National Spinal Cord Injury Association

Overview

Founded in 1948, the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA) is the nation's oldest and largest civilian organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Americans living with the results of spinal cord injury, countless others with spinal cord diseases and their families. This number grows by thirty newly-injured people each day.

Mission

To enable people with spinal cord injury and disease to achieve their highest level of independence, health, and personal fulfillment by providing resources, services, and peer support.

Program

We fulfill our mission by raising awareness and by actively leading change in public policies to maximize quality of life and opportunities. Our programs address issues important to our constituency, policy makers, the general public, and the media, and include injury prevention, improvements in medical, rehabilitative and supportive services, research and public policy formulation. We answer hundreds of calls and e-mails each day, providing information to individuals with new and existing spinal cord injuries and diseases (SCI/D), their families and service providers. Our National Peer Support Network, Chapters and support groups provide peer support referrals to link people with SCI/D to each other, with a goal to reach every newly injured person within 48 hours after their diagnosis.

Impact

Our website has over 7,000 pages of information available with over 1,600 “unique visitors�? to our site each day. We publish and distribute SCI Life™ newspaper reaching over 16,000 postal addresses and eNews emailed to over 20,000 people each month. Our annual Summit and Hall of Fame bring leaders together to improve communication and recognize achievement. Our disaster relief program helps rebuild homes, replace wheelchairs and vehicles and provide assistance to survivors with disabilities to resume their independence after a disaster.

Countries of Operation

United States