Services Provided by MPA

1. Quality of Life Grants - MPA provides individuals living with a paralysis with financial assistance for purchasing adaptive and durable medical equipment (DME), medical supplies (on a limited basis), and home and vehicle modifications that will allow them to live as independently as possible and improve their quality of life.

2. Awareness and Research Grants - MPA supports and provides grants for programs that educate and bring awareness to the causes of paralysis and offer preventative measures for those causes.  We also support research involved in finding a cure for paralysis.

3. MPA Peer Support Program - MPA funds a Peer Support Program that provides peer support to individuals living with paralysis and their family members.  We also sponsor group meetings, which are held throughout the state of Mississippi, where people with paralysis and their family members can come together for emotional support, share information, and participate in social activities.

4. MPA Sports Grants - MPA offers individual sport sponsorships to qualified individuals and a $5,000 team sponsorship to organized non-profit wheelchair teams.  We also sponsor an Introduction to Wheelchair Sports Program which goes hand-in-hand with our group Peer Support Program.  This program offers an introduction to sports such as water skiing, snow skiing, dance, fishing, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair softball, and wheelchair fencing.  This program builds self-esteem, confidence, and allows individuals to discover, or rediscover, the joy of being actively involved in a sport.

5. MPA Sports Equipment Match Fund  - MPA will match funds to help with the purchase of sporting equipment for an individual living with a paralysis who demonstrates a true interest and dedication to a particular sport.

6. The Thomas Lunardini Scholarship Award - A $10,000 scholarship (up to $5,000 per semester; fall, spring) will be awarded to one individual living with a paralysis to assist with the cost of tuition, purchase of books, room and board at a college or university of the recipient's choice.

7. The Bennie Owens, Jr. Memorial Scholarship - A $5,000 scholarship (up to $2,500 per semester; fall, spring) will be awarded to an individual with a paralysis that attends the Rehabilitation Counseling Master's Program at Jackson State University.  This scholarship is to be used for the cost of tuition, purchase of books, room and board.