inMotion Magazine

March | April 2020 4 MESSAGE FROM THE HAPPY March 19 marks the official start to spring, and we couldn’t be more excited for a new season – a little more sunshine, more moderate temperatures, fewer weather events that prevent many in our community from being fully mobile outdoors. Springtime invokes images of renewal and rebirth. Gardens turn from brown to green and start to bloom, the trees unfurl new leaves, and farmers’ markets have the first of the year’s delicious fresh vegetables. Here at the Amputee Coalition, we’re going through a renewal. With new leadership, we are focusing and evolving direction in some areas of our work, and being more bold in others. We moved our headquarters from Manassas, Virginia into Washington, D.C. so we can be closer to decision makers and others who drive agendas that have an impact on people with limb loss and limb difference. We are expanding our funding sources to be able to reach more people in our community with educational and support program they most need. We are hiring new staff to develop important outreach and advocacy services and forge partnerships. We are working more closely with our colleague organizations in our community to ensure we are meeting your needs. But, what’s most important is that we’re listening to our community. We rely on you to tell us what you need and how we can best serve you. We are positioned for incredible growth in offering services and support in the coming years. For example, in the next year we will be expanding our hours of operation for the telephone and online National Limb Loss Resource Center so that we can meet the needs of all U.S. time zones. 2020 is going to be a year of transition and growth for the Amputee Coalition, and we’re excited about the changes and challenges ahead. And, to get to where we know we can be, we have to be STRONG – the theme for this issue of inMotion. To us, the word strong is not about physical power – it’s about having integrity, using one’s intellectual curiosity and emotional well-being to help others, being authentic, and feeling confident in one’s beliefs. Being strong is a state of mind, and something we want to talk more about in our community. Too often, and especially on social media, our community is expected to perceive being strong as running a marathon, or working out seven days a week at the gym with weights and a trainer. While physical wellness is important to us all as human beings, we want to challenge the old norms and encourage people to think about being strong in a their decisions, actions, conversations, and kindness. Being strong doesn’t apply only to Paralympic athletes – though their strength is remarkable. Strong is a word every one of us can embrace and recognize in ourselves.