From Hospital Visit to Community Champion: Martez Bryant

When Here and Now Project cofounder Kenny Salvini made a stop at Harborview Medical Center last week to deliver care baskets, he didn’t expect to run into a familiar face—Martez Bryant. What began as a brief hallway catch-up quickly turned into a powerful reminder of how healing and purpose can intertwine in unexpected ways.

From Athlete to Advocate

Before 2022, Bryant was a standout softball player competing at an elite level. But a C3 spinal cord injury that year dramatically altered his trajectory. By the time Salvini first met Bryant during a care package visit on May 4, 2024, he was recovering at home and beginning to rebuild his life.

Bryant didn't waste any time getting involved. Just a month after that initial meeting, he joined the Here and Now Project community and participated in the 5K event —and he's planning to roll in this year's race, too. "Come on out, it's going to be a great time, meet great people," Bryant says about the upcoming 5K. "Come network, get out, and live life."

Whether you're running, walking, or rolling, this is what community looks like in action.

Visit with Martez Bryant and his partner, Morissa, and daughter, Mariana, at their home

Finding Purpose Through Play

Now, less than a year later, Bryant was at Harborview Medical Center —not to receive treatment, but as someone giving back to the community in a meaningful way.

During their recent encounter, Salvini learned that Bryant has taken on a position with AbleGamers as a peer counselor at Harborview. In this role, he teaches adaptive gaming techniques to newly injured patients, helping them reconnect with gaming communities and rediscover joy during their recovery process.

The AbleGamers Peer Counseling program serves as a bridge for people with disabilities returning to gaming. The organization's mission is "to engage, understand, and educate people with the knowledge and skills needed to get back to gaming and the rich experiences, joining a community of millions of players worldwide."

The program pairs people with disabilities with counselors who understand their experiences firsthand. These peer-to-peer sessions are both time-intensive and relationship-focused, recognizing that "figuring out the gaming setup for people with disabilities is extremely time-consuming." Counselors develop individualized solutions and provide access to specialized equipment, custom controllers, and technologies that might otherwise be prohibitively expensive.

Lived Experience Meets Impact

Bryant's work involves meeting with newly injured patients to assess their gaming interests and needs, then collaborating with them to develop adaptive strategies and equipment setups. The peer counseling model acknowledges that people who have navigated similar challenges themselves bring invaluable perspective to these conversations.

"The best part is being able to give back to patients and put a smile on their faces," Bryant explains. "One particular experience that moved me was my first one-to-one patient I worked with. He told me it was better learning from someone who's been in his situation —a patient who still is a patient— rather than from a doctor or a nurse."

For people adjusting to disabilities, gaming serves multiple functions—providing entertainment, social connection, and crucial continuity with pre-injury interests. The

technical aspects of adaptive gaming require specialized knowledge about equipment modifications and software solutions that enable play across different types of disabilities.

Bryant's position at Harborview exemplifies how peer counseling models are being integrated into medical settings, recognizing that lived experience often provides unique insights for supporting others facing similar transitions.

This unexpected reunion between Salvini and Bryant is a snapshot of something bigger: how community-based healing can come full circle. What began as a care basket delivery over a year ago has grown into a story of resilience, reinvention, and showing up for others.

Bryant's journey is still unfolding—but already, he's become a champion not just of gaming, but of what it means to belong.

The Bryant Family with a few Harborview Therapists.