Able South Carolina: Winner of NIH Community Champions for Disability Health Challenge
The following is a selection of an announcement originally published by the NIH. Link to the original announcement can be found below.
Thursday, January 16, 2025

Credit: NICHD
NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has announced the winners of the first phase of its Community Champions for Disability Health Challenge. This $485,000 prize competition, led by NICHD’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, encourages community-based organizations to develop and implement strategies to reduce health disparities experienced by people with disabilities.
Submissions were judged by an expert panel, and eight winners were selected. Each will be awarded a $25,000 prize and an invitation to participate in the second phase, in which organizations will have one year to implement their proposal and demonstrate how they have enhanced their services.
Able South Carolina’s winning submission is as follows:
Building Health Equity with Disability-Led Change
People with disabilities are underrepresented in health care professions, contributing to barriers to equitable care. This project seeks to create a disability-inclusive curriculum at the University of South Carolina College of Nursing and Lexington Medical Center to address gaps in health care education regarding disability competency. The team also will work with local hospital administrators to proactively address ableism, communication challenges, and physical accessibility barriers.
“We are excited to make it to the next round and create a disability-led program in collaboration with the University of South Carolina, College of Nursing, and the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities to develop a sustainable model that can be used across the country,” Able SC’s CEO, Kimberly Tissot, shared, “Our program will aim at creating lasting healthcare initiatives by integrating disability education and culture in nursing education and hospital systems to address the social determinants of health.”