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Last updated 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 1999
Contact: Jennifer Colamonico
(510) 540-3660

Berkeley - Assemblywoman Dion Aroner (D-Berkeley) has named Sue Hodges as Woman of the Year for the 14th Assembly District.

Sponsored by the Women's Legislative Caucus, each state legislator names one woman residing in her district who has contributed in a significant way to her community.

"Sue Hodges is a true leader in the world of disability rights," Aroner said. "She is a courageous fighter for all disabled people and her efforts deserve our recognition."

She is currently the Chair of the Oakland Mayor's Commission on Persons with Disabilities and the Chair of the Advisory Board for the Public Authority for In-Home Support Services in Alameda County. She also serves on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Elderly and Disabled Advisory Committee and previously served on the Governor's Committee on Employment of Disabled Persons.

Hodges came to Berkeley in the 1970s, where she became a medic for the Berkeley Free Clinic and the Wednesday night Women's Clinic. She taught first aid and medic classes to a cross section of the community and took classes on working with kids with learning disabilities. She worked as a language specialist and teaching assistant for students with special needs for eight years.

Sue is a survivor of childhood polio and ovarian cancer. Because of her illnesses, she was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome and environmental illness/multiple chemical sensitivity. In 1986, Sue got her first power chair. As she faced her condition, she was presented with the struggle of teaching about issues of access and tolerance for people with disabilities as well as for people of size.

Sue is a recognized expert on issues people with disabilities face as they live, work, and travel in their communities. Her advocacy transcends issues of ability and disability.

On Monday, March 15th, Hodges went to Sacramento where she was honored by the Legislature along with the other Women of the Year in a ceremony in the Assembly chambers.

[Bio submitted to Women's Caucus nominating Sue]

SUE HODGES

WOMAN OF THE YEAR 14th DISTRICT

Sue Hodges is a woman of many causes, a woman with the strength and leadership to advocate for herself and her community. She is a woman with multiple disabilities who has survived ovarian cancer. In addition to being a leading advocate in Alameda County for disability issues, she is now the primary caretaker for her aging mother. Sue has spent her life both learning and teaching others about mutual respect, love and compassion.

Sue comes from a family of bold leaders. She was born in San Francisco during World War Two. Her father was a renowned physician and a pioneer and president of the California Physician's Service, the early developer of the Blue Shield system. He was also an olympic swimmer who tragically and ironically lost his life to a diving accident when Sue was only thirteen. Sue grew up in Marin County, attending an integrated school and learning the ugliness of discrimination at an early age. Both Sue and her brother had childhood polio, but it was Sue who went on to live a life marked by post-polio syndrome. The fearless leadership and outspokenness of her father as well as the quiet support of her mother inspired Sue to be an outspoken advocate for dignity and equality for all people.

Sue came to Berkeley in the 1970's and was a medic for the Berkeley Free Clinic and their Wednesday night Women's Clinic. She taught first aid and medic classes to a cross section of the community and also took classes on working with kids with learning disabilities. It was in this class that she met Violet Spraings, a renowned expert in the field; Violet recruited Sue from the class to join her private school for kids with special needs. Sue worked with Violet as a language specialist and teaching assistant for eight years, until her bout with ovarian cancer in 1981.

As a result of the cancer, Sue developed environmental illness/multiple chemical sensitivity (EI/MCS) that also radically altered her life. Though she tried to continue her work, she knew something was not quite right, and for several years tried to get by with the aid of crutches and manual wheelchairs. Finally in 1986 she was diagnosed by the Easter Seals as having post-polio syndrome, which until then had not been widely understood or diagnosed in the medical profession. Sue got her first power chair in 1986 - the same year she started at Mills College in Oakland. As she struggled with her new condition, she was presented with the struggle of teaching her new community about issues of access and tolerance for people with disabilities as well as for people of size. She founded the Mills Disability Alliance, sponsoring annual awareness projects. The impact she made upon her campus community was as tremendous for them as it was for her.

While Sue always had a history of activism in the community, she has spent her post-college years as a true leader in the world of disability rights. She is currently the Chair of Oakland's Mayor's Commission on Persons with Disabilities, (a position she has been re-elected to each year since 1991), Chair of the Advisory Board for the Public Authority for In-Home Support Services in Alameda County and worked with late Senator Milton Marks' Taskforce on EI/MCS. Sue has been a vocal member of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Elderly and Disabled Advisory Committee, serving also in the Bus Riders' Union for AC Transit and the Board of United Seniors of Oakland and Alameda County. Sue has worked for years with the Governor's Committee on Employment of Disabled Persons - she was never appointed because she was arrested outside the Governor's office in 1994 for protesting the wage cuts of IHSS workers. She is a past acting president of Democrats with Disabilities, and is involved with her Neighborhood Watch and Crime Prevention Council. Sue also works with the annual Youth Leadership Forum, recruiting Oakland and Berkeley youth with disabilities to participate in this weeklong leadership training.

Sue is a recognized expert of the issues people with disabilities face as they live, work and travel in their communities. Her advocacy transcends issues of ability and disability, as she works around the clock for dignity and justice for all. Sue lives in Oakland with "Felix", both members of the South Bay Champions for Canine Companions. It is an honor to have Sue Hodges as the Woman of the Year for the 14th Assembly District.

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