Founded By Amputees For Amputees
Connecticut Amputee Network welcomes you. As amputees ourselves, we know that people with limb loss/limb change share issues and concerns that need to be addressed. We created this organization, CAN, to join people with limb loss/limb change, their loved ones, caretakers, educators, and medical professionals to work together for positive change in legislation, to educate and share information, and to network with other organizations that serve people with disabilities.
We won’t be able to do all of this on our own — we will need your help. If you want to be involved, please contact us. If there’s a particular area that you are interested in, or have a special skill to offer, tell us about that as well.
We CAN overcome challenges and make progress together.
CAN’s Mission
CAN advocates for the Connecticut limb loss and limb change community by taking action in three areas: legislative advocacy, education, and organizational networking.
- Legislative Advocacy: We communicate the community’s needs and concerns to elected officials at the local, state and federal levels, and in turn, elected officials consult with us as experts on the community’s position on disability issues. We spearhead initiatives to stop or blunt actions that may hurt us and promote new laws and regulations that will help us.
- Education: We communicate with the community on disability-related issues that may impact them, keeping them abreast of developments at the state and federal level, and inform them of actions they can take. We offer educational presentations and materials regarding the law and disability rights for the community. We refer certified peer mentors to amputees as requested.
- Organizational Networking: Through our relationships with public and private organizations that defend the rights of all individuals with disabilities, we leverage our combined knowledge and power to protect the rights of individuals with limb loss and limb change.
CAN Founders
Herb Kolodny
After losing his right leg to cancer in 2013, Herb became an advocate for others in the limb loss community by being active in amputee support groups across Connecticut and as a certified peer mentor. He has published several articles and presents at regional and national conferences. Herb tackled legislative advocacy in 2017, co-founding Connecticut Amputee Network (CAN) with the goal of getting state legislation passed to protect health insurance coverage for prosthetics. The Insurance Fairness for Prosthetics Act, PA18-69, became law in 2018. Herb is also the recipient of Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Community Advocate of 2018 award. Now retired, Herb previously owned and operated Computer-Docs, LLC.
Brenda Novak
Since 2008, Brenda Novak has been a left above-knee amputee, the result of trauma suffered from a water tower collapse while consulting for an ecotourism development project in West Africa. She is also co-founder of GoFireflyGo.com, an online platform that connects women who travel, a board member of Branford Community Television, and a certified amputee peer visitor. She holds an MBA in Global Management and a BS in Anthropology. Raised in upstate New York, she has lived in eight states and traveled to 23 countries on five continents. Now Brenda is happily settled on the Connecticut shoreline.
GDPR-Compliant Privacy Policy: CAN's priority is advocating for people with limb loss and limb difference. We will never intentionally share your data with anyone for any reason, except to the extent necessary to comply with the law. Details of our GDPR-Compliant Privacy Policy can be viewed here: