To offer greater support and strengthen peer connections across families impacted by paralysis, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation launched a new online community, Reeve Connect.
The forum will serve as a virtual home base for individuals living with paralysis, as well as their caregivers and family members to ask questions, share experiences, and connect with others who understand the everyday challenges and intimate realities of paralysis. This project was made possible through a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Community Living (ACL).
Reeve Connect aims to combat feelings of isolation that are all too common across the paralysis community. With over 560,000 individuals with disabilities never leaving their homes, many individuals living with paralysis rely on digital connections and online communities as their social outlets.
“Navigating paralysis requires a constant lifeline of support. Whether you are newly diagnosed or living with paralysis for some time, there are always new questions and needs that arise in which having a direct line to a community of individuals who have been there is critical,” said Maggie Goldberg, Chief Operating Officer, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. “We are grateful to the Administration for Community Living for their support throughout the creation of Reeve Connect and look forward to growing the online community as a place where anyone can go for encouragement and guidance on life after paralysis.”
Reeve Connect offers users an interactive safe space to share their experiences through six categories with a number of relevant topics. Each of these category areas is moderated by community members living with paralysis as well as experts in the field.
Reeve Connect Categories:
Newly Paralyzed
New Normal
Health & Wellness
Relationships
WAGS of SCI (Wives and Girlfriends of Spinal Cord Injury)
What Works
Reeve Connect also helps members foster meaningful relationships with others in similar situations and common interests through Community Groups, including those for caregivers, Veterans, and LGBTQ+. Reeve Connect was created in partnership with Digital Surgeons.
To sign up for Reeve Connect, click here.
The Christopher & Dana 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.
