The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation National Paralysis Resource Center (PRC) announces the awarding of $1,305,579 in Direct Effect Quality of Life grants for 2021.
The Quality of Life Grants Program supports nonprofit organizations that empower individuals living with paralysis. Since the Quality of Life Grants Program’s inception, more than 3,400 grants totaling over $34 million have been awarded. Funding for this program was made possible through a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Community Living, according to a media release from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.
The Reeve Foundation National Paralysis Resource Center has several cycles throughout the year funding various projects and initiatives, including COVID-19 specific programs and assistive technology. In addition, the Direct Effect Quality of Life grants funds organizations up to $25,000 to support a wide range of projects and activities that will clearly impact individuals living with paralysis and their families.
“The need for quality of life experiences is greater than ever, especially for people living with paralysis and their families.
“The Reeve Foundation is humbled and proud to be able to support these great organizations in offering groundbreaking projects and programs through this grant cycle that include supporting accessible community gardens that are committed to the goal of ending food insecurity, a Fair Housing Advocacy Project that aims to prevent the harassment, displacement, and homelessness of at-risk low-income tenants living with paralysis in NYC, and an Adaptive Sports Abuse Prevention (ASAP) curriculum for Paralympic sports organizations and community-based adaptive sports programs.”
— Mark Bogosian, Director, Quality of Life Grants Program, Reeve Foundation
Grant Recipients
This cycle’s recipients of the Direct Effect Quality of Life Grants include:
Triangle, Inc.
Malden, MA 02148-6697
$25,000 – Adaptive Sports
Adaptive Sports Abuse Prevention
This Direct Effect grant builds upon Triangle’s 2018 QOL grant for IMPACT: Ability, an evidence-based sexual abuse prevention curriculum for leaders, staff, and volunteers of adaptive sports organizations currently taught in schools and human service agencies. With this grant, Triangle will partner with the U.S. Center for SafeSport to disseminate its Adaptive Sports Abuse Prevention (ASAP) curriculum to Paralympic sports organizations and community-based adaptive sports programs. Triangle will also partner with Spaulding Rehabilitation Network in Boston’s Spaulding Adaptive Sports to create a pilot abuse prevention curriculum for adaptive sports athletes to empower athletes with paralysis to recognize unsafe situations and engage in healthy relationships. Triangle will train 25 Paralympic and local adaptive sports leaders in the ASAP curriculum who, in turn, will use the program to increase the safety of over 1,250 athletes.
Clinic for Special Children
Strasburg, PA
$25,000 – Healthcare
Providing Accessible Healthcare for Plain (Amish/Mennonite) Patients with Paralysis
This Direct Effect grant supports purchasing three accessible medical examination tables and a gynecological exam table for patients living with paralysis. The Clinic for Special Children serves a unique population – uninsured Plain (Amish and Mennonite) patients living with genetic illnesses in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Many patients are being treated for medical issues associated with paralysis, including spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), cerebral palsy, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, and other types of muscular dystrophy, which are common in Amish communities.
Glacier National Park Conservancy
Columbia Falls, MT
$25,000 – Accessible Trail
Trail Resurfacing Around Swiftcurrent Lake in Glacier National Park
This grant supports an accessible trail in Glacier National Park. Barriers that have long prevented accessibility improvements to this National Park include a lack of trails with appropriate grades in the mountainous park, limited trailheads with adequate parking, and the sustainability of accessible tread for resurfacing. The park also intends to create an unmatched experience for visitors living with paralysis and limited mobility by adding a trail loop. An estimated 18,000-20,000 visitors with limited mobility will benefit from being able to explore the backcountry of one of America’s most treasured and most scenic national parks each year.
[Source(s): Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, PR Newswire]
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