Sandra Schnur

Sandra Schnur (July 30, 1935 – February 2, 1994) was a pioneer American disability rights leader and author, working mainly in New York City.

Early life Schnur was born on July 30, 1935, in New York City to a Jewish family. Schnur contracted polio in 1950 at age 15. Schnur requested instead to be allowed to attend college. The program advisor did not like her refusal to accept his recommendation, and marked her as "uncooperative".

Career as activist for disabled persons In 1963 Schnur published "New York With Ease", a wheelchair-access guide to the City of New York, published by the Easter Seals Society. She was employed in the Mayor's Office for the Handicapped, under Eunice K. Fiorito.

In the late 1970s, New York City officials decided that they no longer wished to provide direct personal assistance services for seniors and persons with disabilities, but would oversee contracts with private nonprofit vendors. By this time Schnur had written several position papers with the assistance of Marilyn Saviola on what she called "self-direction," — severely disabled persons with disabilities had the capacity to manage their own personal assistance services, as opposed to the "medical model" where the agency is the employer and the consumer is not in charge of his or her own household. She formulated a paper calling for a voucher program, a precursor to the Consumer-Directed Cash and Counseling project that was eventually adopted in several states, which she presented to the administration of Governor Mario Cuomo. In Schnur's voucher program, severely disabled individuals would receive one check, which could be used without restrictions, including management of home care needs, including personal care services. Although the program was adopted by the Governor and passed by the State Legislature, no startup funding was provided.

In 1980, following a series of meetings with consumers and Department of Social Services administrators, this group agreed to create the Client Maintained Plan, the pioneer Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, and have it administered by Concepts of Independence, Inc. a consumer organization that was co-founded in 1977 by Schnur, Marilyn Saviola, Victoria Holland, Ira Holland and Ed Lichter, formulated to be a Fiscal-Intermediary: to receive Medicaid funds and to pay salaries, taxes, and benefits to personal care workers based upon information provided by the consumer.

Schnur's husband also began hosting an annual memorial Seder after her death, to which large groups are invited.

Works

"New York With Ease" (1963)