"The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half submerged balls."*

-- Marge Piercy, To Be of Use

For me, the appeal of Second Life is neither the avatars - those amazingly elaborate and fluid projections of ourselves -  nor the sometimes spectacular built environments - but the people who create and animate them. Many have renewed my sense of play, but none have given me more hope for our shared future than the people who, meeting the daily challenges of physical, emotional and cognitive disability, spin straw into gold.

A few months ago, I wrote about The Heron Sanctuary, established by and for people with disabilities as a home base and incubator for themselves and others who, like them, are determined and often desperate to live productive and gratifying lives. I was watching for evidence of progressive values - empathy, responsibility and a realization of interconnectedness - and I found it in abundance in these people, their families and the people who work with them. 

Since then, Sanctuary has grown and linked to other individuals who are making their dreams come alive. They formed a 501(c)3nonprofit: Virtual Ability, Inc. www.virtualability.org  and joined forces with others as part of a true virtual group - The Health Support Coalition-  so that all the support groups in English-speaking SL can communicate through their leaders. They are determined to link the over 70 existinghealth/disability/chronic illness support groups in English speaking SL  And then they will reach a helping hand and willing heart beyond the boundaries of language to create a community of support for people with all kinds of disabilities.

A "support group" seems a prosaic thing, but it is often the key to survival. One of their members put it like this:

"A group of sympathetic [and informed] friends can provide the emotional support and strength to get through hard times... the most basic and possibly most needed function of a support group is to show people with disabilities that they are not alone.