Woman advocates for people with disabilities

Amanda Edwards doesn’t let the fact she’s in a wheelchair keep her from living a full and active life, and through the Summit Independent Living Center, she has found a way to help others overcome their disabilities as well.

Edwards, who was paralyzed below mid-thigh in a car accident just before she turned 16, works with young people with disabilities through the Summit Independent Living Center, a United Way member agency that provides advocacy and resources for people with disabilities.

“I feel like I’ve come into my own and found what I’m really good, who I’d like to help and what I’d like to achieve,” Edwards said. “I found that through Summit Independent Living Center.”

Edwards was interested in helping others with disabilities and took peer training that led to her certification as a peer advocate.

She began doing disability awareness training for fourth-graders through seniors in high school and started working in the office at the Summit Center.

She currently leads a group called Youth Opening Doors Through Advocacy, a networking and advocacy group for young people with disabilities. They learn about the history and culture of disabilities and are currently working on transportation issues that affect people with disabilities.

Summit Independent Living Center is just one of the many agencies and services that benefit from the local United Way campaign, which continues through Dec. 31.

The theme of the campaign is “Touch a Life” and the goal is to raise $850,000. Last year, United Way member agencies helped nearly 57,000 people in need.

Ninety-nine percent of all money raised stays in local communities.

“The United Way is the heart of all these organizations,” Edwards said. “That’s all they do is help people in our community.”

Edwards is a living example of how people with disabilities can live an active and fulfilling life.

“I didn’t let my wheelchair keep me from living a full life,” she said.

She earned her GED, is happily married to husband, Josh, and is the proud mother of three children: Daniel, 9, Nathan, 5, and Ann Marie, 2. She enjoys cooking, fishing and hunting and a variety of other activities.

“That’s how I live my life,” she said. “I take on anything. I’m very enthusiastic. I have lots of energy. I don’t let being in a wheelchair stop me.”

She’s interested in furthering her education in human resources and wants to work with young people make a successful transition after experiencing a disability.

“I want to help them be their own person,” she said. “That’s my passion. If I can help one child be strong and not let their disability limit them, that’s reward enough right there.”

In addition to Summit Independent Living Center, current United Way Member Agencies are Big Brothers and Sisters, Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs of Glacier Country, Eagle Transit, First Call for Help-Help Net, Flathead CARE, Flathead Food Bank, Flathead Youth Home, Girl Scouts, Head Start, Literacy Volunteers, Mental Health Crisis Line, Nurturing Center, Retired & Senior Volunteer Program, Samaritan House, Sinopah House, Special Friends Advocacy Program and the Violence Free Crisis Line/Abbie Shelter.

 Services of the United Way include CASA for Kids, Disaster Care Services, Leaders of Tomorrow and the United Way Volunteer Center.

The United Way also supports the following emergency food and shelter programs in Northwest Montana: Bread Basket, Community Harvest Food Bank, DOVES, Helping Hands, Hot Springs Food Pantry, Lake County Mental Health Center, Libby Food Pantry, Mission Valley Food Pantry, Neighbors in Need, Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry, Salvation Army Feeding Program, Thompson Falls Food Pantry and Troy Food Pantry.

Donors to United Way may donate with cash, payroll deductions, charging to a credit card, direct billing or automatic bank transfers.

Donors also may designate which member agencies or non-affiliated partner agencies or the Montana Shares Federation they want to receive their gifts.

For more information on the United Way campaign, call 752-7266. Donations may be mailed to P.O. Box 7217, Kalispell, MT 59904.

Local volunteers determine where the donations are spent. Last year, more than 100 community members participated in the local Citizens Review Panel process to allocate funding and set the monetary goal.

For more information on making a difference in the community through supporting the United Way, or about how to Live United, call 752-7266.