FIRESIDE CHATS: Stephens passes blessings on to others

    Murphy – Shelly Stephens has not let disability stop her from not only living her best life, but enriching the lives of others as well.
    Stephens is from Oklahoma City. She also lived in Florida and Las Vegas, among other places, before moving to Cherokee County in 2010.
    “I’m the only one of my mom’s children who is disabled, and I’m by far the most independent,” Stephens said “I’m the wandering child. I would have been surprised if you would have told me that you could drop me in rural North Carolina and I would find my tribe. I’ve run into a lot of like-minded people, especially at The Daily Grind & Wine.”
    Stephens has been a quadriplegic since she was 14 months old after contracting a virus called transverse myelitis.
    “I’m extremely blessed in that regard because the prognosis was not good,” she said of her diagnosis as a baby. “But I’m 52, and I have lived a blessed life.”
    Stephens can often be found at community events, most of the time with her service golden retriever Nellie Mae, who has been with her for most of the last nine years.
    “The running joke is that she’s my longest relationship,” she said with a smile.
    Stephens is a trained disability rights activist, though she wishes she had gotten a master’s degree in social work, which she would have used to help military veterans. Her great-grandfather served in World War I, her grandfather in World War II, her father in the Persian Gulf War and her uncle did two tours during the Vietnam War.
    “I have a passion for helping our military veterans,” she said.
    Stephens worked for Pathways for the Future in Andrews – a non-profit that later changed to Disability Partners – until 2013, when funding was cut. She has not worked steadily since, but she has been involved in a bevy of community projects.
    She was on the board of directors of Disability Rights North Carolina in 2015-16, a group of protection advocacy lawyers who help disabled citizens with legal needs. Locally, Stephens has served on the board of the Cherokee County Arts Council, worked with the Stuff-a-Bus project to provide school supplies to students, collected Toys for Tots and more.
    “The cards we give out say, ‘Here to help … one person and day at a time,’ ” she said. “We have really tried to connect people to resources, because it is not always who you know but knowing what door to knock on for help.”
    She also has helped raise funds for community projects, such as the Judith Byer Music Scholarship. That scholarship is in its fourth year, honoring local students with musical talent.
    “We had a mutual admiration,” she said of Byer. “At her wake, I mentioned that she was a big supporter of other people’s dreams, so I said we should start a music scholarship in her honor, never knowing how we were going to make it happen.”
    Last year, winner Truman Forbess was a lover of the blues, something close to Stephens’ heart.
    “I love the blues. I grew up near south Texas,” she said. “I really wanted to see a blues singer or a great blues guitar player, and this kid looked like Robert Plant. H played ‘Lenny’ by Stevie Ray Vaughn for us, and it felt like Christmas.”
    Stephens and her partner, Diane Bishop, have also participated in litter cleanups, rescued animals across the county and have driven homeless people across state lines to help them reunite with family members.
    “Everybody can give two hours per week to something,” she said.
    Folks have given back to her as well. Stephens needed a new wheelchair van last year and started with YouCaring.com, which raised about $2,000. After an article was published in the Cherokee Scout, donations started pouring in to the tune of $8,000 more in three months.
    “Then I figured if I could fund-raise for myself, I could do it for someone else,” she said.
    Stephens and Bishop recently helped a family that had become homeless get established in a new living situation in Towns County, Ga., raising $2,500 in mere weeks to help them.
    “We just like giving back,” Stephens said with her familiar smile.