Rebuilding Lives, Restoring Hope
A spinal cord injury can change every part of a person’s life in an instant. The road after injury is filled with isolation and very few opportunities to learn how to live independently again. Peer mentors make a BETTER path possible!
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Strategy
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The Empowering Spinal Cord Injured Persons (ESCIP) Peer Mentor Program supports people with spinal cord injuries and other mobility-related disabilities, including those with traumatic brain injuries, through in-person and virtual peer mentoring, adaptive yoga and sports, wheelchair skills training, independent living education, and English classes. Via phone, Zoom, hospital bedside, or in the home, experienced peer mentor staff, who are either former patients or family members, provide practical guidance to injured individuals and their families on issues such as pressure sore prevention, bed mobility, wheelchair skills, activities of daily living, returning to school or work, and re-entering community life after injury. ESCIP also serves as a social network hub for geographically isolated individuals, allowing the Indian Head Injury Foundation (IHIF) to facilitate medical treatment and transportation of participants in case of emergencies and identify candidates who could most benefit from wheelchair donations.
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History
The ESCIP program began in 2013 with as an independent transitional living house run by Jonathan Sigworth, an American paralyzed in India at age 19, who then went on to start the U.S. non-profit More Than Walking, which continues to support the program. Click here to lean more about Jonathan's story! Today, ESCIP’s transitional living house, nestled in the neighborhoods of Najafgarh, New Delhi, is integrated into IHIF’s range of patient services across its facilities in Noida, Delhi, Patna, and Jodhpur. For many participants — living in cities, rural villages, and remote mountain communities — ESCIP is a lifeline for consistent encouragement, disability-specific guidance, and community connection.​​​​
​Impact
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One example is Chawan Singh (second from the left in the photo above), who sustained a complete T7–T8 spinal cord injury and comes from a remote mountain region of India. Through ESCIP, Chawan received practical guidance and encouragement from people who understood life after spinal cord injury firsthand. Step by step, he learned how to live more independently using a wheelchair and how to rebuild confidence in himself. Today, Chawan is living independently in Rishikesh and employed at a hospital canteen. Chawan recently joined other ESCIP participants at a 5K marathon in Dehradun to build SCI awareness.​
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This work is especially urgent right now. In April 2026, a new IHIF rehab center opening in Jodhpur will increase the need for strong post-discharge peer support for patients from rural towns. At the same time, ESCIP is seeing growing demand for a second transitional living home in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, which is more accessible to wheelchair users from mountain villages and where residents could be more easily introduced to adaptive sports at the local Maharana Pratap Sports College.
​Partnership
The Indian Head Injury Foundation’s ESCIP program moves an average of 80 participants toward greater independence each year while providing dozens of new wheelchairs to those in need. Donate today so more people with disabilities can access assistive devices, wheelchair skills training, and support to reintegrate confidently into the community!
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Make checks payable to More Than Walking with memo "ESCIP" and send to:
MORE THAN WALKING
155 Peace Acre Ln.
Stratford, CT 06614
​USA
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