In 2019, Ms. Valerie A. Taylor, founder of the Center for the Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed (CRP), was awarded the prestigious ‘Nature Conservation Award – 2019’ in appreciation of her lifelong dedication in conservation towards the people and nature of Bangladesh. In recognition of her unique contribution to the spinally injured patients, disabled or differently abled people, and special needs children of Bangladesh, Ms. Taylor was also dubbed with the title of ‘Sheba Mata’ (Care Mother). Originally initiated with 4 patients in a disused cement warehouse, Ms. Valerie A. Taylor established the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in 1979, and has treated more than 80,000 people over the decades. In addition to the in-patient services offered at the center, she has welcomed over 15,000 out-patients every year. She has also established a mother and child unit, a hostel and integrated schooling for children with cerebral palsy, and an independent living center for disabled women at CRP; and facilitated a safe space at CRP for the people rejected by their families and society, providing them with a new chance at a self-reliant, respectable new life.
