Be a champion and change lives for people with disabilities.

Your Gift Makes a Difference

When you support Kessler Foundation, you provide our scientists and grant makers with critical resources to propel new research discoveries and fund innovative employment initiatives. As a result, adults and children with disabilities receive more effective rehabilitation and access to employment opportunities never before possible.

Your support matters. You help people with disabilities of all ages live to the fullest.

Join Us and Give Today

Christina Dandola, PhD, physical therapist and Karen Nolan, PhD looking at an ipad

Your Impact

Your support maximizes recovery, independence, and inclusion for people with disabilities. Thanks to you, a new study combines spinal stimulation and gait training to improve outcomes for people with traumatic brain injury.

Spring 2025 Your Impact Newsletter Listen to this newsletter

Your Generosity Gives Life to Our Work.

Because of you, our pioneering research and grantmaking are changing the landscape of what is possible. All this brings new hope to individuals living with disabilities, their families, and our communities. To learn more about all you make possible, please read our 2024 Impact Report.

2024 Impact Report

You Help Annie Regain Strength in Body and Mind

After Annie Modica sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a car accident, doctors predicted that she would never have full use of her arm again. With the support of our donors, Annie joined a Kessler Foundation research study to regain strength and independence on her journey to recovery.

Now, her confidence is lifted and she is back to enjoying her active family life.

woman on top of building facing skyscrapers and river

Thanks to You, Eliza Finds Employment

Through NYC: ATWORK, a program funded by Kessler Foundation and donors like you, Eliza Cooper connected to a network of employers who recognized her value. She chose a position at a government agency evaluating the effectiveness of civil service exams for hiring and promoting—a job well aligned with her education and skills.

man on wheelchair surrounded by wife and kids

You Fuel Jimmy’s Competitive Drive and Give Him Hope

Sustaining a spinal cord injury (SCI) in 2004 didn’t change athlete Jimmy Brown’s competitive personality. He approaches his post-injury rehabilitation with the same drive he exhibited on the playing field as a pitcher for St. Peter’s University. By joining several Kessler Foundation research studies, Jimmy pushed himself to get stronger and improved fine motor skills in his hands and arms.

Now, he can help his wife, Francine, with chores and play catch with his kids thanks to advances in spinal stimulation research.

man on wheelchair with female companion in a tournament event

Living to the Fullest with No Shoulder Pain

Joe Monteforte sustained a spinal cord injury (SCI) from a construction accident. Paralyzed from the waist down, he learned to propel in a wheelchair, which put added stress and pain in his shoulders. Thanks to your generosity, he joined Kessler Foundation’s regenerative medicine study, regaining strength and function to move forward with his life.

Now, Joe’s shoulder is pain free and he can transfer in and out of his wheelchair and car independently, go for five-mile strolls in the park with his wife, and help around the house.

You Help Tammy Reclaim Her Power Over MS

Tammy Quasius, a biologist, wife, and mother of two,can live her best life despite multiple sclerosis. “After my diagnosis, I wasn’t sure how I’d take care of my kids or if I’d ever work again. But then, I discovered Kessler Foundation and began participating in their MS research. Kessler Foundation—and donors like you—give me, and others with MS the tools and confidence to pursue our dreams and claim power over the disease.”

Now, she is back to work full-time as a laboratory manager.

Man with special goggles for scientific stroke research

Kevin Accelerates His Recovery, Thanks to You

After his stroke, Kevin Mullins was unaware that he had spatial neglect—a hidden disability experienced by many stroke survivors that often goes undiagnosed.

He participated in Kessler Foundation’s prism adaptation therapy. This research, made possible by donors like you, helped Kevin regain awareness of his environment, improving his participation in rehabilitation and the pace of his recovery.

Teenager with a robotic walking device on him surrounding his body

You Make a Brighter Future for Tyler

After Tyler Brown sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI), doctors weren’t sure if he was going to make it. But after receiving physical therapy and the latest robotic exoskeleton technology as part of a Kessler Foundation research study, Tyler proved them wrong.

By walking in the Ekso by Ekso Bionics, he gained strength and improved his balance —moving from a wheelchair to walking completely on his own.

Tyler, who has come further than ever imagined, dreams of becoming a physical therapist thanks to donors like you.

Natalie Jumpstarts Her Future, Thanks to You

Natalie Barrett was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident. By participating in spinal cord injury research at the Tim and Caroline Reynolds Center for Spinal Stimulation, she can now get up out of her wheelchair and walk with assistance. Now, she wants to build the strength to walk on her own and use stairs.