Meet Disability Awareness Month Local Hero Kyle Maynard

Oct. 1, 2016

KPBS Local Heroes Project

Kyle Maynard is an introvert with his own spotlight. Maynard's willingness to adapt and unwillingness to acquiesce under pressure earned him a Local Hero nomination.

Meet Disability Awareness Month Local Hero Margarita Elizondo

Oct. 1, 2016

KPBS Local Heroes Project

Margarita Elizondo has one goal: make the disabled community accessible. This ambition, and her dedication to it, earned her the nomination as KPBS' Disability Awareness Month Local Hero.

Disability Awareness Month Local Heroes William Stothers And Cynthia Jones Fight For Rights

Disability Awareness Month 2015 Honorees

Oct. 1, 2015

KPBS Local Heroes Project

Behind great challenges are committed leaders like Cyndi Jones and Bill Stothers — two masterminds behind the fight to break down ignorance and barriers for people with disabilities.

Disability Awareness Month Local Hero Stephen Wampler: Conqueror Of El Capitan

Disability Awareness Month 2015 Honoree

Oct. 1, 2015

KPBS Local Heroes Project

Known as the first person with cerebral palsy to climb El Capitan mountain, Stephen Wampler aims for a new challenge: opening a campsite where disabled children can have real wilderness experiences.

Disability Awareness Month Local Hero Travis Ricks Helps Challenged Athletes Thrive

Disability Awareness Month 2014 Honoree

Oct. 1, 2014

By Monica Medina

When Travis Ricks learned he had cancer in his right leg, he was a star football athlete in high school. Sports were his life. Later, when he had to make the decision whether or not to amputate the leg because his treatment options were dwindling, he said, "Let's cut it off. It's time to move on." Yet, if he could do it all over again, keep his leg and be cancer-free, he wouldn't change a thing. In losing his leg, he received something far greater: his relationship with his mother.

Disability Awareness Month Local Hero Alex Montoya ‘Swings for the Fences’

Disability Awareness Month 2014 Honoree

Sept. 30, 2014

By Monica Medina

It began with a simple twist of fate: a chance encounter between Alex Montoya's uncle, Frank Callahan, and Harvey Fitzhugh, a man wearing a red fez.

Linda Bounds on Being Boundless

Disability Awareness Month 2013 Honoree

Oct. 1, 2013

By Monica Medina

Linda Bounds is a petite, sprightly woman with a lot of heart and grit. No longer wanting to be defined by others, she began to pursue her passion, living life on her terms and doing what she loved most: art.

Al Kovach Finds A New Way To Serve His Country

Disability Awareness Month 2013 Honoree

Oct. 1, 2013

By Monica Medina

Al Kovach, Jr., looks a lot like Steve McQueen. In fact, in his Navy days, he was known as Petty Officer McQueen, just because of his strong resemblance to the actor known as "The King of Cool."

Laurel Moorhead on Being 'One of Many'

Disability Awareness Month: 2012 Honoree

Oct. 2, 2012

By Monica Medina

In the course of your life, there are moments that pass undetected, and moments that are life changing. The latter are the ones that can overwhelm you, give you hope or open a new door.

Louis Frick: A Life in 'Perpetual Motion'

Disability Awareness Month: 2012 Honoree

Oct. 2, 2012

Louis Frick was living the California dream. As a young man, the San Diego surf was all he needed. In fact, you could say, the ocean was his life. Then tragedy hit.

Pamela Finkel

Disability Awareness Month: 2011 Honoree

Oct. 5, 2011

Pamela Finkel is a professor emeritus, counselor and an advocate for the academic success of students with disabilities. Ms. Finkel has dedicated her life to making sure students with disabilities have the necessary resources to ensure their educational success. For nearly 20 years, she has been a professor at San Diego Community College (SDCC). Her work with SDCC includes the Disability Support Programs & Services (DSPS), a campus resource center that provides academic support, counseling services and reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities, helping them to be independent and achieve their academic and vocational goals.

Bill Bodry

Disability Awareness Month: 2011 Honoree

Oct. 5, 2011

Bill Bodry is the founder and president of the Challenge Center, which he established after a spinal cord injury left him paraplegic at the age of 27. Faced with the challenge of finding affordable medical and physical therapy services, Mr. Bodry has made it his life's work and mission to provide programs and services to people living with severe disabilities. The Challenge Center has been recognized as one of the fifteen "Best of the Best" nonprofit rehabilitation facilities in the nation by the Christopher Reeves Foundation. In 2010, Mr. Bodry received San Diego’s ABC/Channel 10 News Leadership Award.