BUFFALO, N.Y. — Natalie Barnhard Castrogiovanni, suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury twenty years ago. Since then, it has been her mission to help Western New Yorkers suffering from similar injuries. She opened The Motion Project and The Natalie Barnhard Center for Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation and Recovery.
Reflecting on her recovery, Castrogiovanni said, "If you would've told me twenty years ago, that this is where I would be I would've never believed you,".
After her injury, she had to relocate to Georgia to receive treatment and to recover, something that was hard on her while she was away, and when she made her return to Buffalo.
"Part of why I created this is so people can stay at home and recover. and they don't have to be away from their friends and their family," Castrogiovanni said.
They have added new programs, focused on comradery and healing mentally.
"We have our wheels mafia, which is our support group. So we have different topics we talk about and we also do social events," Castrogiovanni said they also have a support group for caregivers, "We have a caregiver program that's called wheely good friends, so it really helps support the caregivers and the families with what to expect after a traumatic injury,".
"I didn't have good self esteem I thought who's gonna want me in a wheelchair, who's gonna really see past that and see me for me? I met the most amazing man and he's just unbelievable," Castrogiovanni said that sharing her healing journey and her relationship with her clients gives them a chance to see that recovery is possible.
The Motion Project Foundation did a documentary to commemorate twenty years since her injury, allowing Castrogiovanni a chance to reflect on her journey.
Rehashing those memories was not easy, she said, "It was a little bit emotional because you know it was bringing up memories from twenty years ago, learning how to eat and brush my teeth and the things early on that were just so hard to do,".
As she continues to grow The Motion Project, she has big dreams for the center. Hoping to add a pool and a smaller gym for clients to use after their initial recovery.
She also dreams to build an endowment so nobody has to pay to access the services of The Motion Project. Castrogiovanni said, "So there's so much we wanna do we wanna have housing for people as well. full family homes, individual housing and also short term housing for people that do come from out of the area for them to be able to stay and workout and rehab with us,".
If you want to donate or learn more about motion project, visit their website