Victoria Strong is a disability advocate, nonprofit leader, and mother of three. Her life took an unexpected turn when her baby girl, Gwendolyn, was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a genetic condition that causes muscle weakness. Similar to the more well-known ALS, SMA can affect a child’s ability to crawl, walk, sit up, and control head movements. Severe SMA, like Gwendolyn’s diagnosis, damages the muscles used for breathing and swallowing.  Victoria became an immediate advocate when she realized how little was being done to combat SMA. She founded the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation to fund research, influence policy, and support [...more...]

You’d be hard-pressed to find a local nonprofit that brought its outsized quest to fruition more speedily than did the […more…]

Victoria and Bill Strong brought their baby home with that mix of gratitude and indescribable joy – the heart-squeezing hallmarks […more…]