PVA From The Top – Keep It Going
By Robert L. Thomas Jr.
We’ve effectively made another trip around the sun, and with that, a happy new year is in order to all. A new year brings new beginnings; or simply put, out with the old and in with the new. It also gives us an opportunity to reflect on the past.
For Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), this calendar year marks our 80th anniversary as an organization. In 1946, World War II veterans were left living with paralysis, navigating a world that wasn’t ready or accessible for them, so they started the work to change that.
They stormed Capitol Hill to demand changes in the way they were being treated and to fight for benefits they deserved as men and women who agreed to sacrifice their lives for this country. In 1954, they started the early implementation of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) automobile grants. In 1971, they got PVA congressionally chartered, putting our mission into law. In 1990, PVA worked to get the Americans with Disabilities Act signed by then-U.S. President George H.W. Bush.
PVA has focused on and funded studies, such as those at the Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., and the Human Engineering Research Laboratories at the University of Pittsburgh, to assist researchers in their efforts to improve the lives of those with disabilities.
We’ve also had architects assist in making buildings and stadiums, such as U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, more accessible for visitors with disabilities.
PVA has partnered with the VA to co-host the National Veterans Wheelchair Games since 1985 to help bring veterans with spinal cord injury and disease (SCI/D) together to compete in accessible sporting events.
Those are just a few of the countless areas PVA concentrated on to help veterans with SCI/D and the broader disability community.
To date, PVA still fights for veterans with catastrophic disabilities. We’re continuously trying to move the needle to help better serve our members. Last August, PVA successfully hosted its 13th Healthcare Summit + Expo. It is one of the only organizations focusing on improving health care for those with SCI/D.
In September, the Access to the Skies event occurred to inform those working in the aviation industry about the barriers those living with disabilities face while traveling and how to break them down.
Also last year, Yale’s School of Medicine with research partner Stephen Waxman, MD, PhD, had a breakthrough on a pain relief drug called Journavx, which has the potential to help veterans and others function without addictive side effects.
And we’ve testified on Capitol Hill, fighting to keep our VA benefits and health care in place.
Over PVA’s tenure, we’ve established various committees to focus on specific areas of need, such as our Field Advisory Committee, Anita Bloom Women Veterans Committee and our Multiple Sclerosis Committee. These, along with our other committees, are vital in their work to reach all of our members and ensure we have the necessary programs where the need is present.
There’s still so much work to be done, but PVA is here to keep it going. I’m grateful and proud to be a part of this organization, as its mission affects so many of our brothers and sisters who have served and those yet to come.
Here’s to 2026 being a year of positive change and crucial influence as PVA moves forward into our 80th year of productivity.
