Spring is in the air. As skies clear, flowers bloom, and the opportunity to see one another expands, I am putting on my pandemic-colored glasses and moving forward.
Ensuring our partners and grantees have the support they need, both time and money, and increasing relationship-building opportunities with the Foundation staff continue to be top priorities. We recognize that smaller nonprofits fear they won’t have the capacity to keep the lights on, that researchers are challenged finding basic supplies for their labs, and that students living with spinal cord injuries are faced with the decision of going back to in-person learning, even when COVID is a threat to their health and wellbeing. We remain committed to listening to and trusting in our partners. Where there is an opportunity for us to reduce barriers, be more hands-on, and advance your opportunities, we’re in!
The Neilsen Foundation Board and staff have been looking ahead, thinking about what the world of SCI might look like a decade from now. Here are a few topics we are currently discussing:
How has research been translated into practice?
How can individuals with a newly-sustained injury more easily re-integrate into their communities?
And, with every issue we are trying to solve, are people with lived experience engaged in the process?
If we are going to achieve our vision of a future where individuals living with a spinal cord injury, and those who care for them, live full and productive lives as active participants in their communities, we’ll need to be creative, inclusive, and collaborative. Continuing to build a healthy and thriving community is only possible if we work together to imagine what’s possible.
Be well,
Kym Eisner
Executive Director