For Pikesville resident Suzanne Levin-Lapides, the League for People with Disabilities is more than just a place to volunteer.
It’s home.
“The League is, for me, the center of the world,” she says. “The moment I walked through the doors, I was a goner. There’s no other word for it.”
In appreciation of her years of service, the League will honor Levin-Lapides at its fifth annual #OMGFood benefit event at the Marriott Owings Mills Metro Centre on Mar. 31 from 6-10 p.m.
“I’m humbled,” she says. “And I will do anything. Because it’s not about me. It’s about the League.”
A Baltimore native and graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, Levin-Lapides has been involved with the League — which provides services for children and adults with disabilities — for more than three decades.
Known to League clients for her enthusiasm and generous spirit, she has contributed to various events and programs, including luncheons, galas, fashion shows and staff holiday parties, where she is known as “Sue Santa” for her jovial Santa Claus costume.
Levin-Lapides also volunteers with W.E.A.N. (Women Embracing Abilities Now), a mentoring program dedicated to women with disabilities, and serves on the board of trustees of the Jewish Museum of Maryland.
“I think she just has a passion for helping human beings,” says David A. Greenberg, the League’s president and CEO. “When you see her, you see how she just lights up.”
Says Janice Jackson, executive director at W.E.A.N.: “I don’t know anyone more deserving of this award. With her open heart, Suzanne sees only people, not their limitations. She has truly helped W.E.A.N. become what it is today.”
An interior designer at the design firm of Hall & Company, Levin-Lapides first became involved wtih the League in the late 1980s while serving on the decorating committee for the organization’s annual gala.
In 1991, she joined the board, also serving as a volunteer designer when the League’s building underwent a $6 million renovation in the early 2000s.
“A lot of Suzanne, you can see it as you walk through this beautiful building,” Greenberg says of the League’s headquarters at 1111 E. Cold Spring Lane in North Baltimore. “She’s part of our success.”
The intersection of design and helping those with disabilities is an obvious one to Levin-Lapides, who has worked extensively with residential and commercial design.
When the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted in 1990, she helped design architectural surveys of public spaces in the Baltimore area, ensuring that people with disabilities were accommodated at banks, hotels, museums and other public areas.
“I love creating a place where people feel comfortable,” she says. “It’s all about dignity and being accepted, being integrated as a natural part of society. Because we’re all only one step away from breaking a leg or living in a wheelchair for six weeks.”
Levin-Lapides’ individualized approach to design also extends to her work with people with disabilities. While advocates for people with disabilities have generally always encouraged them to integrate into society, more recently there is a focus on encouraging them to express their own singular voices.
“To be at the League, you find that people have needs, wants and desires, and they want people not to just pander and feel sorry for them,” says Levin-Lapides. “This is their normal and we have to respect it, but we also have to learn the language and understand what people want. Instead of telling them, it’s listening. It’s one thing at the League that I’ve learned so much from the people that I’ve met.”
Not only does the organization adapt to the needs of its clients with resources like a summer camp, an adult medical day program and workforce development, staff at the League have also worked hard during the pandemic to continue providing services to participants and their families, Levin-Lapides says.
“They are able to pivot because the people who are there are in sync with the needs,” she says.
For information about the #OMGFood event, visit leagueforpeople.org/events.
Hanni R. Werner is a Baltimore-based freelance writer.
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