Paralysis Resource Centers: 

COVID - 19 Impact on State Pilot Grantees and Subawardees 

The COVID - 19 pandemic significantly affected the Paralysis Resource Center (PRC) state grantees and their subawardees. 

The graph below displays responses from the four state pilots and 26 of their subawardees on the impacts of COVID - 19, as of 

May 2020. As the pandemic progressed, they have had to rethink how they will continue serving individuals with paralysis 

through inclusive and accessible activities.

OHIO STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT

LIVING COUNCIL

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY 

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE 

TEXAS STATE INDEPENDENT 

LIVING COUNCIL

STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

PARALYSIS RESOURCE CENTER 

Ohio’s grant focused on emergency preparedness 

among people with paralysis — a topic of particular 

relevance due to the current pandemic and with 

continuing importance to their communities. They saw 

the pandemic as an opportunity to engage with the 

community in new ways and to ensure individuals in 

their communities are supported. 

Ohio’s subawardees postponed or cancelled their 

planned in - person conferences and trainings due to 

COVID - 19. One of their subawardees, the Center for 

Disability Empowerment, changed their five - day 

emergency response conference to a two - day virtual 

event. Another subawardee was able to move their 

emergency preparedness classes online.

In order to engage more effectively with individuals with 

paralysis and their caregivers, Kentucky created two 

virtual events in April and June 2020 called “Staying Apart 

Together.” The events included activities such as Zumba, 

virtual arts, virtual peer meetings, Google Hangouts 

tutorial, CrossFit, instructions for social distancing in 

parks, and health check - ins. One subawardee, Gathering 

Strength, planned on holding an in - person symposium, 

which Kentucky helped transition to a virtual platform. 

The speakers were online and they included videos of 

yoga and other physical activity demonstrations to 

engage the participants. The attendance was so high that 

they redirected the overflow participants from Zoom to 

the YouTube livestream. 

Since Texas focused on virtual independent living 

services, they were equipped and able to move their 

in - person events online. Several subawardee project 

coordinators recorded exercise videos, which allowed 

them to design programming to fit specific community 

needs. Texas provided guidance to subawardees on 

how to ensure HIPAA compliance and create more 

protection on Zoom calls by enabling passwords, 

registration, and requiring demographic information. 

The accessibility of the virtual platform led to an uptick 

in participation, even during the pandemic.

Amidst the pandemic Pennsylvania’s subawardees are 

committed to carrying out their programs and have 

been creative in their approaches. The Inglis 

Foundation uses newly acquired care coordination 

software that allows them to connect virtually with 

participants. Other subawardees, such as Fighting Back 

Scholarship and the Center for Independent Living 

Services PA (CILSPA), have connected with participants 

online by conducting virtual health and training 

sessions, and sharing programming resources online. 

CILSPA started “ZOOM POWER” connect sessions twice 

a week with a weekly health challenge. They continued 

these sessions throughout the pandemic by using 

virtual technology platforms.