Hope Starts Here with Julia and Services for Students with Disabilities

My platform is Hope to Walk, Hope Starts Here. Hope to Walk is a local, faith-based, non-profit organization that has invented a prosthetic leg that costs only $100 to make. Commercial prosthetic legs can cost $10,000 - $25,000, and Hope To Walk has been able to provide the gift of walking to over 1,000 patients. They currently make prosthetics accessible to individuals in Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, Bahamas, Tanzania, Belize and Vietnam. They have also been training locals in the communities to create these prosthetics for empowerment and sustainability. 

I chose this platform because I was first introduced to Hope to Walk in 2018, as a Junior in high school. My older sister, Allison, was on Virginia Tech's Homecoming Court and from that day on I grew a passion and hope to one day be on court. I am honored to be continuing not only her legacy but supporting the same cause. The reality is nearly every 30 seconds a limb amputation occurs somewhere worldwide, with over 35,000,000 amputees without access to prosthetic care. These amputations are a result of diabetes, landmines, death trains, and trauma. It took one man to see the need and find an innovative way to reach the need of now thousands of people. This gift of walking provides real hope to real people all around the world.

Services for Students with Disabilities' goal is to remove disability related barriers for students in the learning, living, and dining environments. They strive to maximize access and opportunity by utilizing an iterative interactive process, helping to determine accommodations tailored to the individual needs of students. The core goals SSD has for Virginia Tech Students inherently supports my platform of bringing hope through the access, ability and gift that allows people in need all around the world to walk again!

Gifts of any amount will go towards supporting Services for Students with Disabilities' work and will make a difference in the experience of the students involved.

Thank you in advance for your gift!