Help Save the Inglis House Wheelchair Community

This story is about a remarkable wheelchair community of disabled men and women who share their lives and daily struggles at a non-profit nursing “home” called Inglis House in Philadelphia.

Founded in 1877, Inglis House specializes in services to adults with severe neurodegenerative physical disabilities resulting in paraplegia and quadriplegia. The 252 current residents — all wheelchair users — are diagnosed with various neurological and musculoskeletal disorders such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury.

More importantly, this is first and foremost a story about ensuring the rights of the disabled and fighting for justice for those who, through no fault of their own, cannot.

The namesake of Inglis House, Annie Inglis of Philadelphia, contracted scarlet fever as a young child and was left permanently disabled. A charitable endowment formed by the Inglis family in 1877 to found Inglis House and fund its nursing and staffing operations flourished for the next 145 years.

That is, until July 2022, when the Executive Board that manages the $240 million Inglis endowment secretively reached an Agreement to sell Inglis House to a private equity firm. Worse still, this PE firm specializes in rapid growth by property acquisitions, aggressive cost-cutting and personnel layoffs, and the outsourcing of qualified nursing and therapeutic services.

The Inglis Wheelchair Community today finds itself in a "David versus Goliath" struggle - and our time to act is short. This sale was negotiated and signed without informing Inglis residents, staff, families, or long-term donors to the Endowment. There are now less than 60 days to organize our resistance. Adding insult to injury, the Inglis Executive Board intends to retain fiduciary control of $220 million in endowment funds even after selling the residents out!

Residents hope to raise public awareness and have launched a petition on Change.Org to “Save Inglis House.” The petition requests the PA Attorney General’s office to investigate the terms of the pending sale, perform a forensic audit of the Executive Team’s conduct, and act accordingly by halting or delaying the sale until the financial history of this transaction can be better understood.

Disabled Americans face enough challenges as it is. But the differential in power in this particular circumstance is daunting. For the past week, the Resident’s Council has repeatedly reached out to Philadelphia’s “Legal Aid for the Disabled,” the “Disability Rights of PA” organization and the ADA National Network for legal advice and representation. Unfortunately, all offer only pre-recorded messages citing two-year backlogs for accepting new cases.

It should be noted that the average income of a permanently disabled individual on SSI is only about $45 per month; this small sum is to be used for incidentals like shaving cream, shampoos, make-up, etc. We desperately need to retain qualified legal counsel, and we are grateful that there is such an option as a “GoFundMe” campaign!

This story's far from over -- but we need your help. First, we must hire an attorney that can file a formal complaint with the PA Attorney General, initiate discovery, and review the Inglis Endowment’s Charter. We need "fighters" to join our cause by interacting with the AG’s Office and, if required as a last resort, to represent our best interest at Philadelphia’s Orphan Court.

Thank you for taking the time to read. We ask only that the rights of the disabled residents of Inglis House's Wheelchair Community be held where they belong -- above the short-term profit-driven motivations of speculative real estate investors.

Please, help us.