PVA was founded by a band of service members who came home from World War II with spinal cord injuries. These wounded heroes made a decision not just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. 

Since 1946, Paralyzed Veterans of America has been on a mission to change lives and build brighter futures for our seriously injured heroes. We’ve had a single-minded mission—to empower our brave men and women to regain what they fought for: their freedom and independence.

Mission Statement

Paralyzed Veterans of America, a congressionally chartered veterans service organization founded in 1946, has developed a unique expertise on a wide variety of issues involving the special needs of our members – veterans of the armed forces who have experienced spinal cord injury or dysfunction.

PVA will use that expertise to be the leading advocate for:

To enable Paralyzed Veterans to continue to honor this commitment, we must recruit and retain members who have the experience, energy, dedication, and passion necessary to manage the organization and ensure adequate resources to sustain the programs essential for Paralyzed Veterans of America to achieve its mission.

To download branded materials, such as the PVA logo, click here.