President’s Budget Proposal Turns Its Back on Americans Living with Paralysis and Other Disabilities

Paralysis changes lives in an instant. A car crash, a stroke, a tackle on the football field -- and suddenly, everything is different. In those first terrifying days and throughout the long road ahead, thousands of Americans have turned to one place: the National Paralysis Resource Center (NPRC). Now, that lifeline is at risk of being cut.

The President's budget proposal released on May 30 calls for the complete elimination of the National Paralysis Resource Center, along with other vital programs serving people living with disabilities. If Congress adopts this proposal, it will dismantle the only national resource dedicated entirely to supporting people living with paralysis.

For more than 20 years, the National Paralysis Resource Center has helped individuals and families find their footing after injury or diagnosis. From emergency rehab placement to housing adaptations, from peer mentoring to suicide prevention, it delivers life-changing and often lifesaving support to a growing community that includes people living with spinal cord injury (SCI), stroke survivors, and people living with ALS, MS, and many other conditions.

This program saves lives. And it is cost-effective. That's why it's earned bipartisan support year after year. Ending it now would not only halt decades of progress, it would put lives at risk.

The National Paralysis Resource Center has been central to politically united efforts to improve health, independence, and dignity for millions. It connects people not just to resources, but to hope, possibility, and a future. Since 2002, it has supported community members as they manage complicated health challenges, build families, pursue education, serve our country in uniform, and advance meaningful careers. 

Make no mistake: this budget proposal puts lives on the line. But it's not too late to change this outcome. While the President's budget recommends spending levels for the next fiscal year, Congress ultimately decides what programs are funded and at what level.

We call on Congress and all Americans to act by urging full funding for the National Paralysis Resource Center and other key programs to prevent disruption in services and progress that risk the health and well-being of those impacted by paralysis and other disabilities.

This fight belongs to all of us. Tell your legislators: don't abandon the paralysis and disability community.

What Americans Lose in This Budget Proposal

One of the National Paralysis Resource Center's most essential functions is the team of certified Information Specialists (IS) who provide personalized support to individuals, families, and caregivers. On a recent winter day, a 17-year-old boy from the Midwest broke his neck while playing hockey at a tournament in Canada; his family needed help getting him safely back to the U.S. Our IS team was ready, working for days to find a rehabilitative center that could meet his complex needs and helping arrange an emergency medical flight.

National Paralysis Resource Center Military & Veterans Program (MVP) coordinator James Howard's garage in Virginia is covered with the signatures of thousands of veterans. Howard is himself a veteran who lives with a C5 SCI. He works closely with the Richmond VA Medical Center through the MVP to support SCI patients as they recover. Along with weekly visits to the unit, Howard hosts regular program retreats at his home for groups nearing the end of their rehabilitation. A central part of the day is a detailed tour of Howard's house -- the Hoyer lift in the bedroom, the roll-in shower, the levered door handles he pulls shut using a loop of parachute cord gripped between his teeth -- but there is also barbecue and fishing and the chance to see up-close how life goes on.

Josh Blair attended the retreat in 2018, not long after he sustained a C5-C6 spinal cord injury in a car accident. Before the accident, Blair had been a Civil Affairs Staff Sergeant in the U.S Army who had deployed to Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. When he met Howard, he had just relearned how to brush his teeth. "With how devastating this injury is, it's very hard to see a future," says Blair, who is now attending law school. "Being shown those things completely changes your outlook and perspective on life. You realize even though things are going to be different, and they may not be as easy, they're still absolutely attainable."

Over two decades, the Quality of Life Grants Program -- a flagship of the National Paralysis Resource Center -- has increased independence and the ability of people with paralysis to lead active, engaged lives. We've provided medical schools with accessible equipment so they can teach future doctors how to better care for people with paralysis. We've funded the installation of ramps and platform lifts in venues that host town halls and public meetings. We've helped sustain suicide prevention programs for veterans and support groups for caregivers. And we've fostered a robust range of adaptive sports and recreation opportunities in cities and small towns alike, funding therapeutic horseback riding programs in rural Tennessee, sled hockey teams in Pittsburgh and adaptive soccer leagues everywhere.

The National Paralysis Resource Center counts more than 560 volunteer peer mentors who have helped over 27,000 clients across the country, ranging from teenagers to senior citizens. They are men and women, newly injured and decades out from diagnosis. And the stories and advice they share with one another, about everything from parenting and work to travel and health challenges, is transformative.

These are just a few of the essential services now at risk. If the National Paralysis Resource Center is eliminated, they go with it.

"The National Paralysis Resource Center is a lifeline for people with spinal cord injuries. Navigating this journey without support is overwhelming. Without it, many in our community, including caregivers, are left feeling hopeless," says Eric LeGrand, former Rutgers University football player who sustained an on-field injury that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. "Without proper funding, thousands of families will face even more questions than answers."

Hope Demands Action

"Nearly 30 years ago, my father, the late Christopher Reeve, urged policymakers to do more to help those living with disabilities -- because in America, we don't leave the most vulnerable among us behind to fend for themselves. The National Paralysis Resource Center gives life to this ideal," said Alexandra Reeve Givens, Reeve Foundation Board of Directors.

"No family should have to navigate the staggering complexity of life with paralysis alone, lost in the same sea of confusion, fear, and hopelessness that once defined this journey," added Reeve Givens. "This program has long received bipartisan support because it delivers real results, reflects our shared values, and upholds the basic promise that no one should be left behind. To walk away from it now would be to turn away from that promise, and on the millions who depend on it."

The Reeve Foundation is committed to protecting the progress made by the National Paralysis Resource Center and continuing this critical work. "This isn’t about politics, but about doing what is right," said Maggie Goldberg, President & CEO of the Foundation. "Together with the American people, we stand ready to work with Congress, HHS and leaders on both sides of the aisle to save this vital program."

Act now. Lend your voice to advocate for the National Paralysis Resource Center and tell your legislators that they cannot turn their backs on the paralysis and disability community.