Julie Blackburn cited in Refinery 29 a leading digital media and entertainment company focused on women
Blackburn Labs is thrilled to announce that our CDSO/COO, Julie Blackburn, has been featured for the third time in Refinery 29 (R29), a leading digital media and entertainment company focused on women. The article highlights her personal journey with chronic illness and her efforts to build a community for people with disabilities, chronic pain, and those who are immunocompromised through her application, Spoonie Day.
In the article, Blackburn shares how the pandemic has made it difficult for people with chronic illnesses to connect with others and how the specific push for in-person wellness connection tends to leave them out. However, she emphasizes that just because something is “online” doesn't mean you can't form a true community there.
Blackburn's application, Spoonie Day, provides a platform for people with chronic illnesses to connect with others, share experiences, and support one another. During the pandemic, she also started doing chair yoga and chair Zumba through the MS Dream Center on Zoom, which allowed her to form new friendships and accountability partners.
As Blackburn states in the article, “People may make an assumption that the community can't exist in the same way in this remote environment, but it does. Having that has been such a profound game-changer.” She goes on to share how her mobility has been impacted by her condition and how being part of a community again has been incredibly meaningful.
At Blackburn Labs, we are incredibly proud of Julie and her efforts to create a community for people with chronic illnesses through Spoonie Day. We believe that technology can be used for good and that applications like Spoonie Day can make a real difference in people's lives. We are committed to continuing to support Julie and her work, and we look forward to seeing Spoonie Day grow and evolve in the future.
An Expert from R29:
“Just because something is “online” doesn't mean you can't form a true community there,” says Julie Blackburn, a data scientist who's been diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), a condition that affects the central nervous system and mobility. During the pandemic, she started doing chair yoga and chair Zumba through the MS Dream Center on Zoom. Before the sessions, she and others would chat and they soon became both friends and accountability partners. “People may make an assumption that the community can't exist in the same way in this remote environment, but it does,” Blackburn says. “Having that has been such a profound game-changer.”