Category Archives: respect
International Women’s Day!
Today is International Women’s Day!
“International Women’s Day is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.” -Wikipedia
I want to celebrate the strong women in my life today!
My mom, Susan, is an “awesome mother” and I love her so much! She has made everything in my life possible and she supports me through every adventure. Spending time with her is one of my favorite things to do. She finds me the coolest hats! I love you mom!
Audrey Hendricks, Audg, is my friend and care provider of over 15 years and she is now my Agency Manager at Nick’s Hope. She is AWESOME! She works so hard to make sure everything runs smoothly for me. She worked with me to make Awesome in Action possible and continues to help run the business when we get into hiccups! She is a great mom and a great friend and takes such good care of animals, even scary geese!
Liz Laney is my friend of almost 10 years and is now my Day Program Manager and helps me run my business! I call her “Liz Laney, my beautiful care provider” and it makes her gag! How funny! Liz has a great sense of humor and can always make me laugh.
Annie Schubert works with me as a speech and language pathologist every week. She works hard to make sure I’m reaching my full potential! She is so cool, she has an amazing singing voice and she makes me laugh so hard.
Cindy Peak was my long time speech and language pathologist, and she always made sure I was having fun while practicing my language skills! She and her daughter Jaime helped me film and produce the Awesome in Action documentary about my life, it’s amazing. I’m so grateful for them!
Debbie Hendricks is my friend and now she is my care provider too! She has done such a great job transitioning into working with me. She’s an amazing massage therapist and she works so hard despite dealing with a lot of pain! She is my British buddy and I love her sense of humor.
Kaitlyn Birdsall-Thomas is an art teacher and the incredible illustrator for my 2nd book! She works so hard and her artwork is so beautiful. I feel so lucky to have found her and that she is working with me on my book. Her daughter Willow is so stinking CUTE!
My Cousin Kathy is so funny, she makes me laugh so hard! She loves animals and is such a great mom and friend. I feel so lucky that she moved to Colorado and I get to see her and spend time with her.
All of these ladies in my life are passionate and make me want to work hard and be the best I can be! I love and appreciate them so much. There are so many more strong and powerful women in my life that I haven’t mentioned here and I want to take today to thank them for how much they have done for me!
I hope today you will celebrate the beautiful and strong women in your life for the things that make them special and important to you.
Open Streets – June 16, 2019
Open Streets, organized through City of Fort Collins Bikes, was a fun filled community event in old town Fort Collins on June 16th with vendors from the community, food trucks, and live music. Nick was stationed at the Maple St. hub, prime real estate to make connections and build new friendships while educating the community on different abilities and challenges that come with them.
Community members had the option to participate in several different disability simulations including a wheelchair obstacle course, experiencing the course while blind, experiencing having limited mobility in their hands while buttoning up a shirt, experiencing sensory integration issues, and lip reading.
Kids who tried the wheelchair obstacle course found it much more difficult than they expected!
Most kids hit a cone or two but came away with a new appreciation for what it is like to move a different way and the challenges that come with it.
Nick had his speech device available for community members to see and experience a different way of talking. Nick demonstrated his device for many interested kids and parents.
As the day went on, more and more people stopped at Nick’s booth to see what we were all about. With our cones, wheelchairs, and canes people quickly became interested in what we had to offer.
When they learned that we were offering simulations of different challenges experienced by those with different abilities, attendees were really excited to see that Nick was out in the community advocating for those who live a little differently.
Nick’s favorite part of the day was watching the kids navigate the cones!
Parents loved seeing their kids engaged in these simulations and often helped Nick teach the kids about why it is important to understand that different people have different challenges in life and we should be respectful of everyone we meet.
Nick had copies of his book, Helping in Action, for sale at the event and many kids enjoyed checking out a copy.
Nick handed out bookmarks to anyone who loved to read.
Nick met many members of his community who share his passion for education, like music therapist Daniel Goldschmidt. Nick and Daniel have both done TEDx talks! Check out Daniel’s TEDx talk on YouTube.
Nick would like to thank the City of Fort Collins Bikes for this opportunity to educate and advocate.
Open Streets will come back to Fort Collins on September 29th, 2019, and Nick will be there to continue to show his community that even though we all have different challenges, we can still connect and care for one another. Come see him and support Awesome in Action and Nick’s message of inclusive diversity.
Awesome in Action, Co 