More than a decade ago, Alex Elegudin started working as a volunteer helping organizations serving people with disabilities but saw how much more was needed for the disability community. As a person with a disability himself, since he became a quadriplegic in 2003 when he sustained a spinal cord injury in an accident, Alex saw many areas that were lacking, specifically how people with disabilities engage in the community and the services they receive. He knew there was room for much improvement.
credit - Alex Elegudin
In 2012, Alex co-founded Wheeling Forward as a way to provide an inclusive and engaging community to benefit people with disabilities. Wheeling Forward promotes these values through a variety of impactful programs designed to help people directly in what they need most, such as providing wheelchairs through donations, advocacy for services, and adaptive sporting and exercise programs held throughout New York City and the Tri-state area.
Adaptive sporting programming includes fitness activities and sporting events that have been adapted and designed to accommodate people with various disabilities. It can be particularly hard for people with disabilities to find ways to exercise or engage in sports since most gyms aren’t accessible and not all people with disabilities have the equipment or knowledge they need to engage in such activities at home or on their own. At Wheeling Forward, organizing these programs involves strategic planning to reserve accessible venues, securing necessary equipment for the activities, and often arranging transportation for members. Additionally, Alex makes sure to bring skilled instructors who have experience working with the disability population to provide support and enjoy a great event. In addition to their instructors, Wheeling Forward has a strong volunteer base such as local schools, colleges, and students who come to show their support.
People outside of the disability community may not understand how essential Alex Elegudin’s work is in making a difference in people’s lives. Wheeling Forward is about more than just physical exercise and sports. Their programs, events and various services, create a network for people with disabilities to feel empowered and become their best selves in a world where they face a myriad of barriers.
Wheeling Forward’s programs have 4 main pillars designed to positively affect: Confidence and self-esteem, community engagement and mentorship, physical and emotional well-being, and self-empowerment and advocacy.
Self-confidence is built through Wheeling Forward’s programming because it helps those with disabilities improve their physical health and emotional well-being, as well as teaching new skills and strategies. For people with disabilities, being active and exercising is a key driver of health. A lack of exercise can lead to a decline in health and lead to a higher risk of secondary complications. Secondary complications include issues like infections and pressure wounds. There are significant physical health benefits to participating in Wheeling Forward’s programming such as increased mobility, strength, and cardiovascular health. There are also many psychological benefits. When people participate in fitness activities and adaptive sports, they challenge themselves by setting personal goals leading to a tremendous sense of accomplishment when meeting those goals. All this increases motivation, reduces isolation, builds self-worth, and leads to strong personal growth.
For people with disabilities who deal with a significant lack of access and often isolation, getting to engage in such opportunities and programs goes a long way and many participants have said it is “life-changing”. When people with disabilities can’t access or participate in community activities, they often have a feeling of dejection about living in a world that often leaves them out. This is what Alex has committed his life to change.
Alex Elegudin has had this experience himself, especially since he became disabled unexpectedly at the age of 19, spending several years rebuilding his life and adapting to his new normal with a disability. He came to understand how being empowered to push yourself and having support to do so can promote independence and lessen the emotional burden of adapting to a disability that many people with disabilities experience because of the challenges of their disability and the way it isolates them from society. Alex knew this wasn’t an immovable cause but it would take a lot of work and time to move the needle on this for the thousands of people living with disabilities in NYC.
Wheeling Forward further promotes socialization and community engagement by connecting individuals with like-minded peers with disabilities from within the community. The supportive and inclusive environment created by Wheeling Forward’s programs and events gives members opportunities to learn from others, receive peer support, and strategize with others in the community, as well as socialize while having fun. Through this, people develop bonds and feel a sense of community belonging. During such a digital age, it’s hard to find opportunities for true person-to-person engagement and building meaningful relationships.
Alex encourages people without disabilities to get involved with programs and events at Wheeling Forward to better understand people living with disabilities:
“Many people without disabilities don't understand the perspective or experience of those with disabilities. They often look at people with disabilities as being different or foreign, but when the two communities work together through volunteerism and engagement, a bond forms that help people gain an understanding and awareness of disability, and that there is more that connects us than separates us. This understanding is fundamental for both groups to lessen the divide and achieve greater integration. And importantly, such interactions allow people with disabilities to benefit from a greater sense of belonging in society.”
Prior to participating in such activities with people with disabilities, many of those in the general population did not think about the barriers and challenges that people with disabilities face in the community. Here they get to experience firsthand some of those challenges and what it takes to overcome them, as well as learn strategies to create accessibility and how to find solutions so those with a variety of abilities can have access to participation. These experiences are transformative in dispelling myths and achieving a new level of understanding among those with disabilities and the general population that hopefully serves as a shared value of inclusion for the rest of their lives.
Overall, Alex Elegudin’s personal mission through Wheeling Forward and his professional career is to promote greater inclusion and expand the opportunities for people with disabilities available in our society. He strives to remove barriers that people with disabilities face toward community participation and to create greater equity for those living with disabilities.
About Alex Elegudin
Alex Elegudin has been working as an accessibility and disability inclusion professional for more than a decade. He has advocated and promoted accessibility initiatives across many industries and levels of government. Alex sustained a Spinal Cord Injury and became a quadriplegic due to an auto accident when he was in college. After this life-changing injury, Alex grappled with the new significant challenge in his life and how he would adapt to move forward. He went on to law school and became an attorney, but he remained committed to finding ways to help others with disabilities improve their quality of life and achieve their goals. In 2012, Alex co-founded Wheeling Forward to bring awareness to disability issues, and provide advocacy, supportive services, and key resources to the disability community. Wheeling Forward helps people with disabilities experience life to the fullest and enables them to see possibilities where others see insurmountable obstacles. Wheeling Forward is located in New York City and is a 501(c)3 registered non-profit organization.
Published by: Omar Hamdi