PeerConnect: Living with a Long-Term Spinal Cord Injury

For November's PeerConnect, we would like to provide a space for individuals who have had long-term spinal cord injuries to connect. Living with a disability for 10 or 20+ years can bring new and unique circumstances, such as hardware wearing out, chronic UTIs, skin health issues and shoulder pain. Disability also brings deepened awareness of …
Continue reading PeerConnect: Living with a Long-Term Spinal Cord Injury

Women & SCI/D: Addressing and Surviving Abuse

A conversation about addressing and surviving abuse for women with disabilities. SPECIAL GUEST: Jenna Hardy-Surina is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist based out of Southern California. After working for over a decade helping people with physical rehabilitation post SCI and other neuromuscular conditions, Jenna witnessed the major gap in the holistic care for people …
Continue reading Women & SCI/D: Addressing and Surviving Abuse

Live Cooking Demonstration

Join us for a live cooking demonstration with Gabby DiSalvo from Cooking on Wheels! Come see how she prepares a stir fry recipe and hear her best tips and tricks she's learned from cooking in a wheelchair. If you would like to cook the meal alongside Gabby, she will be following this recipe: Gabby's Stir …
Continue reading Live Cooking Demonstration

Women & SCI/D: Navigating Caregivers and Relationships

Navigating relationships can be complicated, especially when individuals hold multiple roles. What does it look like when your partner or spouse is also your caregiver? Join us for a conversation this month as we dive into this unique experience that can not only feel frustrating or overwhelming but also be an opportunity for joy and …
Continue reading Women & SCI/D: Navigating Caregivers and Relationships

Adjusting to a New SCI

Acquiring a spinal cord injury is life-changing and comes with many unknowns. Regaining independence, adjusting to a wheelchair and making accommodations to your house and car can be overwhelming.  Finding support within the SCI community can be instrumental in recovery and beyond.For April's PeerConnect, we welcome newly injured individuals to join us for a discussion …
Continue reading Adjusting to a New SCI

Women & SCI/D: Pathways to Motherhood

Motherhood can encompass a wide variety of realities, but women with spinal cord injury and disease experience unique challenges and concerns on the journey to motherhood. Join us for a conversation, with a few mothers with SCI/D to learn about the positive aspects of parenting and in turn, navigate the difficulties. Explore motherhood in various …
Continue reading Women & SCI/D: Pathways to Motherhood

Bed Stuy Book Discussion

Join us for a discussion on the book Bed Stuy. We’ll be joined by the author, Jerry McGill! Jerry is a writer and artist who lives in Portland, Oregon. He is a wheelchair user who also wrote a memoir about how he sustained his injury. About the book: Rashid is a young Black man from Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, with a …
Continue reading Bed Stuy Book Discussion

Women & SCI/D: Pregnancy

Deciding to become pregnant or discovering that you are pregnant begins a transformative journey. Pregnancy can be a joyous experience that can come with a host of barriers and hurdles. Join us for a conversation this month to discuss pregnancy experiences with women with SCI/D and a researcher who studies pregnancy decision making for women …
Continue reading Women & SCI/D: Pregnancy

PeerConnect: Reality Poets

June is National Gun Violence Awareness Month and BACKBONES invites you to join and meet those in our Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) community that have been injured by gun violence and are working in disability justice, community building and gun violence prevention. Meet the Reality Poets - an artist collective of current and former residents …
Continue reading PeerConnect: Reality Poets

Women & SCI/D: Preventative Health

Living with a spinal cord injury and disability requires everyday maintenance and care for our bodies and minds. Join this conversation about ways to prevent secondary conditions and modalities such as massage, acupuncture, and yoga that can improve your wellness and quality of life. SPECIAL GUEST: Chanda Hinton is the Executive Director of the Chanda …
Continue reading Women & SCI/D: Preventative Health