Why Hope Travels Matters with Kelley Brooks Simoneaux
Each year, our Hope Travels 5K event gets a little bigger—and we’re amazed by all the ways our community creatively participates, both locally and from afar.
Help Hope Live Board Member Kelley Brooks Simoneaux, aka The Pushy Lawyer, is an attorney, disability rights advocate, and mom who is taking her support of our mission further than ever this year by planning her own Hope Travels event in Washington, D.C.
We talked to Kelley about why she’s going the distance for Help Hope Live this May. Join the fun and register for Hope Travels 2025!
I was 16 years old when I sustained a spinal cord injury as a passenger in a car accident. At that age, I was incredibly active—playing sports, socializing, and looking forward to everything that comes with being a teenager.
When doctors told me I would be paralyzed and use a wheelchair for the rest of my life, I had no real frame of reference for what that would mean. My initial thoughts centered on everything I believed I could no longer do.
I wasn’t thinking about new possibilities—I was mourning what I thought I had lost.
The conversations I had with myself and others were about limitations, not opportunities. I didn’t know anyone else with a spinal cord injury, so I had no examples of what life could still look like after injury.
For years after, I resisted including myself as part of the disability community.
I saw disability as a negative label—something to be avoided rather than embraced. I thought, “If only I could walk, then I could get up these stairs, or do this thing…” My focus remained on what I lacked rather than ways to approach things differently.
When I saw another person in a wheelchair, I would instinctively avoid them. That instinct came from internalized ableism.
Because disability wasn’t normalized in my world, I rejected it.
It wasn’t until much later that I realized the problem wasn’t that I was in a wheelchair or couldn’t get up the stairs: it was the lack of accessibility where I lived.
Once I shifted my mindset from “I am the problem” to “my environment needs to change,” I felt empowered.
I started to use my voice to become a better advocate, for myself and for my community.
For a long time, I went without a support system of people who truly understood my experience. Years later, I started connecting with others in the spinal cord injury community.
I interacted with people who led fulfilling lives—they traveled, worked, became parents, and pushed past barriers.
These connections became especially important as I navigated pregnancy and motherhood. I had questions that my able-bodied friends simply couldn’t answer, and finding other women with spinal cord injuries who had been pregnant and raised children was invaluable.
Today, some of my closest friends are part of that community, and I can’t imagine my life without them.
Over time, I’ve come to see my spinal cord injury as a superpower.
My brain has rewired itself to problem-solve and adapt in ways I never had to before. Every challenge I overcome builds my confidence and resilience, pushing me to tackle bigger challenges.
Learning to think outside the box is an incredibly valuable skill. When you live with a disability, you develop that skill every single day.
I’ve embraced so many opportunities that, at age 16, I thought were impossible. I’m helping to expand the sport of adaptive boxing. I go rock-climbing, I mono-ski, and I use off-road track wheelchairs to hike alongside my kids in the wilderness.
These experiences continue to grow, and I can’t wait for what is ahead. The landscape for adaptive sports and recreation has evolved so much.
Initially, I didn’t see myself as someone who would participate in a 5K or other fitness events.
I thought these events were just for runners, and since I couldn’t run, I didn’t see a place for myself in them.
It wasn’t until I saw other wheelchair users participating in races and fitness events that I realized, “Wait, I can do that too!” I had two arms, four wheels, and the ability to push my way to a finish line. That realization changed everything.
Today, being a part of the Hope Travels 5K is a huge deal for me.
It represents inclusion and the idea that even though movement looks different for everyone, we all deserve a space to move in and to be a part of a community.
My advice to someone with a disability who wants to participate in Hope Travels is, you belong here.
Every push you make during a 5K is an affirmation that people with disabilities deserve to be included. You don’t need fancy equipment or years of training.
Show up as you are, move your body in whichever way works for you, and just be part of the experience.
Don’t wait until race day to start moving, either! Even small efforts, like pushing down a sidewalk or around a track, will help you to build confidence. Have a plan, but be flexible, because plans can change. The most important thing is showing up and giving it your best.
The Hope Travels 5K is more than just a race—it’s about inclusion, awareness, and fundraising for a mission that matters.
As a Board Member, I’ve seen firsthand the impact that Help Hope Live has on people’s lives. Their support for individuals and families facing financial burdens after a spinal cord injury or other life-changing event is critical. I want to be both a voice for the disability community within the organization and an advocate for expanding its reach.
As a lawyer, I often see people use other platforms for fundraising, not fully understanding that it could compromise their ability to receive necessary government benefits.
Help Hope Live provides fundraising in a way that protects your ability to keep those benefits, and I want more people to know about this important issue in medical fundraising.
In support of that critical mission, Hope Travels is a powerful visual representation of people of all abilities coming together, pushing forward, and achieving something as a community.
I’m especially excited to bring Hope Travels to Washington, D.C. I invite anyone in the area to join us.
With Hope Travels this year, let’s show that movement belongs to everyone.
Get moving with Kelley and support our mission by registering for our Hope Travels 5K today. Plan your own 5K event or spread the word with our Hope Travels virtual toolkit.
Connect with Kelley on social media @PushyLawyer on Facebook and on Instagram to follow her updates on advocacy, legal work, and her personal experiences navigating life with a spinal cord injury.
