“I always tell people that I grew up on an island,” Angela “Annie” J.B. Wilson says with pride. “It may not be a tropical island, but it’s my little island.”
For this local Alamedan, the island is a community that “comes together when someone has a need.” Annie volunteers for Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter (FAAS), and when her dog Virginia “Gigi” Woof was diagnosed with cancer, the shelter reciprocated her efforts by providing emergency vet support through their Skyla Fund. Annie also organized a fundraising sidewalk sale and neighbors responded with generous donations of furniture, clothing, and art. “People were so kind,” she says. “I felt so much love.” When Annie threw a party to say goodbye to Gigi, dozens of Alamedans showed up to support.
A sense of reciprocal community support energizes Annie’s work as a volunteer with animal shelters. Annie grew up with cats, dogs, chickens, and hamsters, and now serves several foster and rescue organizations, including Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco. To spread the word about dogs looking for their “forever homes,” she writes bios and creates engaging videos.
Annie, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), makes the videos by skillfully using an eye-tracking technology system called Eyegaze Edge. Having developed the precise skill required to use her eyes to move text and images, Annie can now finish editing a video in just about two hours. Thanks to her creative video editing, Annie was recently featured in a Forbes article and a video documentary, “Annie Loves Dogs.” She praises accessible technology systems that can restore independence and privacy for people who cannot speak or use their hands. “The world is literally at the tip of a person’s eyeballs,” she says.
As if Annie’s volunteering and graphic design skills weren’t impressive enough, she began undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley, earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Southern New Hampshire University, and is now pursuing a master’s degree in Advanced Counter Terrorism and Homeland Security. At 44 years old, Annie is proof that “it’s never too late to learn something new,” and to begin pursuing a new career. She plans to focus on victim advocacy and animal rights.
“We have to be the voice for all animals,” she says, pointing to the need for stronger protections against animal abuse and accountability across states.
Annie herself has given many pets a new chance through fostering and adoption. She currently lives with several charming animal companions including senior dogs Otter, Jack O’ Lantern, and Cindy Lou, as well as free-roaming rescue rabbits, Karol from Accounting and Poppy. She highly recommends adopting a senior dog. “Not only are you helping clear our extremely overcrowded shelters” and helping a hungry pet become a happy one, she says, “the love they will always hold for you will be deep and unconditional.”
Annie will clearly make a fantastic animal rights advocate, something she says “will make [her] soul feel good every day.”
Accessibility in Alameda
Annie’s experiences reveal how much knowledge we gain from diverse perspectives. Her thoughts on access are grounded in her everyday adventures here in Alameda. She points to Jean Sweeney Open Space Park as an example of what works—accessible pathways that allow her to move comfortably with her dogs.
By contrast, she notes that Alameda’s beaches remain largely inaccessible to wheelchair users. “There are pathways that can be placed directly on top of the sand… I wish we had that,” she says, describing the difficulty of navigating sand with medical equipment.
When asked about common misconceptions she encounters about people with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and wheelchair users, she replied, “People tend to think that wheelchair users are weak, sad, and need assistance for everything, which is not true. People with disabilities are living independently and are active members in the communities that they live in.”
Like many folks in the disability community, Annie rejects pity as a default response. When people respond to her diagnosis with “I’m so sorry,” she replies, “Why are you sorry? I’m not sorry. I’m out here killin’ it.”
And she is killin’ it—ironically, by saving animals’ lives.
Vivian Delchamps Wolf (English PhD, UCLA, 2022) is a professor of English at Dominican University of California and a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. She is also a disability justice advocate, ballroom dancer, cat lover, and board game enthusiast. Contact her via [email protected] Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Vivan-Delchamps-Wolf.
