For the past 50 years, the Ms. Wheelchair America pageant has crowned women from around the country for their advocacy work and achievements. Cranston’s Catherine Moretti will represent Rhode Island the organization’s 51st annual Ms. Wheelchair America National Competition which will take place in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from Aug. 13 to Aug. 21 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel; Ms. Wheelchair America 2023 will be announced Aug. 20.

Moretti was diagnosed at birth with Spina Bifida and uses a wheelchair for mobility; however, she does not let this circumstance stop her. According to a release from Ms. Wheelchair America, Moretti “lives life to the fullest and aims to shine a positive light on disabilities. Through advocacy and education, she sets an example for other individuals who also use wheelchairs for mobility.”

Moretti holds the title of Ms. Wheelchair Rhode Island 2022 and volunteers at the Rhode Island Home Rescue. She attended Aveda for nails and is currently studying American Sign Language at Rhode Island Community College. In her spare time, she enjoys basketball, drawing and listening to music.

Dr. Philip K. Wood of Columbus, Ohio, established the Ms. Wheelchair America competition in 1972 due to his work helping individuals with functional impairments. According to the organization’s website, Wood wanted to give women who used wheelchairs for mobility a platform to share their stories; he understood the importance of looking past differences and accepting each other as contributing members of society.

The Ms. Wheelchair competition’s mission is to “provide an opportunity of achievement for women who happen to be wheelchair users to successfully educate and advocate for the more than 64 million Americans living with disabilities.”

Today, the organization is volunteer operated and has had representation from 48 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Over the last 50 years, there have been more than 1,000 state titleholders.

Each year at the annual Ms. Wheelchair America competition, state titleholders gather to learn, build relationships and crown a spokeswoman to represent the 61 million Americans living with disabilities. The selected representative must be able to communicate both the needs and the accomplishments of her constituency to the general public, business community and legislature – according to the organization’s website.

From Aug. 13 to Aug. 21, Moretti and the other contestants will participate in a leadership conference composed of mentoring, workshops and private and public presentations, including their platform speech presentation and on-stage questions. The activities provide contestants with resources to become stronger disability advocates. It will also allow each contestant the opportunity to demonstrate how they have advocated, influenced, changed policies or in some way made their voice be heard on issues impacting people with disabilities.

To be eligible for the competition, an applicant must check off the following qualifications: be a woman; use a wheelchair for 100 percent of her daily community mobility; be a United States citizen; be at least 21 years of age; cannot have held a state title for the Ms. Wheelchair America, Inc. program in any state; cannot have competed at a Ms. Wheelchair America National competition previously; be a resident of a state for a minimum of six months prior to the state competition; be available to fulfill the requirements of a state titleholder – this includes travel within the winner’s state, travel to the national competition and numerous public appearances; must possess good communication skills.

The Ms. Wheelchair America duties include “promoting awareness of the need to eliminate architectural and attitudinal barriers, informing the able-bodied public of the achievements of the millions of people with disabilities across the nation and assisting with the establishment of programs in all 50 states by promoting Ms. Wheelchair America.” During the winner’s year-long reign, Ms. Wheelchair America will have the opportunity to travel visiting advocacy groups, making public appearances and conducting radio, print ads and TV interviews.