The following is from Yvonne, in her own words:
I was born January 25, 1954 in Petersburg, VA. I am 59 years old. I have a birth defect called Spina Bifida. I had a sister born two years before me, but she only lived a week. I grew up in Virginia and moved to Las Vegas in 1974. In Virginia I was not allowed to attend high school because they had steps and they did not want me to fall and be responsible. I had to go to the private home of a woman named Mrs. Dupuy for all of high school to be home-schooled.
I have always been a big advocate for the ADA. I even worked with the Justice Department back in 1998 on a class action on a builder not having accessible apartments. We won! I was married in 1981 in Las Vegas and moved to South Carolina, where my son Gary (now 31) and daughter Wendy (now 28) were born. I worked for the government supplying produce to the submarines. In 1986, we then moved to San Diego where I was divorced. I worked there again for the Navy Accounting Department. In 1987, I moved back to Las Vegas and have been here ever since. I was married in 2000 to Frank Manriquez who is a wonderful husband and is always by my side to help.
I enjoy working advocating for the ADA, doing my part to help improve accessibility. I was crowned Ms. Wheelchair Nevada 2013 and am very excited to be representing the great State of Nevada at the Nationals for Ms. Wheelchair USA in Akron, Ohio July 15th – 21st. This is a fantastic program and I am very excited to be participating. My platform is “Dream, Believe, and Achieve!” I received a very nice letter of congratulations from the Mayor of Las Vegas, Carolyn G. Goodman.
Thank you to all of my friends and family for your support! Please tune in to the live broadcast of the national pageant on U-Stream on July 20th at 7pm EST.