Causes: Advocacy, Children and Youth, Disability Services
Call Me ABLE’s vision is to redefine and rethink the perception of disability within our community while empowering our youth to focus on their abilities and self-esteem, through advocacy, education, and mentorship. Call Me ABLE is committed to its core values of collaboration, inclusion, integrity, and leadership.
Call Me ABLE was established by Bea and Joe Gaskins. It is a love story of a couple meeting and getting married… but this couple is not an ordinary couple. This is how the media would probably describe it: “Able body woman marries disabled-bodied man” but that is not how we define our love. Joseph Gaskins has been a paraplegic for the last thirty-seven (37) years. He is the result of a Friday the 13th misfortune. He was a victim of a hit-and-run driver, who fled the scene and was never apprehended. Joseph Gaskins is a true miracle for overcoming adversity and all of life’s challenges.
Joseph has reimagined and redefined disability to ABILITY. The ABILITY to make a difference and overcome the stigma and perception the world has projected. We want our story to be remembered as the couple that made a difference by reimagining and redefining “disability” and focusing on the “Ability” of our youth.
By contributing to our cause, you’re helping us provide vital resources, education, and mentorship to empower these young individuals to thrive in challenging circumstances. Join us in reimagining and redefining “disability” into “ABILITY.” Your generous donation will directly impact the lives of these children, giving them the tools they need to overcome adversity and succeed. Together, we can change the perception of disability and focus on the remarkable abilities of our youth.