photo by: Contributed
Miss Wheelchair Kansas contestants on stage during the 2024 Crowning Ceremony. Tamara Blackwell (left) won the title and went on to win Miss Wheelchair America as well.
Growing up, Carrie Greenwood never saw her disability as a bad thing — but she also didn’t see many other wheelchair users like her in her everyday life.
She was born with a condition called arthrogryposis, which means her muscles are weaker and that she’s missing some muscles and contractures in her bones and joints, and she has used a wheelchair her whole life.
So after she discovered the website for Miss Wheelchair America in 2004 — an advocacy group that works to support and empower women and girls around the country who use wheelchairs — she knew she wanted to bring it to Kansas and inspire people here.
“Because I had that limited experience from seeing role models, I wanted to give a better opportunity to other girls like me,” Greenwood said.
Over 20 years on, Greenwood is the president and CEO for Miss Wheelchair Kansas, which will host its 20th anniversary crowning ceremony on Sunday afternoon in Lawrence. In that time, she has watched dozens of women and girls who are wheelchair users compete in the organization’s signature pageants and done plenty of other work to empower female wheelchair users and to educate and advocate in support of disability rights.
“I think we’ve impacted a lot of people,” Greenwood said.
Although some aspects of the Miss Wheelchair America programs mirror traditional pageants like Miss America, Greenwood said there is less focus on the “glitz and glam.” Some parts of the pageant might look similar, with contestants dressing in formal attire and being asked questions on stage, but the judging is based on their accomplishments, advocacy, speaking skills, confidence and poise that highlight their “inner beauty,” as Greenwood describes it.
The winner doesn’t just get a crown and a title; she also gets the opportunity to appear at a variety of events and do outreach and advocacy work around the state. Greenwood said the winners pick a specific topic they are passionate about that they will then advocate for — similar to the “service projects” that a Miss Kansas winner would advocate for.
Not only is Greenwood the leader of the Miss Wheelchair Kansas organization, she was actually the first person to hold the title of Miss Wheelchair Kansas. When she contacted the Miss Wheelchair America program in 2004, she was named as Kansas’ “independent delegate” to the national organization, which meant she earned the title, too. Then, she went to work creating the organization “from scratch.”
Greenwood thinks one of the biggest ways that the organization advocates for people with disabilities is by breaking stereotypes. People often have a “very narrow picture” of what disability looks like, especially for wheelchair users, but Greenwood said women and girls who use wheelchairs can live active, full lives like anyone else. Former contestants have attended college, have full-time jobs, are married and have families. Seeing that in the world can help break people’s misconceptions, Greenwood said.
“(Many people) don’t realize people with disabilities live active lives,” Greenwood said. “It really is breaking those stereotypes of what that looks like.”
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Autumn Bertels is certainly someone who lives an active life.
Bertels, who is originally from Nortonville, is a University of Kansas student who will be graduating in May with a degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. She also has used a wheelchair ever since she was paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident when she was 8 years old.
Bertels said she first learned about the Miss Wheelchair competition when she was 10 after her aunt introduced her to it, but it was when she was in college that she thought about seriously competing in it. Bertels said she had won a Miss Amazing competition — a similar program for women and girls with all types of disabilities — and that Greenwood reached out to her suggesting that she compete in Miss Wheelchair.
Bertels is one of three contestants vying for the title this year. Of course, she is hoping to win, but she is also excited to connect with other women who “know the struggles” that wheelchair users face.
Like Greenwood, Bertels is the founder of an advocacy group. She’s created her own student organization at KU to advocate for students with disabilities, and if she wins, she hopes to expand her efforts to other universities across the state.
“There are lots of colleges in Kansas — KU isn’t the only one with accessibility issues,” Bertels said.
Bertels also added that she is most looking forward to meeting some of the younger girls competing and attending the crowning ceremony. Growing up in a small town, she was the only person at her school who had a visible, physical disability. Seeing the women at the Miss Wheelchair events helped give her role models to aspire to, Bertels said. She hopes that she can serve that same role with the girls at the event and be a person they can look up to.
“It’s like a full circle moment,” Bertels said.
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Bertels is far from the only person who has been inspired by the work of Miss Wheelchair Kansas, Greenwood said. The organization has been able to expand from just her to a team of five other volunteers helping run it as a nonprofit.
Since 2004, Greenwood said 50 people have competed for a title with the organization, including 38 for the adult title of Miss Wheelchair Kansas and 12 young girls in Little Miss Wheelchair Kansas, which is for girls ages 9 to 13. Greenwood said this is the first year that the organization has added a teenage program, for contestants ages 14 to 18, called Junior Miss Wheelchair Kansas.
The winner of the Miss Wheelchair Kansas title for 2024, Tamara Blackwell, was selected as Miss Wheelchair America as well, something the organization is really proud of, Greenwood said.
Outside of the crowning ceremony, Greenwood said the program holds empowerment sessions throughout the year for wheelchair users, and people involved with the nonprofit have advocated for disability rights at the state Legislature and in their own communities.
Bertels said the feeling of mentorship in the organization helped her grow into the type of leader who can advocate for others with disabilities.
Greenwood said those types of experiences are exactly the reason she wanted to get other women involved with the organization. Although she is happy to crown yet another Miss Wheelchair Kansas on Sunday afternoon, the fact that the group has gotten other people involved and inspired is something she is really proud of.
“There have been a lot of younger girls who have come to the crowning ceremony … they see a room full of women and girls who are wheelchair users who are awesome. That’s really cool,” Greenwood said. “I think we inspired a lot of people.”
The crowning ceremony will take place Sunday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel in Lawrence, 200 McDonald Drive.
