Advocacy

“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”

-Malala Yousafzai

SCIboston advocates for the rights of people living with Spinal Cord Injury and Disease (SCI/D) by engaging and empowering our community to enact change.

A great way to be an advocate is to sign up to receive our Advocacy emails. Learn about current issues and events, methods on how to be a better advocate, and opportunities to take action, all delivered directly to your inbox!

Advocacy Updates

Here you will find the most recent work we have been doing at the state and national level.

SCIboston Statement of Position on the Reconciliation Bill

On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the reconciliation budget bill into law. This legislation includes cuts to Medicaid and major changes to SNAP, shifting costs to states for the first time in nearly 50 years. These changes pose serious risks to the spinal cord injury community and beyond.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, 11.8 million people could lose Medicaid due to new requirements and restrictions, and over 2 million may lose food assistance. In Massachusetts alone, at least 250,000 residents could lose health insurance. These cuts will not only harm individuals—they will destabilize the broader healthcare system by closing rural hospitals, crowding ERs, and raising insurance costs.

At SCIboston, our mission is to Reach, Inspire, Support, and Empower individuals and families affected by life-altering spinal cord injuries. These policies run directly counter to that mission. We are deeply concerned—but not without hope.

• We recognize this is an uncertain and difficult time. Please know that many of the provisions will not take effect until 2027, and numerous organizations are actively working to delay or mitigate potential negative impacts. If you have any questions about how this may affect your services, don’t hesitate to reach out — we’re here to connect you with the right resources and support.

• And most importantly, we will do what we’ve always done: come together when systems fall short. SCIboston will be here to help fill the gaps left behind by this bill. That commitment is the heart of our community

The services we depend on may be cut—but we’re not going anywhere.

Have you been in a public building (retail establishments, hotels and motels, multiple dwellings, educational facilities, medical facilities, detention facilities, places of worship, restaurants, and transportation facilities) that is not compliant with 521CMR or Americans With Disabilities Act? Follow the link below to the Architectural Access Board’s complaint page and fill out a form.

For Those that use the MBTA

If you travel via MBTA bus, subway, or commuter rail and have a disability, the MBTA System-Wide Accessibility staff want to know you exist so they can ask you about your experience.  Please email SWA@mbta.com 

Click here for MBTA COVID-19 updates.  

Click here to plan an accessible trip on the MBTA.

Click here for their Accessibility guides.

Click here for alerts about accessibility issues (e.g., elevators out of order). You can also sign up there to receive service alerts, via email or text, about any aspect of service you care about-- specific routes, accessibility, etc.

How To Find My Legislator in Massachusetts

Many people ask us how they can identify their legislator's contact information, well here is an instructional video on how to identify and contact them.

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