Nick Papadopoulos has lived in a nursing home for the past four years. He’s only forty-three years old. He was born and raised in Astoria, Queens where after school he worked in real estate until his brother convinced him to move down to Athens, Georgia. He has cerebral palsy,  has used a wheelchair since he was thirty-two, and has always led a full life surrounded by friends and family. Among the various titles Nick’s held in his life, he’s long been a disability advocate.

Despite his long, frustrating battle to escape the nursing home, he’s never given up on himself or his community. He participated in the film 6,000 Waiting to inspire change in the system. “People with disabilities are musicians, artists, bankers, and scientists with dreams and ideas,” Nick says. “They just require extra help. Without that extra help, those dreams won’t happen.”