WOODINVILLE, Wash. — Jill McAuley surveys her domain. In this case, it's a Woodinville park.
Recently crowned Ms. Wheelchair Washington, she is using her title to bring attention to the issue of mental health struggles impacting people with disabilities.
Rolling through the park in her wheelchair, she asks a group of picnickers, "Do you guys know anyone or have anybody in your life with a disability?"
More often than not the answer to that question is no. But one in four Americans live with some sort of disability, be it physical, mental, or both.
"In the wheelchair community, it's a really big problem," she tells another group of park visitors.
Jill wound up in a wheelchair at the age of 18 when she fell asleep driving home from college and rolled her car.
That was 24 years ago and Jill still feels it has been harder dealing with the emotional changes than the physical ones.
"It's kind of a paralysis of my whole life, not just my body but my mental and spiritual sides. I saw a lot of friends my age moving on and doing the things I thought I would be doing at that time of my life, and it was very different," she confided. "There are a lot of things to overcome."
For the next year, Jill is taking her crown across the state to educate people about fairness, access and equity for all Americans.
"I may not have a lot of use of my body, but the power of my voice is a gift that I can use to help other people," she explains.
Jill believes depression and other mental health issues often come not because of the disability, but the roadblocks laid down by society.
"It's actually the lack of access to things that most people have access to that's the hardest to overcome," Jill said. "Things like not having transportation or having a job that doesn't discriminate against them."
But perhaps there's progress in the park on this day.
In a park full of able-bodied children, a little girl and her mom approach Jill with a question; not about Jill's wheelchair, but her crown.
"Anna was wanting to know why you have such a beautiful crown and I told her you won a competition," said the little girl's mother.
"I did. I won the crown and I am Ms. Wheelchair Washington this year," Jill responded with a smile.
"Little kids love crowns," Jill chuckled as she rolls away. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown."
Jill said if she were queen, there would be one simple, overriding rule.
"Seeing people who have a disability just as people. I'm a person with a disability, but I'm a not a disabled person."
Next week, Jill heads to Michigan to compete against 23 other women for the title of Ms. Wheelchair America.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. Visit Vibrant Emotional Health’s Safe Space for digital resources.