by Edward R. Matthews

As I reflect on the past year, I can’t help but think what a different organization this is from when I arrived fifteen years ago. I keep mentioning in this column how the world had changed for people with disabilities and their families. In just over thirty years, segregated institutions warehousing thousands have been replaced by individualized supports and services tailored to meet each person’s needs and wishes. At UCP of New York City our world was forever changed as well, when our Chairman and inspirational leader, Leo Hausman passed away last March. This was a truly remarkable man with a track record of even more remarkable achievements.

From being “drafted” by his family to serve as Board President in 1958, he built a legacy here that will be unmatched by any other volunteer. He was absolutely indefatigable in his efforts to build this agency into a unique and special place. Along the way he helped found Long Island Jewish Hospital, raised millions for Soviet Jewry, and even spearheaded the effort to find Amelia Earhart. His most important contribution, though, was building this organization from a volunteer fund raising group to its present place as the leading organization providing services to people with disabilities. He did that by never accepting no for an answer and always building friendships that lasted a lifetime. His greatest legacy though may be in the fact that he trusted people to always do the right thing. In fact, he expected it. He judged people by the strength of their character, not in their possessions. He was comfortable with people from all backgrounds and took delight in their successes. He taught us that you should move the world to help one person. Thirty years later, the rest of the world has caught up. He trusted those of us that followed him to do the right things in building United Cerebral Palsy to be even greater. I have always been grateful in his trust in me and I pledge to live up to his expectations. The measure of Leo Hausman’s life, I believe is last described by Rudyard Kipling:

“… If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings -- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run --
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And -- which is more -- you’ll be a man, my son!”

Thanks for the memories, Leo.