Maui resident Charlotte George Smith is known as a woman who specializes in achieving seemingly impossible dreams. She is a polio survivor, and although she has lived her life in a wheelchair since age 10, she has always been determined to master life regardless of her circumstances. She eventually authored a book, Race the Sun, about her perseverance in overcoming barriers, hoping to inspire others with disabilities to go after their dreams. 

“I learned to swim, ride horses, and drive a car,” she shared. “I went to the University of Illinois and earned two degrees in biological sciences. Then I worked for NASA in Houston for 26 years, always pursuing women’s rights and disability rights. I was also the first paraplegic woman in the country ever to earn a pilot’s license.”   

How did she do all of this? She attributes her accomplishments to resilience. “I adapted to the situation and used all the resources I could get and even traveled all over the world. However, the first time I visited Maui in 1982, I fell in love with it and was determined to live here. I opened an account at the Bank of Hawaiʻi with $200 and began working with the State Commission on the Handicapped.” 

While attending County meetings, Smith worked on making the island more accessible for people with disabilities. She was also asked to serve on the Board of Directors of Maui Economic Opportunity for a five-year term. In 1992, with the assistance of then Mayor Linda Lingle, she founded and was elected chair of a new nine-member Maui County Commission on Persons with Disabilities. At the state and national level, she served a term on the Statewide Independent Living Council of Hawaiʻi and took part in pioneering the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Now retired, Smith continues to remind Maui residents with disabilities to take advantage of the resources and opportunities available to them through her writing and her work as a Rotary Club member. Community members seeking assistance can call Aloha United Way’s 211 helpline to be connected to a wide variety of services.