The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Awards 107 Nonprofit Organizations Quality of Life Grants

SHORT HILLS, N.J., March 31, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to improving quality of life for individuals living with paralysis, announced today that it has awarded $735,482 in Quality of Life grants to 107 nonprofit organizations nationwide. These grants provide financial support to fellow nonprofits that mirror the Reeve Foundation's mission to foster community engagement, enhance independence and promote self-determination and empowerment. Pioneered by the late Dana Reeve, the program has awarded more than 2,600 grants, totaling over $19 million since its inception in 1999.

Awarded twice yearly, grant requests were evaluated and scored based on a rigorous review process to determine funding for organizations that promote the health and well-being for those living with paralysis, as well as their families and caregivers.  "For this cycle, we strategically focused on supporting organizations in medically underserved areas, where groups of county or civil divisions have a shortage of personal health services or face economic, cultural, or linguistic barriers to healthcare for residents. Our goal is to help improve their communities and provide accessibility to a wider population of people," said Maggie Goldberg, Vice President of Policy and Programs, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

To help eliminate barriers to healthcare, the Reeve Foundation awarded a $12,000 grant to the Foundation of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LA. This grant will help to support a Post-Stroke Clinic at LSU Health New Orleans School of Allied Health Professions.  The Clinic will provide free occupational, physical, and speech therapies to those in need who are living with chronic stroke in the New Orleans community.

Other organizations that were selected for the second cycle of 2015 include:

Through the Looking Glass (TLG), Berkeley, CA, $25,000 –This grant will train parents (or parenting grandparents) who are living with physical or mobility challenges on adaptive baby care techniques. TLG occupational therapists will provide 15 families of infants and toddlers, from birth to 3-years-old, with adaptive baby care equipment, and teach modified childcare techniques during home visits. Equipment will include adapted cribs, walkers with baby seats, lifting harnesses, adapted diapering, and breastfeeding pillows, along with accessories for wheelchairs.

The Chickasaw Nation, Ada, OK, $24,715- This grant will support an inpatient walking enhancement program for individuals living with paralysis or significant limb weakness caused by injury or illness. Grant funds will enable the Chickasaw Nation Medical Center to provide a state-of-the-art portable assisted gait device to patients as part of their acute inpatient rehabilitation. This equipment will help maximize each patient's potential to regain their highest level of function and independence.

Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, Chicago, IL, $5,000-  The Community Outing Project is designed to encourage independent living and community inclusion by increasing clients' comfort levels with navigating a wheelchair or other mobility devices in public. The program helps clients overcome the fear and uncertainty that comes with adjusting physically, emotionally, and socially following paralysis. Many clients live below the poverty level, and may lack support networks crucial to their integration back into their community. The Community Outing Project strives to decrease feelings of isolation and depression and increase confidence and independence by fostering community connections.

The Christopher& Dana Reeve Foundation Quality of Life Grants Program was created to address the myriad needs of children and adults living with paralysis, as well as provide assistance and education to their families and caregivers. Funded programs serve individuals living with paralysis caused by injury, disease or birth conditions, including but not limited to, stroke, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

By awarding grants to fellow nonprofits, the Reeve Foundation is able to support initiatives across the country that serve the larger disability population, including servicemen, family members and caregivers. This project was supported, in part by grant number 90PR3002, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions, therefore, do not necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy.

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 Administration for Community Living (cooperative agreement number 90PR3002). For more information, please visit our website at www.ChristopherReeve.org or call 800-539-7309.

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SOURCE Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation

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