A spinal cord injury is an injury for life. After serving our country, serious injury shouldn’t stop our veterans from living the full, rewarding lives they deserve. At Paralyzed Veterans, we advocate for better health care and benefits, aid in the search for a truly satisfying career, and provide the path to adventure and healthier living through adaptive sports. We are committed to on-going veteran care through spinal cord injury education for clinicians, and we’re deeply invested in our ultimate goal—a cure for paralysis.

OFFICE OF INDIVIDUAL GIVING

Joseph M. Macias, Development OfficerParalyzed Veterans of America801 Eighteenth Street, NWWashington, DC 20006

P: (202) 416-7617 • (800) 424-8200 ext 617E: JosephM@pva.org

pva.org

2013HIGHLIGHTS

For veteran Sean Haggard, 28, life is a continuous adventure. At 16, he left Missouri on what was to be a short trip to California. But plans changed. “It was great—I ended up staying,” recalls Sean.

Following a year at San Diego State University, Sean enlisted in the Air Force, spending nearly four years sta-tioned at Alaska’s Eielson Air Force Base. After discharge, he went to work as a network engineer for Pfizer.

Adventure called again. A year later, Sean became an Army contractor, managing wide and local area connec-tions in the Middle East. On Sept. 12, 2009, everything changed. An auto accident in Mangaf, Kuwait, perma-nently damaged his spinal cord.

After rehab at Craig Hospital in Denver, Sean was intro-duced to cycling by the Denver VA Wheelchair Program.In less than a year, Sean took first place in slalom, hand cycling, freestyle and backstroke swimming, and weight-lifting at the 2010 National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

Last year Sean made the U.S. Para-Cycling Military Team and the Paralyzed Veterans Racing A Team.

Currently volunteering at the Denver VA Wheelchair Clinic, local Boys and Girls Club and Craig Hospital, Sean is pursuing his next adventure. “My goal is to make the [paralympic] handcycling team in 2016 and go to Rio de Janeiro,” he says.

“You get better if you keep working hard—that’s my mentality for everything.”

ARCHITECTURE & ACCESSIBILITYWorking toward barrier-free access for disabled veterans and all disabled Americans

• Served as the only veterans service organization with a staff of licensed architects.

• Acted as champions of non-institutional design— advocated for warm, welcoming “neighborhoods” inside facilities.

• Helped design five long-term care centers for spinal cord injured veterans in Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and California.

SPORTS & RECREATIONProviding veterans with rehabilitative physical activi-ties that aid reintegration and healthier lifestyles

• Held 33rd Annual Wheelchair Games where more than 600 athletes participated in 18 sporting events.

• Provided veterans with varied other sporting activities through PVA’s Rehabilitative Sports Program.

MISSION: ABLE PROGRAMMission: ABLE campaign helps our nation’s paralyzed veterans rebuild their lives and receive the care, bene-fits and job services they need and deserve, working to ensure they are:

ABLE to receive the benefits they’ve earned

ABLE to access the quality of care they need to live full lives

ABLE to get job training and opportunities for new careers

ABLE to enjoy competition and camaraderie through sports

• Mission: ABLE was honored with the 2013 Leidos Spirit Award at a Washington Nationals game.

OPERATION PAVEOperation PAVE, Paralyzed Veterans of America’s vo-cational rehabilitation program, supports America’s paralyzed veterans in their searches for good jobs and meaningful careers, while helping employers strength-en their workforces with hard-working, gifted employ-ees.

PAVE vocational counselors operate from VA Medical Centers in Boston, Chicago, Long Beach, Minneapolis, Richmond, San Antonio, and Tampa.

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program selected Operation PAVE as this year’s recipient of the Don Weber Wounded Warrior Employment Award for “demonstrated leadership in addressing the unique challenges and demands for wounded warriors, spouses and caregivers in search of meaningful employment.”

• Trained 18 PVA National Service Officers to provide transitioning veterans with vocational support, as well as benefits counseling, cutting through VA red tape- free of charge.

• Continued to place veterans with and without disabilities in jobs and educational opportunities.

ADVOCACYChampioning initiatives that provide for disabledveterans and their families • Continued to advocate for sufficient, timely, and predictable funding for VA benefits and health care.

• Supported family caregivers of non OEF-OIF veterans through S. 851, Caregiver Expansion and Improvement Act.

• Sought enactment of a bipartisan bill that would secure veterans’ funding through H.R. 813, Putting Veterans First Act.

VETERANS BENEFITSHelping veterans secure the benefits they deserve

• Served as a key support system for veterans to organize fully developed claims.

• Offered free support to veterans to navigate complex issues and secure paperwork for claims processing.

• Co-Authored the Independent Budget, a policy analysis that congressional leaders use as a guide in setting reliable funding for VA health care.

• Filed 30,522 claims, of which 22,000 were disability claims.

VETERANS HEALTH CAREFighting for state-of-the-art medical care for veterans

• Educated clinicians, caregivers, and consumers on best practices for spinal cord injury and disease.

• Advocated for Spinal Cord Injury facility expansion.

• Offered scholarships to 600 clinicians to attend annual summit for continuing education.

PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA 2013 HIGHLIGHTS365 days representing thousands of veterans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico