We Need Your Help!

Dangerwood's mission is to provide the opportunity for all people with disabilities to find others with similar issues and learn from their experiences. It facilitates the sharing of information between people with disabilities, friends, families and researchers. It also provides education to anyone interested in learning more about disabilities or people with disabilities. It is funded 100% by donations and advertising money. Dangerwood is looking for financial help by way of advertisers, sponsors, grants and donations. The website has positively impacted thousands and thousands of individuals in dire need, and now, as an online magazine, is aiding even more individuals looking for answers and companionship to help them make survive with their respective disabilities.

Dangerwood is already receiving an average of 400,000 hits per month, and that number is expected to rise considerably as the website's exposure increases. Activity has increased dramatically since its inception nine years ago. However, the annual operating costs of this website continue to increase. That goes to operating costs and search engine and directory placement. With the proper funding in place, improvements could be made that would improve the functionality of Dangerwood, all geared to further assist the physically challenged, our families, friends and personal care assistants, as well as the rest of society who visit the site. We here at Dangerwood are proud of what we have accomplished over the past several years, helping individuals survive the horror and trauma of suffering a new spinal cord injury, or whatever disability with which they may have been afflicted. In maturing into an online magazine, Dangerwood has made a quantum leap that carries with it new expenses. It requires more revenue than ever to operate the website, what with advertising, staffing and operations. Writers need to be hired, as does a grant writer. Search engine placement and hosting fees are among the many expenses now being incurred. Look, however, at what we're accomplishing. Here are just a few of the numerous complements and thank-you you's we have received from our readers over the years...

"Hi, my husband of 5 years is a quad. Your site helped me on bad and good days. It feels good to be able to go to the place where people know what you are talking about. Keep up good work, Nick! -- AH"

"This site is fantastic, well organized and much needed. I am a caregiver for a woman who is a post polio quad. She has a hard time using her computer and I've been looking for things to help make her life easier. I anticipate learning a lot from the folks here and hopefully we will be able to contribute something worthwhile! THANK YOU! -- Kris"

"What a great web site! Thanks to all of you who contribute. I will definitely be returning. -Auntie Dee "

"Dear Nick, my family and I admire you so much for your strength, positive outlook, and the beautiful spirit you so willingly share with others. We are honored to do our small part to help you provide the invaluable service you provide for so many…Take care, Adrienne"

Why are these people so excited, you might ask yourself? Because they have discovered Dangerwood, and up until the creation of Dangerwood, there was nowhere for anyone with a disability or new spinal cord injury to go to get the answers and necessary information that they required to survive with their respective conditions. For the newly disabled in particular, before Dangerwood was created, they found themselves to suddenly be islands just like me -- all alone and on their own to work through the agonizing and challenging conversion from life as an able-bodied person to living with a potentially catastrophic disability. If only there were someone with whom to consult that held the answers, or somewhere they could go to speak with others living and surviving with the same or similar conditions, they might possibly be able to receive direction and assistance. I myself, following the accident that left me paralyzed for life in 1995, yearned to tap into the vast knowledge that had to be out there somewhere that would explain all the many things I needed to know in conjunction with my new disability, a spinal cord injury.

Think about it -- one day I was living the perfect life and relaxing on a beach in the mountains 10 minutes from my beautiful lakefront home, soaking up the sun with my two Sea Doos floating in the crystal clear water next to me. The next day, while out of town visiting friends the night before my 20 year high school reunion, I would be attacked by a drunk and have my neck broken. Paralyzed instantly, my life changed in the blink of an eye. I would never return to my new dream home in the mountains, never see my friends again or any of my belongings. My perfect life dashed, I was suddenly struggling to survive. What did I know about living with a spinal cord injury? Absolutely nothing! When I got out of the hospital I was totally lost! My girlfriend was freaked and overwhelmed, and for the first time in my life, I found myself in over my head! I knew nothing about hiring caregivers or acquiring supplies or any of the vast myriad of things I needed to know to survive in my new world. I would have given anything to be hooked up with a website like Dangerwood, but there was no such place to go that broke it all down and facilitated the sharing of information the way that Dangerwood does. I was alone -- an island -- cut loose by the hospital and on my own to figure it all out. It was a horrible experience.

Nowadays, no one should ever have to struggle like that again, not with Dangerwood around and readily available to anyone with access to a computer and the World Wide Web. Now, as an online magazine, Dangerwood has become your one-stop shopping place for reading and information sharing for people with disabilities. With the advent of Dangerwood nine years ago, a new era was begun that broke down the barriers which, for so long, left everyone with a disability on their own to work out their problems and solve the many complexities of living with disability.

The only way that Dangerwood can continue to function and grow is through advertising revenue and donations. Surely, after all these years of helping individuals on the World Wide Web, there couldn't be a better place for potential advertisers of products for the physically challenged to advertise and promote themselves than right here on Dangerwood. With registration numbers in the thousands, it should be safe to say that more people that fall into the sales demographic look at Dangerwood on a daily or weekly basis than any other possible advertising location, on or off the web. Potential advertisers and sponsors are able to promote themselves and their products directly to a large audience of potential buyers and investors. For the possible donor, what better place to put your money?! You will be helping an enormous amount of people -- as well as myself -- most of whom fight for their lives every day. As an individual with a spinal cord injury I know just how devastating it is to try to survive with a spinal cord injury. Additionally, the magazine is set up to highly promote all of its advertisers and sponsors more than any other possible advertising venue on the web. Everyone who contributes to Dangerwood has the option of having their title or website logo added to the advertiser area located front and center on the homepage, directly under the website title. Readers  have the opportunity to click on any one of the many anticipated advertiser icons and be whisked directly to their website. Please consider making your donation today -- think of all the people you'll be helping, including yourself! Simply follow the instructions below.

Yours truly, Stephen L. Crowder a.k.a. Nick Danger, creator and CEO of Dangerwood Enterprises