As the lights slowly dimmed in a packed downtown ballroom, a hush fell over the boisterous assembly like a blanket.

 

Lined up on one side of the spacious room, 25 women dressed in all manner of bright colors and finery focused on a small stage with rapt attention. The luminescent shine of their jewelry glinted through the dark as the women moved with frenetic energy. The sound of polyester crunched as they whispered congratulations to one another.

 

With the lingering scent of hairspray and a glittering bejeweled crown placed next to a heap of flowers and framed certificates, this event looked like the crowning ceremony at any beauty pageant.

 

But with contestants who ranged in age from 21 to 62, and whose backstage beauty tips included tying their legs together with headbands and Velcroing their shoes side-by-side, the uniqueness of this pageant is laid bare.

 

No, this wasn't your average beauty pageant.

 

This was Ms. Wheelchair America.

 

On Saturday night, one of these 25 wheelchair-using women was crowned Ms. Wheelchair America 2016 during a ceremony at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown. (More on that later.)

 

But the pomp and circumstance of this formal gala was almost an afterthought to the real reason these women trekked across the country to attend this pageant: a week of advocacy and leadership-related events and workshops.

 

You see, this pageant isn't at all about looks, it's about changing lives in the disability community.

 

"We're looking to crown a spokesperson, not a beauty queen," said Shelly Loose, president of Ms. Wheelchair America. "We are searching for that one person to best represent all these ladies and the 54 million other people in the U.S. who have disabilities."

 

Deemed the world's largest minority by the United Nations, the disability community has been the subject of reflection this year as the Americans with Disabilities Act, which created federal regulations forcing businesses and cities to eliminate architectural barriers, turns 25.

 

Throughout the week, these women, all from different walks of life, shared their stories, forged friendships and identified injustices they plan to address and rectify.

Talk to any one of them and you'll discover these women definitely aren't here for a crown, they're here to make a difference.

 

"This week these women have nicknamed themselves the 'world changers,' " the ceremony's emcee beamed as each woman grabbed the hand of the one next to her. "Because each one of them is truly out to change the world."

 

"So are you ready to roll ladies?"

 

Days before crowning, Tiffaine L. Casados, 26, Ms. Wheelchair Colorado, said she doesn't like Halloween.

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On that night in 2007, Casados was walking to her car with a group of friends when a gunshot rang out and she became the innocent bystander in a drive-by shooting.

 

She was 18, a senior in high school.

 

"I heard the gunshot and the tire skid," she said in between workshops. "I passed out for what seemed like 20 seconds and when I woke up I was thinking, 'Why are all these people running around me?' I was lying down and I was like, 'Why can't I get off the floor?' I thought I was going to die. I asked my friends to tell my mom it wasn't my fault.

 

"When you watch a shooting in the movies, you think you get shot and walk away. That didn't happen."

 

Many of the Ms. Wheelchair America contestants have similar stories of a freak accident, a split second when their life changed. Ms. Oklahoma was injured in a roller derby accident. Ms. Arkansas was the victim of domestic violence. Ms. Minnesota fell while training on her trapeze. Ms. North Carolina was hit by a car while riding her bike.

 

In the news clippings on the memory boards the women made to describe themselves, the stories read the same: She had a wonderful life that she lived to the fullest and then a tragic accident changed her forever.

 

On some level that narrative is true — some of the women's accidents were tragic and did change their lives. But the implication that their lives ended in a second is way off base, they say.

 

"The women here are wives and daughters and mothers," Casados said. "They have remarkable careers and even more inspiring dreams. Our lives didn't end, they were just altered."

 

The idea that out of tragedy can come triumph is the backbone of this pageant, said Loose. The power a crown and sash instill in these women pushes them into the public sphere and, hopefully, helps to break the stigma that life ends with injury.

 

"There is a prevailing sense that people who were disabled through injury are victims," Loose said. "We are not victims. We are heroes, and maybe most importantly of all, we are women. And this gives these ladies the opportunity to meet others like them and to prove that people in wheelchairs can accomplish anything anyone else can."

 

Founded in 1972, Ms. Wheelchair America is an educational organization, but the sheer number of wheelchair-using women at the weeklong conference makes a statement when they travel around the hotel: We're here, notice us and understand we are just like you.

 

And there is a certain safety in numbers.

