Why Compassion Feels So Radical Today. With Melissa Fisher & Erica Pearson at New Wave Wellness.

What happens when we stop seeing people as diagnoses, case numbers, or "clients"—and start seeing them as human beings again? That's exactly the conversation I wanted to have with Melissa Fisher and Erica Pearson, the co-founders of New Wave Wellness. Their stories are deeply personal, but what they're building goes far beyond disability services. They're challenging the way we think about care, community, and what real advocacy actually looks like. We talked about why disability advocacy can't exist in a silo. Mental health, homelessness, developmental disabilities, struggling families—they're all connected. So why do we keep trying to solve them separately? If nearly half of Americans are one unexpected crisis away from losing everything, shouldn't we all be paying attention? Melissa and Erica refuse to accept a system that treats people like paperwork. Their approach is rooted in compassion, dignity, and the belief that every person deserves to be seen before they're assessed. It sounds simple, but somewhere along the way we've made humanity optional. Why? This conversation challenged me to ask a bigger question: What kind of community are we actually building? One that waits for people to fall through the cracks, or one that shows up before they do? Real change doesn't begin with another program—it begins with choosing to care about the person standing right in front of us. Learn more about New Wave Wellness below: New Wave Wellness - Hope in Motion website Facebook Email: [email protected] Chapters 00:00 Introduction to New Wave Wellness and Its Founders 05:00 Personal Journeys into Disability Advocacy 09:57 Challenges Facing the Disability Community 15:07 The Importance of Advocacy and Community Support 20:01 Humanistic Approaches in Service Delivery 24:57 Opportunities for Involvement and Conclusion Contact Tabitha: [email protected] https://tabithazeigler.com/