We have come together as a community over the last few months to find solutions to the isolation and risks presented by COVID-19. That’s taken many forms; one has been the kind and creative offers of goods and services to SCIO in support of people with spinal cord injury. Our great thanks and appreciation to the people and organizations that became part of the solution so quickly, and have shared their expertise, products and support through in-kind donations during this pandemic. Here are the enterprising contributors that we know about, with notes from our staff members. (We’ll add more as we become aware of contributions.)

• Our Medical Supply Manufacturing Partners: Coloplast, Bard and Hollister
  Thank you for ensuring our clients maintain a healthy supply of catheters and other bladder supplies during COVID-19.  Thanks to you, no client went without supplies and no one was forced to reuse catheters.
• Our Mobility Device Partners: Motion
  Thank you for going above and beyond to ensure our clients had access to mobility device repairs and maintenance.
• Our Dedicated SCI Rehab Centre Partners: UHN Lyndhurst Centre, Hamilton Health Sciences, Parkwood Rehab, Ottawa Hospital Rehab Centre, Providence Care SCI Clinic
  Thank you for working with SCIO through the SCI Implementation, Evaluation & Quality Care Consortium to convince the Assistive Devices Program (ADP) to expedite mobility device approvals in rehab centers during COVID-19.
• Our Community Partner: Ontario Community Support Association
  Thank you for working with us and the Ontario Government to develop the Ontario Community Support Program, a program where volunteers can send groceries and other essential products to our clients’ homes.
• Our Active Living Partner: Get in Motion
  Thank you for re-launching your virtual exercise coaching service to keep our clients active at home during COVID-19
• Our Research Partners: Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation and Praxis SCI Institute
  Thank you for repurposing resources and creating flexibility within existing research grants to study the impact covid-19 on our clients
• Our Primary Care Partner: The Center of Family Medicine Mobility Clinic
  Thank you for being a provincial primary care resource to all our clients in need of medical supports with SCI complications during COVID-19
• Our National Federation Partner: SCI Canada
  Thank you for representing our clients’ needs to the federal government and sitting on the COVID-19 Disability Advisory Committee on our behalf
• Our North American Partners: North American SCI Consortium
  Thank you for leading a series of weekly virtual webinars to educate our clients about COVID-19
• Our Safe@Home campaign partners:  Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), Hollister Canada and Hillcrest Consulting
  Thank you for sponsoring our Safe@Home campaign to launch VIP4SCI to all our clients during COVID-19
• Our Government Partner: Ontario Government
  Thank you for picking up the phone and acting when our clients were in danger.
• Black’s Distillery, Peterborough
  Cheers to Robert and the Black’s Distillery family for the donation of sanitizer to our clients in Peterborough. Your spirits and generosity are helping keep communities safe. Thank you so much.
• Dixon’s Distillery, Guelph
  Thank you for the vats of hand sanitizer that we bottled and distributed to our clients. Your generosity helped protect our community!
• Conquer COVID-19 Team
  Thank you for contributing 200 masks and hand sanitizer for our staff and clients. Such important and much-needed PPE.
• The Como Foundation
  Thank you for contributing masks for our staff and clients. We appreciate your generosity and want you to know they were put to excellent use.

And of course we appreciate those who made financial donations through our Safe@Home campaign!