Interview 5: Disability, Belonging & Asking for Help

06.18.25 | Interview | 35 min

In this honest and unflinching conversation, we sit down with community advocate, social worker, and graduate student Lana Dever (Ell) to explore what it means to live at the intersections of disability, race, class, gender, and neurodivergence. Drawing from a life shaped by unstable housing, systemic neglect, and late diagnosis, Ell shares how a long-overdue understanding of her health—and worth—emerged not in clinical spaces, but in community, reflection, and resistance.

Together, we talk about the cost of being “the strong one,” and Ell invites us to rethink what it means to receive support, to challenge internalized ableism and individualism, and to reconnect with the radical roots of community care.

If you’ve ever felt shut out—or tried to open the door for someone else—this conversation is one you’ll want to hear. This episode is a vulnerable, gutsy reminder that healing isn’t meant to happen alone—and asking for help is a practice of liberation. 

If you’re moved by Ell’s story and want to support their family’s fight to keep their home, secure critical medical care, and cover essential living expenses, please consider making a gift at their GoFundMe campaign: https://gofund.me/f0861afd 

Music Credit: Nathan Byrne with Reel Byrne Media.