Dear Jeremy Renner, First of all—welcome back. Your journey and recovery since January 2023 have been nothing short of heroic. The strength you’ve shown isn’t just physical—it’s emotional, spiritual, and deeply human. As you once said, “The real superpower is to be able to transform your suffering into your strength.” You’ve done this. I try to live by this. And now, I believe you have the chance to use that strength to help transform something much bigger: how Lake Tahoe shows up for people with disabilities.
My name is Angie Reagan. I am the founder of Access Tahoe—a grassroots movement dedicated to creating access in Tahoe for All. We want to ensure everyone, regardless of ability, age, culture, background, or identity, can access the healing power and joy of this place. I’m a physical therapist, but I have been disabled for over eight years. I’ve also been a caregiver to loved ones and strangers who became loved ones. I am using my knowledge, experience and voice as a volunteer disability advocate throughout this region.
My struggle is suicide. My purpose is prevention. My hope is that no one feels alone, and everyone feels welcome. What began as my personal response to injustice, trauma and disability has become a mission to build belonging. I advocate with all my might to break down barriers that keep people out of Tahoe’s trails, beaches, businesses, activities, parks, playgrounds, schools, events, recreation and community life.
This year, the 2025 Tahoe Summit will focus on Protecting Lake Tahoe: Balancing Sustainable Recreation and Conservation. It’s a vital theme—but it’s also incomplete if we don’t ask: sustainable for whom? Because right now, Tahoe isn’t accessible for all. And it hasn’t been—despite the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) turning 35 years old this year.
Tahoe is known for its pristine waters, alpine air, SNO-Parks and awe-inspiring trails. It is a place that heals the soul—but only if you can reach it. Unfortunately, for the 1 in 4 Americans living with a disability, access to Tahoe’s beauty is a daily struggle or an outright impossibility. People with disabilities—physical, sensory, cognitive, psychological, and non-apparent—are still excluded from many parts of this region. Seniors struggle to age in place. Visitors with chronic illness, low vision, PTSD, autism, or hearing loss find few accommodations. Parents or children who use wheelchairs or who need sensory-friendly experiences are left out of public spaces, community events, SNO-Parks and the outdoors. Grandparents with walkers are left on the sidewalks to watch their grandkids play at the beach.
Despite the ADA’s promises, barriers remain everywhere—and not just physical barriers. Barriers of mindset, design, culture, communication, language, and cost. Barriers that say, “This space wasn’t built with you in mind.” Let’s shift from the concept of the ADA to the concept of universal design. Let’s build a Tahoe with everyone in mind.
We believe a truly sustainable Tahoe is one where access and conservation walk side by side, and sustainability and accessibility go hand in hand. Help us make the connection between protecting the land and honoring all the people who wish to experience it, locals and guests alike. Help us comprehend the concern for climate change and the concern for the safe evacuation of our most vulnerable in times of natural disaster, both snow and fire. Help us realize that environmental stewardship is social stewardship, and environmental health is mental, physical, and societal health.
Jeremy, your voice at this year’s Summit could be the turning point. You’ve felt what it’s like to lose access to your body, your rhythm, and your independence—and you’ve fought for every step, every breath, every return to self. But beyond your own healing, you’ve been generous with your story. You’ve used your platform to raise awareness, to connect with those who are struggling, and to give back through your foundation. That makes you more than an actor. It makes you a leader. And in Tahoe, right now, we need a leader, a hero, a real-life Avenger. Not one who flies—but one who has the vision to see the unseen and lift them up.
At the Summit, you’ll speak to the people who have the power to make lasting change—leaders of governments, nonprofits, policymakers, and agencies. If you also bring the message of accessibility and belonging, people will listen. If you say that sustainability must include accessibility and the full spectrum of the human experience, they will remember it. And they may better understand, respond, act or progress at a quicker speed.
Access is not charity. It’s justice. It’s inclusion. It’s environmentalism with heart. And without access, there is no true sustainability. Because nature should not be a luxury for the able-bodied or the privileged—it should be a human right. Disability intersects with race, class, religion, sexuality—and it’s a path that any of us may walk at any point in life. Everyone ages. Anyone can become disabled. So this, this is truly about all of us.
I do outreach and speak often at various government, school, non-profit, business, commission, and board meetings. I’ve hosted events, roundtables and educational opportunities, attempting to connect the disabled community with the leaders who can make change. I’ve helped lead initiatives, written letters, and built tables where none existed. There are a few wins and slow progress, but there’s also so much resistance and many “no’s.” But I’ll be honest: I’m tired. I’m disabled. I live on SSDI. I do this unpaid and unfunded. I do it for a sense of purpose and a reason to go on. I do it because, like you, I believe that struggle can be transformed into strength—and into service. We need help. More help. I’m asking you to carry this message forward in your keynote. To be our voice where ours are still too often go unheard. To remind this region that access builds peace, that belonging is a form of healing, and that no one should be left behind—not in nature, not in community, and not in Tahoe.
You’ve already proven your strength. You’ve already survived the unthinkable. Now, with your words, you can help others find their way back to life, too, by making sure they’re not shut out of the places that heal us, bring us joy, and connect us. Maybe you can help next year’s theme of the Tahoe Summit incorporate Access in Tahoe for All.
Thank you, truly, for your resilience, your compassion, and your heart. We’re honored to have you as part of this community. I hope you’ll use your platform to make Tahoe the place it’s meant to be: open, accessible, inclusive, and extraordinary—for everyone.
With all the respect, gratitude, and hope I can muster, I ask you:
Be the voice we need.
Be the advocate who turns sustainability into a movement of access and inclusion.
Be our Tahoe superhero.
With gratitude, purpose, and hope,
Angie Reagan, PT, DPT (and Simba the Doodle Service Dog)
Founder & Volunteer, Access Tahoe
Disabled Disability Advocate
Suicide Survivor-Thriving on Purpose