NOVEMBER 2023 |  ISSUE #19 |  PVA SUPPORTER EDITION

Honor Those Who Served This Veterans Day 

Veterans Day is on November 11th! We hope that you will participate in an event in your community or online to honor those who put their lives on the line in service of our nation.  

Do you have a loved one who served or is currently serving in the military? Take a moment to celebrate them this Veterans Day by starting your own fundraiser for PVA in their honor. When you raise money to support PVA, you help paralyzed and disabled Veterans live their best lives possible after injury or diagnosis. 

In October, PVA women members gathered to learn leadership skills at PVA’s Women Veterans Empowerment Retreat (WVER). Sessions included discussions of civil rights, resilience, communications, leadership, and advocacy. Vice President and Anita Bloom Committee Co-Chair Anne Robinson (pictured, right) challenged attendees to double the number of female leaders at PVA by next year’s Retreat. 

A recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that veterans earn approximately $7,000 less annually (or an average annual income of $51,900) compared to nonveterans. The average annual income earned by PVA Veterans Career Program (VCP) clients last year was $69,965, or 35% above the national average.  

How does PVA accomplish this high average salary for our clients? We have a network of counselors to support America’s military community (transitioning service members, all-era veterans, spouses, and caregivers) in their search for meaningful careers while helping employers strengthen their workforce with hard-working, gifted employees.  

From coordinating workshops for health professionals to producing educational materials, the PVA Education Foundation helps share spinal cord injury and disease (SCI/D) knowledge to improve the lives of those with SCI/D. Our 2024 Education Grant application is now open. We accept applications in Consumer and Caregiver Education, Professional Development, Research Translation and Conferences and Symposia. If you or a professional you know is interested, check out the link below. 

On the 37th anniversary of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), the U.S. Department of Transportation released a video that explains the Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights, which PVA helped develop. Sadly, despite these rights, air travel is still unsafe and unpleasant for wheelchair users.

Army veteran to be inducted to hall of fame for wheelchair technology (Military Families Magazine)

“My spinal cord injury changed my whole career.” says Dr. Rory Cooper, a famous wheelchair technology inventor and board member of PVA’s Research Foundation. Congratulations to Dr. Cooper for his induction to the National Inventors Hall of Fame! 

CRAB's Adaptive Boating Center is 100% Accessible, fully sustainable (Capital Gazette)

Learn how PVA helped design an adaptive boating center in Maryland. “So often when designing a space to be accessible, folks forget it should also be beautiful. People with disabilities are people first. We like our spaces to be beautiful, too,” said one of the senior Access Board staff members.