Christopher Reeve Foundation Awards Over $700,000 In Quality Of Life Grants

The Christopher Reeve
Foundation (CRF) announced today that it has awarded $717,404 in Quality of
Life grants to 90 nonprofit organizations around the world. The Quality of
Life program was conceived by the late Dana Reeve as a way for the CRF to
help improve the day-to-day health and well-being of those living with
paralysis. Since the program's inception in 1999, 1,163 grants totaling
$9,220,980 have been awarded.


"The Christopher Reeve Foundation is proud to carry on Christopher and
Dana Reeve's amazing legacy and make a real difference in the lives of
people living with paralysis, their families and communities," said Kathy
Lewis, president and CEO of the CRF. "Our Quality of Life grantees help
thousands of individuals Go Forward to lead happier -- and healthier --
lives."



The organizations funded in this cycle provide numerous examples of how
CRF grants improve lives. For instance, the Tetra Society of North America
pairs skilled engineers and technicians with individuals living with
paralysis, building ingenious custom-made solutions to everyday problems.



"Often, commercial products or services simply do not exist to address
many of the everyday problems faced by those living with paralysis," said
Joseph Canose, vice president of Quality of Life. "Many of the non-profit
organizations we fund provide people with vital, life-changing benefits
they could not receive elsewhere, and it is enormously gratifying for us to
support their important work."



A grant to the Rutgers University Foundation will support
mobileWOMEN, an informational website for women in wheelchairs that
informs readers on everything from reproductive health and wellness issues
to beauty and fashion advice.



A grant to Disabled Sports USA will help support "Mentoring for
Success," which matches soldiers who became disabled fighting in the war in
Iraq, the "Wounded Warriors," with youth with disabilities. The program
will build on a previous CRF grant that trained these veterans in many
adaptive sports programs and now enables them to give back to the community
as they transition from military to civilian life.



Awarded in 13 categories that help people with paralysis become more
fully integrated members of society, including health promotion,
employment, sports and recreation, and advocacy, Quality of Life grants are
given to programs across the globe.



CRF Quality of Life Grants are awarded twice annually to programs or
projects that improve the well-being of people living with paralysis,
particularly spinal cord injuries. Grants that focus on improving the
health of individuals are funded through a cooperative agreement with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cooperative Agreement number
U10/CCU220379).



About CRF



The Christopher Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord
injury by funding innovative research, and improving the quality of life
for people living with paralysis through grants, information and advocacy.
For more information about the Quality of Life Program or for a complete
list of the Quality of Life grant recipients, please visit our website at
ChristopherReeve.



About The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center



The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center (PRC), a
program of the Christopher Reeve Foundation, formed through a cooperative
agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cooperative
Agreement number U10/CCU220379), provides information services to people
and their families nationwide who are living with paralysis. For more
information on the PRC, please visit paralysis.


Christopher Reeve Foundation

ChristopherReeve