UCP Founder Will Be Missed

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) recently announced the loss of Nina Eaton, one of the organization’s founders who passed away in late March.

“UCP is saddened to lose such a tremendous advocate whose life’s work has been integral to advancing the civil rights movement for people with disabilities,” said Stephen Bennett, UCP president & CEO, who added: “Nina was an amazing woman and will be greatly missed.”

Eaton’s son, Leonard, was born with cerebral palsy in 1941 and led his young, uncertain mother towards a lifetime of advocacy for people with disabilities. She and other parents, including UCP founders Leonard and Isabelle Goldenson along with Jack and Ethel Hausman, laid the foundation for an organization that has enhanced the lives of millions of Americans with disabilities. More than a half century later, UCP is an international network of nearly 100 affiliates serving more than 176,000 people with disabilities and their families on a daily basis.

As an advocate, Eaton was a founding member of the New York State Cerebral Palsy Association in 1946. When the organization evolved into UCP in 1949, she helped educate communities about the condition, which, like most developmental disabilities at the time, carried significant social stigma. She was known for her lobbying, which led to regional and national expansion of community-based services for people with disabilities.

She remained an active leader in the disability community, and served on the board of directors of UCP Suffolk in Suffolk County, NY, for the last 20 years. She also served on the UCP national board of trustees and most recently as an emeritus board member.

UCP honors an affiliate with the Nina Eaton Program of the Year Award, as part of the UCP Awards for Excellence annually. She loved the Awards for Excellence, and served as the emcee for many years, adding her charm and wit to the evening that celebrated the accomplishments of UCP affiliates and individuals.

“Nina was so much a part of our history and our lives,” said Stephen H. Friedman, president and CEO, UCP Suffolk. “The lives of individuals with disabilities will be forever enriched because of her legacy.”

You can read an interview ABILITY Magazine conducted with Eaton’s granddaughter in a past issue here:

http://abilitymagazine.com/Eaton.html

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