John Chmela

Uniting Forces for People who have a Disability: Awarding unsung heroes and creating real progress

The actress who played Helen Keller's teacher, Annie Sullivan, in "The Miracle Worker" won an academy award. But was the real-life Annie Sullivan's work ever officially acknowledged with an award? Not John Chmela's New Freedom Foundation presented her with its "Legendary New Freedom Award."

"We like the idea of honoring real-life heroes —policemen and soldiers, housewives and doctors, librarians and bank tellers—the people that surround us every day." Chmela says.

The act of honoring otherwise-unsung people is part of the core mission driving the ambitious agenda of the New Freedom Foundation (NFF), a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the lives of people with disabilities on a global scale. The phrase "I'm out to change the world" might ring hollow coming from some people's mouths, but Chmela doesn't shy away from it. In fact, he embraces it.

“One of the things the Self-Expression and Leadership course opened up for me was that instead of just working with people one at a time, maybe we could do something to affect entire groups of people with disabilities,” Chmela says.

The New Freedom Foundation's vision is to unite individuals, organizations, corporations, educational institutions, and other entities that assist the disabled into one unified force that will collaborate on a global scale to improve the lives of disabled people. Inspiring people to help people with disabilities is one important aspect of the group's work, and there are already some stirring success stories to report. Dean Kamen, the inventor of "iBot," a wheelchair that climbs stairs, attended NFF's recent convention in Chicago and demonstrated the product. At that time, the FDA had not yet approved the new invention. In front of the entire convention hall, Kamen ascended a flight of stairs--the first person in a wheelchair to accomplish that feat. The device is now approved for sale by the FDA.

"So now, if I'm paralyzed and somebody gives me an iBot, my life is changed forever," Chmela says. “It's all very Landmark—not only recognizing the accomplishments of the past, but inspiring the creation of new freedoms in the future.” www.newfreedomfoundation.com