Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Awards 74 Nonprofit Organizations Quality of Life Grants

SHORT HILLS, N.J., July 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation announced it has awarded over $500,000 in Quality of Life Grants to 74 nonprofit organizations in the United States. Grants requests are evaluated and scored using a rigorous review process to select for funding outstanding nonprofit organizations that empower individuals living with paralysis. The program has awarded 2,205 grants totaling nearly $17 million since its inception in 1999.

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Several grants this cycle were specifically focused on programs for women. Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, was awarded a grant of $25,000—the maximum amount awarded through the Quality of Life grants program—to support the Pelvic Health Initiative for Women with Disabilities: An Interactive Information Online Resource (PHI-Learn). This project will create consumer-oriented information resources on pelvic health for women living with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and spina bifida.

Another grant was awarded to Operation Homefront, based in San Antonio, Texas. The organization was awarded a $5,000 grant for Hearts of Valor, a caregiving program which provides care and vital support to the wives, partners, and other female family caregivers of paralyzed, severely injured or ill service members hurt in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Combining multicultural and women's initiatives, Hesperian Foundation in Berkeley, California was awarded a $8,109 grant to fund the expansion, availability and reach of culturally-appropriate, easy-to-understand Spanish language materials to support the health and improved quality of life for women living with paralysis and other disabilities.

Deep & Beyond in Kailua Kona, Hawaii received a $7,300 Quality of Life grant to support Snorkel Days, a program created to provide opportunities for people living with disabilities to build friendships, minimize exclusion, and be a part of an inclusive community while experiencing adventure and freedom in ocean activities integral to Hawaiian traditions. The Snorkel Days initiative is the only program on the Big Island of Hawaii that provides free snorkeling opportunities for individuals living with mobility impairments.

"It is the Reeve Foundation's esteemed pleasure to award Quality of Life grants that will help the paralysis community enhance their freedom and independence," said Niketa Sheth, Senior Vice President of Quality of Life of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. "We are thrilled to be able to align with organizations that believe in our mission and especially proud of this grant cycle's reach and depth to fund multicultural programs, women's initiatives, and support for caregivers and loved ones of injured service men and women."

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Quality of Life grants program was conceived by the late Dana Reeve to address the myriad needs of children and adults living with paralysis and other mobility impairments and their families. Grants support critical life-enhancing and life-changing initiatives that improve physical and emotional health and increase independence. Funded projects offer a diversity of services and approaches: improving access; providing education and job training; sponsoring organized sporting activities; and much more. Quality of Life grants are funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Award #U59DD000838). 

About the Reeve Foundation
The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information and advocacy. We meet all 20 of the Better Business Bureau's standards for charity accountability and hold the BBB's Charity Seal. The Paralysis Resource Center (PRC) is a program of the Reeve Foundation, and is funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Award No. U59DD000838. For more information, please visit our website at www.ChristopherReeve.org or call 800-539-7309.

SOURCE Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation