Taylor Price: The Advocate
Weeks from beginning his freshman year at Georgetown University, Taylor Price suffered a devastating accident. The then-18-year-old dived into the ocean in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., struck a sandbar and broke his C 5/6 vertebrae. The injury kept Price hospitalized for months and ultimately left him a quadriplegic. Price pledged to still attend Georgetown—he earned his undergraduate degree, a master’s and now works for the Department of Homeland Security. Price has become an advocate for those with spinal-cord injuries and a devotee of charitable causes. He even introduced the Employer Worker Incentive Act to expand employment opportunities for the disabled.
During his time at Georgetown, Price helped launch one of the university’s largest scholarship funds. Since 2007, the Peter F. Karches Scholarship Fund, named for a friend’s father who died of leukemia, has granted upward of $8 million. Price also works with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation by offering the organization advice and speaking to groups about spinal-chord injuries.
Price’s latest project is to help bring NextStep—founded by a Georgetown alum—to DC. Based in California, NextStep provides exercise and rehab equipment at a low cost for mobility-impaired individuals. Price is a member of the steering committee working to raise money for the endeavor. There’s nothing even close to that caliber locally, Price says, which is why he became involved. Price says he sees his disability as happening for a reason—so that he could give back. “After the accident, I was overwhelmed with support,” he says. “I know how good that made me feel, so it’s only furthered my commitment to philanthropy.” Given the millions he’s helped raise—and the millions more to follow—it’s a good bet that Price’s passion will lead to better lives for those with similar injuries.
To read the article online, visit: http://modernluxury.com/dc/story/the-power-of-philanthropy