach im about disabilities?
Kate: My son is around a lot of people with disabilities through my work, experience, and friends. I try to lead by example and don’t make difference as noticeable. He calls my braces my shoes. He just thinks some people have differences and others don’t. When it comes to kids struggling, I teach him to be more helpful and patient. When it comes to physical difference, I’m not sure he even notices. I just make it part of the package of the real world. We really are all the same on the inside and that is what matters most.
Absolutely, Kate, that IS what matters most!
Remember Karyl As A True Friend
It had been years since Karyl Cunningham and I had last seen each other. In fact, admittedly we had a hard time remembering where we met, but that didn’t seem to matter. Within in minutes I felt as I was sitting across the table from a very close friend.
That is Karyl’s way. When you speak, she listens with careful focus. She naturally inspires others to want to do more, be more, achieve more. Her smile leaves you with a strong reminder that she is someone who cares.
Ironically I learned she has the role now of another woman who also held a special place in my heart, Toni Miles. Karyl is executive director of the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati’s Black and Latino Achiever’s Program which provides teens with essential tools for pursuing higher education and identifying career opportunities. One hundred percent of the Program’s high school seniors graduate high school, with over ninety percent entering post secondary education and over eighty percent, completing college, earning Associate’s or Bachelor’s degrees. I remember well seeing the importance of this work during the five years I did public relations work for the Y.
It is no wonder Karyl is the recipient of numerous community activity awards, including the 2016 Venue Magazine Women of Influence Award, 2006 Star Award, Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, for individual community contribution; Urban All-American Achievement Award, Toledo, Ohio; and Ohio State Assembly Community Service Recognition.
She has served on several nonprofit boards, including the Leadership Council, Seton High School, and Healthy Moms and Babes. And she serves on the boards of the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, the OTR Foundation and the 3CDC New Market Funds Advisory board and member of the Citizen Advisory Panel for Agenda 360.
Let’s learn more about Karyl.
Lisa: Please tell us about a life experience that may have been difficult or challenging, but ended up being a positive growth lesson.
Karyl: I would say that the most difficult challenge for me, was as young women beginning my first non-profit position in my hometown of Toledo, Ohio. After working there about a year, I was approached by my employer who had an interested in transferring me to Covington, Kentucky to open up a satellite office that would serve individuals who were underemployed or unemployed and interested in starting a career in retail sales. To say the least, I was nervous and skeptical in moving from my hometown, which at the time felt so final. In hindsight, it was one of the best decisions that I made. As a result of this move, I fell in love with Cincinnati and decided to take a leap of faith and look for other opportunities that would align to my skills, knowledge and abilities in the field of education or non-profit work. I overcame my fear of leaving my safe place and jumping right in! And I am still here, after 30 plus years.
Lisa: What are some of your greatest passions and how do they impact your career and life choices?
Karyl: Definitely I’d say connecting with people, reading history/novels and cooking. In life…we are all connected, somehow and in some way, and it is a beautiful thing. People can impact your life in so many good ways, ways that give us hope, gives us advise and teaches us to advance to our greater good! History teaches us so much about who we are, why we are – and supplies us with a foundation and framework for making decisions in both our personal and professional lives. Cooking allows us to blend people and conversation over great bounty!
Lisa: What is the greatest legacy or impact that you hope to be remembered by when others think about you?
Karyl: I want people to remember me as someone who was always honest, trustworthy and a true friend! Someone who made a difference!
Lisa: What is one of your favorite pieces of advice and why?
Karyl: Never allow anyone’s negative opinion of you, become your reality! That advice says it all!
She Helps Others Achieve Victories
I am so fortunate that my work gives me the opportunity to get know and be inspired by some truly incredible people. Faith Maynard is among them. Faith joined the team of Cincinnati nonprofit organization, LADD, Inc. (Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled) 14 years ago as a direct support professional, and several positions later is now program manager for LADD’s Community Connections. That program is the only non-facilities based program of its kind in Cincinnati. Groups of 3 to 5 adults choose places in our area to explore with one of LADD’s social guides. Community Connections reduces isolation and also provides an opportunity for participants to learn and strengthen life and communication skills, build confidence through decision making, and explore their own likes and dislikes.
Faith has a beautiful soul. Her passion for bringing out the best in others is evident from your first encounter with her. It is what drives her. It is how she transforms lives and gives people reasons to look forward to the day ahead.
It is very befitting that she was given the name that she has.
She shared some of her story with me. It is below.
Faith’s Own Words
“I like doing work that actually, measurably matters to someone else each day. I like dealing with real-life challenges. I like taking ideas and turning them into reality. If the realization of dreams is in some way surprising or empowering, that’s just extra fun. I feel best when the small victories that I get to shepherd people through lead to bigger, more brilliant ideas. These are not my decisions to make or my lives to lead: my job is to present a menu, envision solutions and, ultimately, walk beside them as their own decisions and solutions take root and bear fruit.
How I came to my career with LADD was a journey. In college I studied comparative social sciences: sociology, anthropology, psychology with minor emphasis in history and economics (because economics is a social science!). I also did lots of organizing (politically and otherwise) through my association with punk rock music, it’s sort of the defining thing of my life so far. I’m not sure what I learned from this part of my life, but I know I felt that there was no cooperation as pure as volunteer cooperation towards an immaterial, non-monetary goal. Cooperation for joy. For cooperation’s sake. Graffiti on the world.
