BALTIMORE — "Your disability does not define who you are as a woman."

That's the motto of Janice Jackson, the creator of Women Embracing Abilities Now, or W.E.A.N., a support group for women with disabilities.

It's a motto she's lived every day, ever since she was hit by a car at the age of 24, leaving her in a wheelchair.

"One minute, a woman, successful living my life and the next minute, a woman with a disability," she said. "I didn’t have any other women I could talk to. I didn’t have any mentors or someone I could go to to help me navigate this new life."

It inspired her to create that group of mentors, a sisterhood, where they could lean on each other, learn how to advocate for themselves and, Jackson said, deal with the negativity and stereotypes that can come with having a disa

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