History

Our History
Since 1946, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) has been on a mission to change lives and build brighter futures for our seriously injured heroes—to empower these brave men and women with what they need to achieve the things they fought for: freedom and independence.
The organization was founded by a band of service members who came home from World War II with a spinal cord injury. They returned to a grateful nation, but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they faced. They made a decision not just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. They created Paralyzed Veterans of America, an organization dedicated to Veterans service, medical research and civil rights for people with disabilities.
Paralyzed Veterans of America Today
Today, the work continues to create an America where all Veterans and people with disabilities, and their families, have everything they need to live full and productive lives. Paralyzed Veterans national office and its 34 chapters represent thousands of Veterans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
As a Congressionally chartered Veterans service organization not an agency of the federal government, the Buckeye Chapter has been assisting Veterans with spinal cord injuries or disease, including Multiple Sclerosis and ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in Ohio since 1972.
Today, many of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Buckeye Chapter’s services also benefit non-Veterans. It is fully supported by private donations.




