Giving Others a Voice

Kick off the FANS Network initiatives at our launch party

The FANS Network Monthly Blog

Hello. My name is Nicole Donant-Moore, and I have been interning for the Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities for about 3 months as the FANS Network Administrative Assistant Intern. I assist in helping oversee the FANS Network, and I am very pleased at the progress we have been able to make thus far. One of our initiatives that we have started is called the Novel Adventures Book Club that will meet on the first Wednesday of each month. We will aim to discuss a different genre each month and April's book is a mystery that is pictured above called, The Amazing Adventures of Abby McQuade: The Ghosts of Largo Bay by Evan Jacobs.

We have received donations like the books for the book club to help individuals that we serve, and it has been a huge blessing. As a person with Cerebral Palsy, it warms my heart to see the community come together to help others like me.

I have struggled all my life. The doctors told my parents that I would never be able to walk or talk. So, for me to be able to prove everyone wrong and go to college and major in English has helped me communicate and share my story with others. Working for TuscBDD had been a dream of mine ever since they took an interest in my story.

I want to show the community that people with disabilities can do different and great things! Personally, I don't like that term, and I am sure others don't either. People with disabilities all have barriers to face, and for some it's a daily struggle. I feel privileged to work for TuscBDD because I feel like I can give others a voice and give them hope that they aren't "broken" or "handicapped." We are simply special individuals that face challenges, and in the words of Helen Keller, "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it." To be able to socialize with this particular community through working at Charmed and now the FANS Network has led me to believe that my work will help society view people with disabilities in a new light. It will help others to see that we can do whatever we set our minds to.

Society might think that people with disabilities aren't "normal" and while that may be true, everyone has their own definition of "normal." What is normal really? Being born with Cerebral Palsy is "normal" to me, and I wouldn't change it for the world because I get to bring hope, joy, and inspiration to others. I know several individuals that light up when I speak with them and some carry on conversations with me. People with disabilities open up to me because I can relate to them. I wouldn't have it any other way because it sparks a desire in me to fight for their rights, and I am blessed to have that opportunity with TuscBDD.

Email Nicole at FANS@tuscbdd.org, to find out how you can get involved and participate in the FANS Network.

Help us kick off the FANS Network initiatives at our launch party on April 26th from 12 until 2 pm at the Charmed: Gifts With Meaning store in Downtown New Philadelphia.

~Nicole Donant-Moore

Wed, Apr 4th, 2018