Sandra Schnur (July 30, 1935 – February 2, 1994) was a pioneer American disability rights leader and author, working mainly in New York City.
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.
[2][3][7] 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.
[citation needed] Concepts of Independence is[8] a consumer organization that was co-founded in 1977 by Schnur, Marilyn Saviola,[9] Victoria Holland, Ira Holland[10] 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.
[3] In addition to saving government/taxpayer money, the client was enabled and authorized to "hire, fire and train a home attendant.
Subsequent to the death of Victoria Holland in 1979 and the adoption of the new Consumer Board of Directors in 1980, Schnur became the President of Concepts of Independence.
[12][13] Schnur's husband also began hosting an annual memorial Seder after her death, to which large groups are invited.