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Meet Teresa

Teresa Nguyen, a 2022 HBF Client, was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a brittle bone disease. After recently purchasing her first home, some modifications needed to be made to accommodate her wheelchair. HBF installed provided this with front and back ramps and decks outside, as well as widened doors throughout the home, providing Teresa with access to all areas of her home and outdoor living space.

In her HBF application Teresa expressed one of the big reasons that prompted her home purchase- was the dream of having an accessible garden and outdoor area to enjoy. She had previously lived in apartments that did not have accessible gardens. With a new ramp and deck at the front of her home, and a ramp leading to the back yard, Teresa is now able to take full advantage of her home space AND to build and design an accessible garden that meets her needs and allows her to enjoy a hobby that has not been accessible for her. Teresa’s hope is to model to other people with disabilities what independence can continue to look like, with the resources that are available in our community.

Teresa is from Denver, Colorado. She identifies as a Vietnamese-American woman with a disability and her pronouns are “she, her, hers”.  Teresa received her Master of Public Health from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and her work is focused around health care policies and systems improvement, for vulnerable populations. She has experience in both Federal and State level health program and policy development and is currently a researcher at the Community Living Policy Center at Brandeis University. Teresa believes that equity and access to programs and policies is critical to the well-being of people with disabilities and weaves her strong relationships with the disability community into all aspects of her research and work. In her free time Teresa enjoys being outside, cooking, and hosting meals and events with loved ones.