A Michigan-based ability advocate is visiting Chicago-area hospitals, spreading a message of kindness, empathy, and inclusion.
Melissa DiVietri is an author, artist and Tedx speaker focused on building a more inclusive world through real-life storytelling. She was born with sacral agenesis.
“I always tell people to take a step back. Be patient. Have compassion. Have empathy because inclusion is so important. Access for all means access for everybody,” she said.”
DiVietri started writing in 2024. Her first service dog CoCo was 17. He became the inspiration of her first book, A Tale of a Service Animal.
“I’m missing the sacrum part of your body, so the tailbone,” said Melissa DiVietri. “There are different levels to it, for me it impairs my mobility. I make the best of it, because that’s all you can do when you have something that’s different. You just adapt, you grow, and you evolve.”
CoCo died from kidney failure, DiVietri said.
“While she is getting sick, I was writing about all the fun memories about her. There are pictures of us traveling. You can see that she had such a personality with all her cute outfits. It was a great way for me to heal and grieve her memory. And now I get to talk about her every day, which makes me feel like she’s still here wagging her tail waiting to go for the next journey.”
Right now, DiVietri is traveling around the country with her new service dog- Oreo- and donating copies of her books.
Last week, she gifted several copies to the UI Health. She’s also donated book to Stroger Hospital.
“I am so impressed with Melissa and what she’s doing with this book,” said Jolie Hollimandouge, UI Health. “We are grateful for her donating this. Melissa’s Book will be in our pediatrics department, but we also will have it in different places around the hospital.”
DiVietri said children are writing to her, saying they want to be just like her when they grow up.
“Everybody has something unique about them,” she said. “I always tell people to take a step back. Be patient. Have compassion. Have empathy because inclusion is so important. Access for all means access for everybody.
You can order copies of DiVietri’s book here.
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