 

"I love to dance, and I'm normally the random girl in the wheelchair on the dance floor," said Ms. Iowa Katie Helmers. "But not here, we're all out on the dance floor and we're all in wheelchairs."

 

She pauses, getting a bit emotional, "It's just so cool."

 

Later that night, at a 1950s-themed party, the women hit the floor, twisting and twirling to Elvis' classics. Some of the women's children bounced in between chairs, and the women laughed as they formed a wheelchair conga line.

 

And in the center was Helmers, all smiles.

 

After a few more workshops Friday, Alette Coble-Temple, Ms. California, 45, said she wanted to be a mom her whole life and decided to make that happen about a decade ago.

 

A professor who works with the California state board of parole, Coble-Temple has been married to her husband, Robert, a chemical engineer, for years. On paper, they were perfect candidates for adoption.

 

Except Coble-Temple has cerebral palsy.

 

"My husband and I cannot have kids of our own, and we wanted to adopt," she said. "I was rejected by 20 agencies, including the state of California foster care program, because they said, 'I am too disabled to be a mom.' Eventually we did adopt a child, but I had to work to demand proper assessment of my parental skills and reform California in the process."

 

And she's not done yet.

 

Her advocacy platform for Ms. Wheelchair America is "Parental rights include disability equality" (PRIDE), and she plans to take her message nationwide.

 

"Currently 37 states allow the removal of a child from a home solely based on a parent's disability," she said. "Oftentimes that can be a deciding factor regarding custody."

 

On Friday night, the women gathered in the ballroom for "speech night," arguably the most important evening for their overall scores. They each had two minutes to tell their story and deliver an advocacy platform to a room of strangers and a panel of judges.

 

From business accessibility to stopping domestic violence to changing federal housing laws and making disabled parking more plentiful, the platforms were as unique as each of the women.

 

But on some level, the heart, the underlying message, of each woman's speech could be boiled down to acceptance.

 

"If someone tells you you can't do something because of your disability," said Ms. Utah Jennifer Crouse, "look them straight in the eye and say, 'Watch me.' "

 

About an hour before the pageant, Little Miss Wheelchair Kansas Delaney Murphy, 10, outfitted in pink and blue, smiled brightly as she talked about her hope to be Ms. Wheelchair America one day.

 

"She loves this," said her mother, Kelley. "It's amazingly empowering to her to watch and listen to these successful ladies. It's hard to find other little girls in a wheelchair, so seeing these women gives her a network of mentors and our family some hope."

 

Indeed, many women mentioned inspiring the next generation and creating a better world for the "girls in the little pink wheelchairs" to inherit as a reason for joining the pageant.

 

"Little girls look up to me," said Ms. New York Andrea Dalzell. "And when they see me with my crown, they'll say something like, 'Are you a princess?' I'll say yes and you can be one too, and I'll put the crown on her head. To give back like that is why I do this."

 

This week most of the women's giving back took the form of a supportive sisterhood. They were there for each other and they shared tips, tools and ways to get through life.

 

"Today, I was with my peers and we were in the bathroom talking about catheters," Casados said. "It was so funny, like, when else would that happen? But it's awesome because I remember when I was alone with all the pain and all the fears and I didn't know what to do. After this, that will never be me again."

 

Dalzell agreed: "When I go home I am not going to be the only girl feeling lost. I have 25 other insane, loving, awesome women telling me they've been there."

 

"So are you ready to roll ladies?" the host asked as Saturday's crowning ceremony started.

 

Each woman wheeled on stage and 25 were whittled down to a top five. Ms. California, Alette Coble-Temple, was crowned the winner, taking home five airline tickets and $2,000 to spread her platform nationwide.

 

Her daughter, who she had fought so hard to raise, ran onstage and into her mother's arms. Her husband teared up behind his glasses. Her fellow contestants cheered.

 

And as the crowd quieted for her speech, she called on her "sisters" — her fellow Ms. Wheelchairs — to gather around her.

 

"Each of these women are equally deserving," she said. "I feel so very honored to be selected as Ms. Wheelchair America given the caliber and kindness of these women. I promise to work with each of you to help carry out your platforms."

 

You see, this was never about who won, this was a call to action for an army of advocates, a sort of sisterhood of traveling wheels, who will change the world one issue at a time. 

 

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To view the orignal story, More Causes Than Crowns, and view photos from the 2016 Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant please visit: The Des Moines Register.