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United
Spinal Newsletter | April 2024
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New
Awards, New Prizes: Nominations Open for StrongWheeled Together
Awards
Plus: Giving Week Preview
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Let’s
talk prizes. Thanks to our generous
sponsors, we are giving away a Permobil wheelchair and two
Restorative Therapies RT300s to our awardees, among other
fabulous prizes.
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Award categories this
year are Community Builder (advocacy, activism, and community
development), Community Visionary (technology, science, and
entrepreneurship), and Community Voice (the arts). Nominations
are exclusively open to wheelchair users. United Spinal will cover
flight and lodging expenses for each awardee and a caregiver for
the duration of the StrongWheeled Together Conference.
Intrigued? Think you have what it takes? Want to encourage a
friend to take the plunge? Learn all about the 2024 Awards.
We
encourage all members of our community to spread the word widely
among your networks. Every year, the SWT Awards
reward us by teaching us something new about our community and
our collective accomplishments. Help us build the best awards
yet.
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 Introducing
Giving Week, April 14-20: A Festival of Philanthropy
Early
Donors Entitled to Special Rewards
Our work touches every aspect of life with a mobility disability:
Access to healthcare and best-in-class rehab. Affordable
wheelchairs. Fair housing and equitable workplaces. Integrated
public transit. Technology that works for wheelchair users.
Inclusive community. United Spinal fights on every front—and
we’ve kept it up for over 75 years.
We fight
for you. And we can’t do it
without your support. We are launching our
first-ever Giving Week on April 14th—and we are appealing to
everyone who considers themselves part of our cause to lend us
their support.
Every
contribution helps keep us in the fight. There are many ways to
give, including breaking up your tax-deductible
contribution into a monthly pledge.
Our struggle for progress is being fought on new fronts.
Autonomous vehicles. Smart technology. Broadband for all. Then,
there are new fights on old terrain. We have made huge
breakthroughs in the right to safe and equitable air travel—and
are getting ready for the final push.
Please consider making an early gift today. Gifts of any amount
will help us reach—and exceed—our goal of $50,000
and keep us on the vanguard of disability rights. Our first 25 donors
will receive United Spinal swag.
Thank you for your support for United Spinal and our mission.
Let’s keep making history together.
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New
Biweekly Discussion Group! Introducing Active Project Live
Join us for Active Project Live, a vibrant and inclusive
discussion group focused on adaptive sports and recreational
activities. Hosted by the Kelly Brush Foundation in
collaboration with United Spinal Association, adaptive sports
enthusiasts will engage in discussions about recreational
activities every other Tuesday at 5:30pm EDT. Learn more and
register here.
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Urgent
Action on Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems
Ask your
Congressional representative to sign on to a letter requesting
increased funding by April 8
For over 50 years, the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems program
has been a comprehensive, multidisciplinary system of care,
research, and resources for people with SCI. Federal funding has
not kept pace with the SCI community’s needs. Let’s change that.
United Spinal is asking Congress to support increasing funding
for SCI Model Systems. Learn more and take action here:
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Historic
Reforms for Accessible Air Travel Now Within Reach
Together, we are making real progress in our fight for wheelchair
users to fly safely and with dignity. The U.S. Department of
Transportation released a proposed rule that will vastly improve
the air travel experience for people with mobility impairments.
Read on about the extensive changes proposed here, and comment by
May 13th using this brand new talking points guide.
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Stay in the loop. Be on the
forefront of change.
Subscribe to our Advocacy
and Policy newsletter.
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 Survey: North American Spinal
Cord Injury Consortium—Information Needs of People Living with
SCI
NASCIC and our principal members are trying to understand—and
overcome—the information gap experienced by people living with
SCI, but we need to hear from you first. We want to understand
the important health information sources, needs and gaps among
the SCI community. We are seeking information based on the lived
experience of those living with SCI, family members, spouses
& partners, as well as caregivers. The survey takes about 20
minutes to complete. At the end, you can sign-up for a chance to
win a gift card as an appreciation for your time. Take the survey.
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Can we
develop #PrecisionMedicine for Long COVID? Join us April 30 at
2pm ET for a panel on #LongCOVID, Disability + @AllofUsResearch.
Hear from patient advocates on the importance of inclusive health
research to support people with Long COVID. Register for this webinar.
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Social
Hour
Take a little break from the daily grind. Join us every
Thursday at 1pm ET for a social hour via Zoom to connect with
others from our local chapters, support groups, and peer
mentoring networks. Register here.
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Advocacy
Live
Join
the Rolling Revolution
Come join and collaborate with other advocates the 3rd
Tuesday of every month – alternating times at 1pm ET and 5pm
ET. The next Advocacy Live is April 16 at 1pm ET.
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Resource
Center Live
Come join our Resource Center team to have your questions
answered live. The next meeting is April 24 at 4pm ET.
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TechTalks
Join United Spinal Tech Access Members to collaborate and
share about accessible technology. The next meeting is April 11 at 5pm ET.
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Empowering
Parental Caregivers
Calling all parents/guardians of children, adolescents, or
young adults with spinal cord injuries or mobility disorders-
if you are looking for a community that understands what you
are going through, this group is for you! The next meeting is
April 9 at 7pm ET.
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Rolling
with Pride - New
Time!
Want to meet other LGBTQIA wheelchair users from around the
country? Now you can! All members of the LGBTQIA community
who have disabilities — including our allies — are
welcome. Rolling with Pride now meets the first Wednesday of
every month. Our next meeting is May 1 at 6pm ET.
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