For people with disabilities, accessibility is not simply a convenience. It is a fundamental civil right, and at its most basic, a measure of freedom: the freedom to work, travel, attend events, and enter a building. When a doorway, airplane, restroom, workplace, or public space is inaccessible, that freedom is restricted. For over 80 years, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) has fought to remove those barriers.
Founded in 1946 by veterans who returned from World War II with spinal cord injuries, PVA was created to help disabled veterans rebuild their lives in a country that was not designed with them in mind. Today, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Veterans Service Organization is a powerful force of change for veterans with spinal cord injuries and diseases, like multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
PVA’s work has redefined what access and accessibility mean for disabled veterans and millions of Americans with disabilities. The nonprofit remains devoted to advancing the civil rights and well-being of disabled people, whether they’ve served in the military or not, and pushing to close the gaps where the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other laws still fall short.
And that expertise comes from lived experience. PVA Chief Operating Officer Shaun Castle, a U.S. Army veteran, said “PVA has lived this for over 80 years. We know what true accessibility looks like because we experience it every single day of our lives.”
PVA successfully advocated for the Architectural Barriers Act in 1968, which requires wheelchair access inside all federal buildings. To this day, the organization has licensed architects on staff to advise and work on building accessibility. These experts not only consult on projects big and small, they also author national accessibility codes that set the standard in accessible design. From the National World War II Memorial to the home of the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, these designers are redefining what it means to be truly inclusive.
PVA then took its fight to the transportation sector. It sued the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in 1972 and won, turning it into a model transit system for the rest of the nation. Thanks largely to PVA’s team of legal professionals, the DC Metro today has accessible paths of travel throughout its entire system and at least one elevator in every station. These legal advisors continue to advocate, confronting barriers to accessibility and fighting for veterans’ earned benefits. Their efforts have resulted in PVA being a leading voice in advancing ADA protections, as well as the only organization able to support a veteran throughout the entire VA benefits process, from the moment a claim is filed to legal representation before the highest appellate courts.
Keith Mellnick
A law or policy can require accessibility and eligibility for benefits, but a requirement on paper does not guarantee a person with a mobility disability can enter a restaurant, use a sidewalk, purchase an accessible van, or make needed home modifications. PVA’s work has long focused on closing the gap between what is promised and what people can actually use.
PVA National President Robert Thomas described accessibility as an ongoing fight, even after decades of progress.
“You would think that after all these years, one still wouldn’t have to try to be accepted, spend hours searching for places that are accessible, or fight to get something you deserve, but that will always be an ongoing fight,” he said.
PVA is working to ease that fight. The organization has made many contributions that have led to scientific breakthroughs around the world. PVA’s Research Foundation, founded in 1975, and its Education Foundation, founded in 1986, have collectively invested more than $66.5 million in grants to further the understanding of paraplegia and work towards a cure for paralysis, as well as expand the understanding and best practices of SCI care. The outcome of these grants is priceless, like PVA’s involvement in a breakthrough ALS drug in 2023. PVA also provided funding that helped lead to the first FDA-approved non-addictive pain medication in two decades.
The breadth and expertise of PVA is what has made it a one of one organization for over 80 years. Its work spans nearly the full arc of a veteran’s life from injury or diagnosis, and then some.
“Our interest stretches far beyond veterans benefits and health care to the greater disability community,” said PVA Chief Executive Officer Carl Blake.
Heather Ansley, PVA’s chief policy officer, reinforced this point, noting that PVA’s work on Capitol Hill reaches far beyond only paralyzed veterans.
“While our focus is on ensuring our members’ independence is maximized and that they have full access to their communities, our advocacy improves the lives of all people with disabilities, to include older Americans,” she said.
Keith Mellnick
Recent successful efforts by PVA include the passage of the Making Advances in Mammography and Medical Options for Veterans Act. PVA spearheaded the bill, marking a monumental step forward in PVA’s fight to increase access to healthcare for women veterans with disabilities. The law, which ensures community-based providers who treat VA patients have accessible mammogram equipment, is primarily a win for veterans. However, because these accessible machines are sometimes housed in community hospitals that serve the broader public, it also stands to expand access for all people with disabilities.
PVA is also leading the fight for accessible air travel, actively engaged in ongoing legal negotiations with the Department of Transportation to make commercial airplanes more accommodating for wheelchair users and people who use mobility devices. These are victories that ensure every person can have access to quality healthcare, travel the skies safely, and participate in public life with the same expectations as anyone else.
The ADA dramatically changed the country, but PVA argues that its protections still require vigilance. Ansley has warned against proposals that would “remove legal incentives for businesses to proactively comply with ADA accessibility requirements” and shift the burden of enforcement onto people with disabilities. For PVA, that would reverse a principle it has spent decades advancing: people with disabilities should not have to fight for something the law already promises.
The persistence of those barriers can be difficult to reconcile with how much has changed. PVA National Treasurer Tom Wheaton remembers what public life looked like before the ADA, including years when he played wheelchair team sports and athletes routinely encountered hotel restrooms they could not enter.
“Things didn’t happen overnight, and to this day, over 36 years later, there are still significant barriers that exist,” Wheaton said. “Accessible restrooms and wider doorways are far more common now, but problems remain in how ‘accessible’ is interpreted and applied.”
That gap between what accessible means on paper and what it means in practice is exactly where PVA continues to do its work. As long as gaps remain, PVA will keep fighting to close them.
