Housing our members comfortably has been a priority of United Spinal from day one.
By Terry Moakley
When groups of World War II veterans with spinal cord disabilities were organizing in the New York City area in 1946 to form our predecessor association, the single biggest issue was the lack of suitable housing. The choices were to reside at the VA or military hospitals or to go live with parents, even if you were married with children. A handful of fortunate paralyzed vets had friends to construct a wheelchair-accessible house for the hometown hero, but for the most part, options did not exist.
Even in the earliest recorded meeting minutes, this unacceptable situation was the largest discussion item on the agenda, but steps toward action were underway. Founding members convinced the New York City chapter of the American Institute of Architects to design wheelchair-accessible houses, and six different drawings of them filled the pages of Paraplegia News in 1946-47. Our early leaders knew how to use publicity, too: then- President Robert Moss delivered a speech over nationwide CBS Radio about the need for passage of a housing bill in the Congress and an affiliation developed with the 3,000-member Association of Disc Jockeys to educate the public nationwide.
For many World War II vets with spinal cord injuries, home was the hospital until the “paralyzed veterans housing bill” became law in 1948. Time passed, and despite a letter-writing campaign supported by influential groups such as the National Education Association, the Greater New York CIO Council, the Certified Public Accountants of America, and a successful model exhibit of accessible house designs at a New Jersey State Museum Association gathering, by June 1948 the housing bill was stalled in Congress.
So our charter members took matters into their own hands. Working from office space at 99 Park Avenue, then shared by the Paralyzed Veterans of America and our predecessor group, members prepared posters and petitions. The signs affixed to the sides of each wheelchair were made by Sam Panepinto, January 2006 Action cover subject. Then on Wednesday, June 9, 75 members lined up single file in their wheelchairs and pushed up the middle of busy Park Avenue to Grand Central Station, collecting more than 7,500 signatures of support along the way and at a rally at the famous rail terminal.
It worked! On Thursday, June 10, all 10 (at that time) New York City daily newspapers had the story of the “wheelchair cavalcade” up Park Avenue plastered on their front pages, with pictures, too. Congress had to be very embarrassed by this action; by Saturday, June 12, led gamely by Representative Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts, the paralyzed veterans bill was adopted. It provided a grant toward the purchase of an accessible residence to veterans with service- related disabilities.
Just a few days later, President Harry S. Truman signed Public Law 702. It still exists today, providing help with housing through the VA to our newest generation of soldiers with serious injuries from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Regrettably, the continuing lack of accessible and affordable housing still plagues individual Americans. It is precisely why-some 60 years after our founding- United Spinal strives to educate design professionals about current accessible housing laws and codes, and why we work with elected officials to adopt better accessible housing statutes.
Terry Moakley is associate executive director of Public Affairs.
