28 February 2024
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Carrie Greenwood is a proud, life-long Topekan. She was born with the disability ‘arthrogryposis’ which is a rare, congenital joint contracture in two or more areas of the body. She says, at birth…it may have been a bit of a shock to her parents, but they were always supportive.
“They knew they were going to raise me like any other child, so that means my parents never held me back, they never hid me, they just knew this was a part of who I was, and so they always encouraged me to live a full life.”
Most of the surgeries she endured were as a child — but extensive physical and occupational therapy over the years gave her more range of motion. She also credits teachers and former students in the Shawnee heights school district for guidance and friendship.
‘I was treated really great by my classmates, and I say that because I know not everyone has positive stories as I do.”
Carrie attended college to become a graphic designer — and obtained her associate degree — but her perspective on everything changed when she attended the “Kansas City Leadership Forum.” There…she noticed how vast the disability community was — noticed disability pride for the first time — and became influenced by positive role models.
“It changed my life – and it sent me on a new path that I wasn’t expecting.”
That path was a journey of growth that lead to acceptance, understanding, connectivity and the desire to help others. She soon started work at “Kansas Youth Empowerment Academy” as the outreach coordinator, and over time, became program coordinator. Her exposure to ‘Miss Wheelchair’ came by accident while surfing the web.
“I don’t even know exactly what I was looking for, but I came across the Wheelchair America website. This was an empowerment and leadership program for strong women who happened to be wheelchair users.”
Realizing Kansas wasn’t a part of it, she knew something had to be done!”
“I found out that a woman who is a wheelchair user can serve as an independent delegate and start a program…so that’s what I did…after a lot of coaxing by my friends, my family, my coworkers and that kind of thing.”
She became ‘Miss Wheelchair Kansas’ in 2004…and now 20 years later, she still leads the nonprofit that offers an adult program, and a ‘Little Miss’ program with mentoring relationships for younger girls.
“it truly allows them to see that they can be anything they want to be. I’m really proud that we’re able to offer those strong role models to girls across our state.”
When asked how see makes people see beyond the apparatus?
“I think there’s still a lot of people that need to be educated, and if they had a little bit of exposure to someone with a disability, I think it could completely change their perception.”
…And what makes her happy?
“With Miss Wheelchair, I get to focus on female wheelchair users, but when I come to work every day, I get to focus on young people with disabilities, and I’m able to bring leadership and empowerment to them through our organization.”
Even though she has amazing accomplishments professionally — her proudest moment personally was moving out on her own four years ago…so what’s next?
“I’m at a point in my life where I definitely would love to be married someday and have a family. I think I would love to do a lot more traveling and take advantage of any opportunity that’s out there.”
All of that should be obtainable soon since she usually makes a list of goals and then checks them off…one by one. One goal was driving a car — and technology is so advanced that she has been able to drive a customized van…with just a joystick…for quite some time.
“I can definitely say that I’m a proud person with a disability. I know that this is who god wanted me to be.”
Carrie greenwood has made such a difference in the disability community over the past 15-20 years — but truly believes her best work is yet to come. She also would like you to contact her if you have any questions about the organizations we discussed — or disablities in general.
If you know a woman in northeast Kansas to recognize in this segment, go to ksnt.com and nominate them there. We feature these honorees on the last Tuesday of each month.