Who We support

Vahen King is an author, speaker and founder of the non-profit charity Going Farther. In 2017, Vahen was crowned the first ever Miss Wheelchair Canada and went on to win the prestigious title of Miss Kindness World. Not only her beauty, but her character has won her awards. Vahen’s courage is contagious. She inspires boldness and resiliency by facing each new adversity head-on. Demonstrating that the biggest limitations or disabilities are often the ones we place on ourselves.

At the age of 23, one week after her engagement to the man of her dreams, Vahen developed Transverse Myelitis, a virus that left her physically disabled and dependent on the use of a wheelchair. Although Vahen portrayed confidence as she was trying to cope as a person with a disability, her “new normal” was facing feelings of self-doubt and exclusion. Reaching a point of desperation, she realized that she had a choice to make, to be paralyzed by fears and insecurities, or push forward.

Vahen states, “While Transverse Myelitis set me on a path I would never have chosen, it has lead me to find strength I didn’t know existed, and into the fulfillment of my wildest dreams.”