Transit2go

Crossed the finish line at the Waisman Whirl 5k this morning — 3.28 miles in 1:17! A new personal best for me.
Started the week with my doctor telling me to move more, and somehow that turned into a full week of chasing this goal — ending with today. Grateful for the sunshine, the medal, and everyone who came out to celebrate.
This race means more than just my own PR, though. The Waisman Whirl is family-friendly and open to individuals of all abilities, with every route wheelchair accessible and a Kids' Fun Run through the Discovery Garden. It's held right at the Waisman Center, and proceeds support their clinics, research, and outreach for families affected by developmental disabilities and neurodegenerative diseases — autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Parkinson's, ALS, and more.
Proud to have been part of something that gives back this much. Next stop: keep building toward race day, one consistent week at a time.

I’m excited to share this! 💙

The Cap Times published an opinion piece by Natalie Eilbert about Wisconsin’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) waitlist and the impact that delayed employment services can have on people with disabilities.

I was honored to share part of my own story for the article.

DVR has been part of my journey for many years. From helping me transition out of high school and pursue college, to helping me develop my self-employment through Transit2Go, DVR has played an important role in helping me build an independent life and career.

And now, in a full-circle moment, Transit2Go is a DVR vendor, allowing me to use the skills I gained through my own experience to help other people with disabilities navigate public transportation.

That’s why this issue matters to me. Employment services can be the difference between having an opportunity and actually being able to pursue it.

Thank you, Natalie, for listening to my story and including my perspective in this piece. And thank you for linking to the Transit2Go website!

I’m proud to share this story, and I’ll keep advocating for disability employment, transportation, independent living, and the services people need to participate fully in their communities.

Advocacy never stops.

Read the article below!

https://captimes.com/opinion/natalie-eilbert/opinion-wisconsin-wait-listed-thousands-of-disabled-job-seekers/article_333bd167-9a00-4827-8834-3da554ba4449.html

On August 31, the DOJ — on behalf of HHS — joined Texas, Florida, and Alaska in asking a federal court to strip community integration protections from Section 504 regulations. This is the same legal foundation that supports HCBS and independent living for people like me.
To be clear: this can't change the underlying law. Only Congress can do that. But it's a signal, and signals matter. I already raised this directly with Senator Baldwin's office, and I'll be bringing it to Rep. Pocan's office as well.
Learn more and : https://dredf.org/statement-texas-v-kennedy-september-2026/

Today I had a real seat at the table. I spent 30 minutes on a call with a member of Senator Tammy Baldwin’s DC policy team, talking through Medicaid, home and community-based services, transportation and employment, the caregiver workforce shortage here in Wisconsin, and more.

I’m 36 years old, I have cerebral palsy, and somehow I found the energy — after work, after therapy, after everything else life demands — to explain to a member of Congress’s staff what life actually looks like outside a 7-by-7 cubicle. That’s not something that should be rare. It should be normal.

This started as a personal story about what Medicaid means to my independence and my career. Today it turned into a real policy conversation, with real asks, and a real follow-up plan.

To anyone else living this: your story matters, and it belongs in these rooms. Ask to be invited to the table. Mine said yes.

More updates coming as this continues — including a Capital Times piece on DVR funding dropping soon. 💛

Funny story — my doctor told me to fit more exercise into my week, and I may have taken that a little too literally. Spent most of yesterday logging miles on this trail — 501 minutes and 9.3 miles by the end of it.

Full honesty: not a day I'd recommend copying, it was more impulse than strategy. But it did remind me what actually matters for this 5k I'm training for — not the occasional big day, but showing up consistently week after week.

Some people fear the mic. I grew up in it — choir, speeches, family traditions like tonight’s. If it scares you, it’s not you, it’s just unfamiliar, and that can change. Start small, keep showing up, and eventually it’s just reps. 🎤

First day of subbing for the new school year is officially done! 🎒❤️Stepping up to the plate as a teacher with a disability on day one means everything to me. It’s so important for our kids to see diverse representation in their educators! 🌟It felt amazing being back at a school where I already knew the staff well, and getting to reconnect with a student I supported years ago was the absolute best highlight.A new school year brings new schedules, and those sudden routine changes can create tough barriers for the kiddos we support if we don't address them right away. Getting ahead of those changes from day one makes all the difference!It was a great start for our Wisconsin scholars, and I’m so excited to watch them learn, grow, and explore all year long! 🍎📝

An advocate's work is never done — and this week proved it.
I met with Ryan from Senator Dianne Hesselbein's office at the Capitol, and followed that up with an in-person conversation with Rep. Lisa Subeck. Two offices, two great conversations, one consistent message: people with disabilities deserve a seat at the table before funding decisions get made, not after.
With Rep. Subeck, we got into the weeds on HCBS funding and the caregiver support conversation happening right now — and I made the case for reframing "caregiver support" as "natural supports" instead. That shift broadens who gets to show up and help, and it means no one has to feel like a burden for needing support in the first place. She couldn't have agreed more.
I've now met with state Capitol officials on both sides of the aisle in my push for disability funding protections — and I'm not done. More conversations coming, including with Senator Baldwin's DC team in September.

I shared my banana bread problem — how I'm squeaking by right now on just enough support to live independently and keep working, and how one more cut could make it all collapse. We talked about my personal care worker, my job coach, and what it looks like when disability funding is the first thing cut and the last thing protected.
The piece is expected to run mid-to-late September, and I've already been invited back to go deeper on Medicaid specifically — and to share what happened the night I was volunteering as event security at Concerts on the Square, when a Madison police officer made sure I got home safely in the middle of the chaos. That night taught me how far a small act of kindness can travel. I want to pay it forward by using my voice for the people who need these supports to stay exactly where they are.
In the meantime, I've reached out directly to Senator Baldwin's and Representative Pocan's offices. Both have responded and are working on finding time to talk with me. I'll keep at it — people with disabilities deserve a seat at the table before funding decisions get made, not after.
More soon. Thank you to everyone who's been part of this. 💛

💛 Another beautiful evening with our AbRC family! 💛
We came together for an inclusive meal, heartfelt speeches, and a campfire — celebrating the friendships and community that have always been the heart of AbRC. When the rain rolled in and pushed us indoors, the night didn't slow down one bit — we pivoted to an impromptu karaoke session, and the laughter (and singing!) said it all.
We know this is a season of mixed emotions for many of us. There's a lot of change ahead, and it's okay to feel all of it — grateful, uncertain, hopeful, sad, sometimes all at once. What we saw tonight is proof that no matter what changes on paper, this community and these friendships aren't going anywhere.
Thank you to everyone who showed up, sang loud, and reminded us why we started this in the first place. 🎤🔥
There's an old saying, often credited to Alexander Graham Bell: "When one door closes, another one opens — but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us." Tonight felt like proof of that. The rain closed one door, and karaoke opened another — and honestly, it might have been even better.