The Power of Purpose: Sherman Gillums Jr.’s Journey to Policy Leader

After the car accident that broke his neck, Sherman Gillums, Jr. believed the aftermath – that terrifying feeling of feeling nothing at all – was only temporary.

He was the father of two young children. He was a drill instructor in the Marine Corps, about to deploy to Afghanistan. He was – he would be – fine.

“They said I had a three percent chance of recovering my ability to walk, so I thought, ‘I'll be the three percent,’” he says. “Like everybody does.”

When a blunt physiatrist eventually declared that the paralysis was permanent, Gillums was shocked. But the stoicism he’d cultivated during a blue-collar childhood in Buffalo and service in the Marines quickly kicked in; he ignored the what-ifs and barreled toward what-comes-next.

“My attitude was ‘Let's go. Time to get up – we’ve got stuff to do,’’” he says. “The same sort of spirit that got me through boot camp as a 17-year-old gave me the mental wherewithal to believe that I could do it.”

Gillums dedicated himself to mastering his newly shaped life, memorizing mini lectures from nurses about spasticity, catheters and TED (thrombo-embolic deterrent) hose. He embraced grueling therapy sessions, aiming to hit milestones ahead of schedule, and spent hours alone each night picking up different types of coins and his 2-year-old daughter’s bobby pins to regain the use of his hands. Day by day, month after month, he grew stronger.

But the mental adjustment was more complicated; Gillums, then 29-years old, worried about his life as a young man. Was dating still possible? How would a relationship deal with the reality of bowel and bladder management?

“That was really hard to talk about with anybody,” he says.

Gillums discovered the answers he needed and more in the National Paralysis Resource Center (NPRC) Paralysis Resource Guide. Brimming with detailed explanations of everything from sex and fertility to driving modifications and adaptive sports, the book helped him see that life truly could go on.

He tackled graduate school, grew his family and built a second career rooted in advocacy and public service. He mentored younger veterans with spinal cord injuries and led efforts to improve the lives of millions of people living with disabilities through his work at Paralyzed Veterans of American (PVA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“I couldn’t have asked for a better life, once I found a way to give meaning to the hardship,” he says.

Now, more than two decades after the NPRC’s support helped him build that life, Gillums is leading the charge to ensure everyone has access to these vital services and resources. As the new Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Gillums spent the summer blitzing through the corridors of Washington, D.C., championing the NPRC’s impact on the lives of thousands of families living with paralysis, including his own.

Whether briefing Congress members or legislative staffers, Gillums spotlights both the vast scope of NPRC programs – from its Peer Mentors and Quality of Life grants to one-on-one help from Information Specialists – and the community it serves. Caregivers in Maine. Children in Indiana. Veterans in California. Families everywhere.

“I ask people to think about their own child becoming paralyzed after surviving a car accident or diving accident,” he says. “I paint a picture of what it was like for me, and I talk about what living with paralysis was like before there was a NPRC. The way families were on their own, isolated by uncertainty and lack of understanding. Would they want that? Or would they want to be able to call the NPRC for help?”

Regaining his independence, Gillums says, was critical for the life that followed his injury.

After being honorably discharged with the rank of chief warrant officer-2, Gillums earned his graduate degree and joined the PVA, eventually becoming the organization’s executive director. Helping veterans appeal – and win – denied benefits and health claims brought a new sense of purpose. As did his growing family.

Gillums got married, had another son and adopted his wife’s three daughters. Paralysis didn’t limit his life as a parent: if anything, the challenges fueled some of the family’s most memorable moments. He booked special trips to the salon instead of braiding his daughters’ hair himself. He asked salesclerks to bring racks of clothing for the kids to try on when department store aisles were too tight for his wheelchair. At movie theaters and football stadiums, he dubbed ADA seating “VIP parking.”

“I was always wracking my brain to move beyond just doing things differently, but doing things even better than if I was walking around,” he says.

Before Reeve, Gillums most recently served as FEMA’s Director of Disability Coordination and Integration, helping ensure that the needs of people living with disabilities were met during a dozen devastating natural disasters, including last winter’s California wildfires. But he also worked year-round to ensure that the community itself was prepared and ready to act ahead of time.

“We tried to empower people with information so they could be independent,” he says, adding.

Now, he is determined to do the same for Reeve’s community members.

Since President Trump first called for the complete elimination of the NPRC in his Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, both the House Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee and the Senate Appropriations Committee have recommended restoring NPRC funding. The next step is for Congress to vote to finalize the appropriations process. Until then, Gillums – along with Reeve’s dedicated Advocacy team and Regional Champions across the country – will continue the campaign to spotlight its indispensable work.

“I’m selling people on the value of the NPRC, which is not hard to do because I’m living proof of it,” he says, adding, “We’ve helped people become independent, tax-paying citizens for more than 20 years. If we fail to heed the lessons of history -- in this case the problems the NPRC was established to confront -- we are doomed to relearn those lessons. And it will be at the foreseeable expense of combat veterans, children, aging adults, and caregivers impacted by paralysis.”