About eight months ago, I faced a decision that would have a far deeper and more lasting impact on my life then I realized at the time. It was the middle of December 2013, and United Spinal Association had just lost its president and CEO. As a recently elected board member, upon hearing the news, together with my fellow board members, we assembled a special committee to handle the day-to-day business requirements for United Spinal while we considered our options. I was asked to serve as interim president and CEO, and agreed to do so with the understanding I would travel east to New York a couple weeks each month to have a physical presence in our offices.

What transpired over the subsequent six months and culminated in the “interim” tag being removed and a cross-country move, is still at times unbelievable and certainly not what I had imagined a mere 12 months ago. But, during the course of events that led to this decision, it became the most natural and clear choice I’ve faced in a long time.

Let me start with the staff at United Spinal. Given the circumstances around my arrival, I expected to find a combination of wariness and insecurity. Instead, the United Spinal team had rallied to the need of the day and responded very professionally and courteously. This attitude has been the hallmark of my association with the good people at United Spinal and continues to speak volumes about their commitment to our mission and our members. It also gave the special committee the confidence that we had the full support and appreciation of the employees as we worked to shore-up the financial situation and address the leadership change.

For the past three years, the end of June has marked United Spinal’s capstone event, the Roll on Capitol Hill, fondly referred to as ROCH. Each year, the event gets larger in both scope and support.  This year we had close to 100 advocates from 26 states as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. There were over 200 visits with senior staff and elected officials from both the House and Senate. The sheer scope of this day gives me so much pride in our community. The effort extended by so many to travel great distances, often times with equipment, supplies and aides to have their voices heard on the issues that are paramount to our community, I have not witnessed before. At the end of the day, despite feeling spent both emotionally and physically, I found myself anticipating next year’s event. Wanting to make this larger and more encompassing and inclusive of other disabilities, some day, this will be our version of the Million Man March.

While the future is quite bright for our organization, we must remain diligent and responsive to the ever-changing tides of politics and economics. Maintaining our nimbleness in times of change will go a long way toward assuring we are around to serve future generations of people with SCI/D. If our 68 years of history has taught us one thing, it is that the fights we have fought in the past for equal access to housing, transportation, employment and medical technology will be the battles we engage in for the future.