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 The Reeve Foundation Quality of Life Grants Program awards grants to non-profit organizations that provide services to individuals with paralysis.
Quality of Life grants, conceived by the late Dana Reeve, are awarded to programs or projects that improve the daily lives of people with paralysis, with some emphasis on, but not limited to, paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries. She started the Quality of Life grants program to recognize and support organizations that help disabled individuals, their families and caregivers in ways that more immediately give them increased independence, day-to-day happiness, and improved access.
Funding is awarded twice yearly to programs in three broad categories that are called the ABCs of Quality of Life: Actively Achieving, Bridging Barriers, and Caring and Coping.
Actively Achieving projects enable people with paralysis to get out and live -- ride a bike, compete in sports, climb a mountain, hike a trail, train for a job, play with friends on a totally accessible playground, work out in a fitness program and much more.
Bridging Barriers projects help people with paralysis to overcome obstacles to full participation in society --operate voice-activated computer technology, modify homes and buildings to make them wheelchair accessible, help with legal problems, access transportation services, and more.
Caring and Coping projects help take care of both the individuals with paralysis and the people that care for them -- caregiver support and respite, peer networks, support groups, counseling, consumer and healthcare professional educational conferences, specialized training for healthcare professionals and more.
Some Quality of Life grants are funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Award #1U59DD000338). These grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations that address that needs of people living with paralysis caused by spinal cord and other injuries, diseases and birth conditions, including (but not limited to) stroke, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and amyotrophic lateral scleroses (ALS).
The Reeve Foundation gives special consideration to organizations that serve returning wounded military and their families, and to those that provide targeted services to diverse cultural communities.
Since 1999, the Reeve Foundation has provided almost 1,600 grants totaling nearly $13 million to organizations worldwide that help improve opportunities, access and day-to-day quality of life for individuals living with paralysis and their families. This program recognizes the unique and numerous needs of these individuals and the importance of providing services and programs that enable them to participate in all areas of life.
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