Apparently this forum comes with a Member’s Area, which site visitors can use to get to know each other and personalize their profile pages. Members can also add new posts, write comments, and like posts.
Please use this space to introduce yourself! Tell us a little bit about who you are, your interest/involvement in collective care projects, and where you are located generally speaking.
My name is Allison. I have a neuromuscular disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. I turned 37 last month, and I’ve been living independently since 2009. I live in Missouri, USA. I’m originally from the suburbs of St. Louis, but I live in Columbia now. I moved here for college and ended up staying. I have a BFA from the University of Missouri, Columbia. I don’t have much support. So, I haven’t been able to continue in academia. There are still, though, a number of ideas that I want to explore through visual art and, possibly, writing. Right now, I stick mainly with digital collage. The wheelchair I use causes me a lot of pain. Makes it difficult to concentrate. Writing can be especially hard. I have finally ordered a new chair, though. So, I hope things improve soon.
I live on my own. My family are hardcore conservative evangelicals who don’t respect boundaries. To paraphrase The Big Lebowski: they don’t approve of my lifestyle and I don’t approve of theirs. Missouri medicaid has a “consumer directed” services option. So, I get to find and hire my own people. I don’t get enough hours, and the state doesn’t pay my attendants enough— a constant stress. I get by, though. I live in a college town. So, there are always new students looking for jobs. It’s hard to find community, though. This town is a weigh station for most, not a destination. People are always moving on. I hope I can make some connections here.
some finished pieces:
https://www.behance.net/allisonreinhart
professional bits:
https://figfive.com/about.php
current insta:
https://www.instagram.com/trompe_lol/
past insta:
https://www.instagram.com/feistycrip/
https://www.instagram.com/fig.five/
a clip a journalist friend produced about me when I was in college (describes, in part, how my impairments inspire my art and thinking):
https://vimeo.com/37782124
Hi! I'm Tali, Avital is my formal name, i.e. Tali is Bob, Avital is Bobert. I am a white, queer, fat, non-binary woman with chronic, episodic invisible disabilities. I am into they/them pronouns. I'm originally from Victoria, BC which is on unceded Coast Salish territory, and now live in Toronto, the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. I work part-time at Ryerson in Disability Studies in central accommodations, and spend alot of my time trying to think through access barriers there with folks that I work with. My understanding of access is super broad, and nebulous, and sometimes maybe confusing? I'd like to get a better understanding of the edges of access and how maybe those edges are unclear because of capitalism and systemic ableism. I've also been in the care collective since November 2016, and really love it and Loree, who is amazing, obviously. Looking forward to chatting with you all!
Hi all,
In addition to being the creator of this website(!) I am a white, queer, disabled, femmegimp from a mixed class background growing up in the territory of the Piscataway and Haudenosaunee Confederacy in rural northern Virginia. Like most queers from rural areas, I moved to the city and spent 8 years in the territory of the Powhatan, Richmond, Virginia. Here I completed an undergraduate degree in Politics and Women's Studies and was a founder and coordinator for The Richmond Queer Space Project a.k.a. Queer Paradise, a community space for radical queer community. In 2003 I moved to Tkaronto, territory of the Mississauga, the Haudenosaunee, I moved for disabled queer community and to be part of the first group of students to complete the Critical Disability Studies Masters at York University in 2005. I also have a PhD in Environmental Studies from York. My dissertation is titled Unbreaking Our Hearts: Cultures of Un/Desirability and the Transformative Potential of Queercrip Porn. As a sessional instructor at Ryerson, OCAD, and U of T I get to teach classes on sexuality studies, transformative justice, queer theory, gender studies, disability justice, and pop culture. I am the creator of want, an internationally award-winning queercrip porn film, and a community organizer. I have worked with 81 Reasons, Prisoner Justice Action Coalition, DAMN 2025, and Acsexxxible to name a few. In addition to this community organizing, I have been theorizing and thriving through care collectives having met the majority of my care needs through various communities I am connected to for 20 years. I am also a fan of sun, sparkly things, and social justice. I have a silly and sweet tortie cat, named Oscar, who is featured prominently on the welcome page for this website. I am so excited to dream, discuss and strategize together!