I love the variety that my work life here at LADD encompasses. I love the occasions to work fully with my body as well as the time I spend envisioning a better way and a better world. I love the try-it-and-see opportunities to sample the veritable smorgasbord of approaches and solutions to the problems we face each day. I love helping the folks I support develop visions of their own and put them into play.
Beyond that, though, the most amazing thing about my job at LADD is how much of my life fits inside it. I still book bands, I just do it for LADD. In my capacity at LADD I throw parties, volunteer, make art, bake cookies, go to museums, do yoga, canoe and the list could go on and on! In my newest role I feel like a kid in a sandbox. Here I’ve got ten groups of adults with disabilities that I can send out to be a force of good (and joy!) in the community.
As for someone who has greatly impacted my life, I’d say my most obvious influence is DJ Gatwood. She has been my supervisor for 12 of the past 14 years here at LADD. I’ve been taking great care to learn as much as I possibly can from her and I haven’t quite captured her magic. She’s fantastic at making people feel heard, getting them to hear others and weaving solutions. She is the picture of fluidity, flexibility and creativity.
photo credit: Jesse Byerly
Of course, my relationship with John Roach, someone with whom I have been a part of his life through my work, is pretty important. His experience and strength is so different from my own. He’s the one who insisted I start taking folks with disabilities on amazing, ambitious trips. He practically dared me to go on the dog sledding adventure (which I did with Gena Wade), pestered me into planning the Disney trip and wheedled me into canoeing through the Florida Everglades into the Gulf of Mexico. He’s so up for anything. Without him in my life, I wouldn’t have joined the Unitarian Church or volunteered with Mobo Bike Coop. He loves to work hard and take big risks.
There have been other fantastic folks that I’ve served here at LADD. Neil Dignan, Mike Weber and Dale Jackson jump to mind. Their involvement with Visionaries and Voices and Thunder Sky has led me to build even more community ties.
Amazing doesn’t mean easy. Life will be better when you figure that out.
Ruth Voss Was A Voice For Youth
Many years back and very early in my career, my mentor, Bill Mefford, told me about an organization for whom one of his friends was looking for a public relations contractor. Long story short, that woman was Ruth Voss and the organization that became my first long term PR client is Cincinnati nonprofit organization, Lighthouse Youth Services.
Ruth was the impetus for Lighthouse’s existence. (One of my close friends, Connie Dreyfuss, was a friend of Ruth’s and also one of the founding board members of Lighthouse.) I never had the fortune of meeting Ruth but from what I’ve learned about her, she was an incredible woman, mother, wife, and advocate.
photo provided by Peter Voss
Recently I’ve come to know one of Ruth’s sons, Peter, and through him I’m learning more about this woman whose impact is touching the lives of thousands of young people.
It was in 1971 when Ruth, then the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Teen-ager editor and mother of eight, received an urgent invitation to visit with President Nixon in the oval office of the White House. The President was looking for her ideas on getting youth involved in the country’s affairs. As can happen when one begins talking about their passion, that conversation quickly became pointed toward a Cincinnati half way house for girls that was just opening.
Ruth sat beside our country’s leader and told him the story of how she and a group of volunteers had tirelessly worked for four years to get that project off the ground, and how desperately short they were of operating funds. President Nixon looked her in the eyes and asked her how much she needed. “$30,000,” was her answer. “I’ll give you $50,000,” he told her.
That check led to Cincinnati’s New Life for Girls that ultimately became Lighthouse Youth Services, and that $50,000 was its first year’s budget. Peter told me how that allowed them to buy two homes – one in Madisonville and one on Ezzard Charles Drive. Ruth was a sorority sister of Marge Schott, whom also became a donor. One of those homes was names after the Reds’ former owner.
Peter tears up when he talks about his relationship with his mother. An only child, her parents were immigrants who came to the United States through Ellis Island and made a home in Cincinnati. She and her husband, Peter’s father, met on a blind date when they were attending University of Cincinnati. When they married, Ruth wanted a large family and was a loving role model to her children. Her strong heart for kids led to her work at the Enquirer, and her hosting events for and coaching young writers.
He shared with me a prose he wrote as a gift for his mother on her first birthday after his dad’s passing.
“ Mom cherished this gift with all her heart, and it remains on display in my home; always!,” Peter said, adding, “When my wife & I were dating, she was told by her ObGyn MD she would never have biological kids. We fooled science and were blessed with Katie & Bobby, two years apart. We NEVER take our children for granted; nor one another, as Gloria (his wife) nearly expired delivering Bobby!”
Please click on the photo to enlarge it.
Peter told me if I had known his mother, I would have no doubt been her friend and I can absolutely see that. I wish I had had the opportunity to have met the woman who set my career path in motion but I am glad to know her son. Ruth’s impact lives on.
Loveland Twins Honored Nationally
Way to go Alex and Hannah Laman, now 13, who began (with their mom, Angela) their own Cincinnati area non-profit, Adopt A Book five years ago! They have collected and donated nearly 110,000 books for over 100 organizations that serve other kids in need throughout Ohio and Northern Kentucky. And the Loveland twins were just named a 2016 honoree by the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, a national award program that celebrates 25 young people who are inspiring others through their impact! You can read my first post about the Laman’s here.
