We love attending Abilities Expo events, and Abilities Expo Ft. Lauderdale in October 2024 did not disappoint.
We connected with clients, Ambassadors, and other excited attendees and got the chance to share our mission with a wide audience at our medical fundraising workshop.
Connecting with Clients & Ambassadors
In Ft. Lauderdale, we saw clients Jerry (Jerome David) Postal, Christine Kent, and Belinda Senatus and Help Hope Live Ambassador Ryan Gebauer:
Old Friends & New Friends
We met up with Alan T. Brown, Director of New Partner Engagement for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. We have been loving the Reeve Foundation’s webinar series with Nurse Linda!
We also connected with author Cindy Barnes Kolbe, a Help Hope Live supporter and talented author – you may remember her from our 2023 interview! Her book Just Keep Swimming is widely available.
As much as we love getting to connect with supports and clients in-person, one of the best parts of attending conferences and Expos is getting to share our mission with individuals and families who aren’t acquainted with our trusted medical fundraising yet.
If our presence at these events allows even one family to find us who might need our fundraising help, the trip is always worth it.
Partners & Awards
One of the reasons why Abilities Expos are so eye-opening to attend is the wide range of exhibitors, partners, and vendors who show up to showcase their wares and services. Check out this ComfyGO Majestic chair that happens to match our signature teal!
We were excited to attend United Spinal Association’s Strong Wheeled Together 2024 awards presentation.
Permobil Foundation presented the 2024 Brooke Ellison Community Visionary Award to Jen French. This is the inaugural year for this unique award, which honors “a wheelchair user who advances the fields of technology or business” with a commitment to civic engagement and social impact.
A globally recognized thought leader who joined the disability community after being struck by a car at age 11, Brooke served as United Spinal’s Vice President of Technology and Innovation and lived with quadriplegia. She passed away in February 2024 following multiple decades of impactful service.
The award’s first recipient Jen French is the Executive Director of Neurotech Network and a Craig H. Neilsen Visionary Prize awardee.
The Strong Wheeled Together awards are all about showcasing organizations and individuals making a tangible impact on the disability community – click here to meet all the 2024 awardees.
Let’s Meet Up!
We attend as many Abilities Expos and disability community events as we can – so if you’re planning to check out a local community event, visit our Events calendar and see if we’ll be there!
