Rolling Forward

Jeffrey Feinstein is often spotted rolling through Bellaire with his 7-year-old daughter Julia on his lap, the father-daughter duo cracking jokes as they whiz past neighbors. Afterwards, Jeffrey might putz around the house with his 11-year-old twin boys George and Joshua, who will whoop their dad in a round of video games. 

Jeffrey might then field a call from a medical professional who knows Jeffrey is the guy to contact when someone with a spinal cord injury needs help: A patient’s power wheelchair needs a replacement battery; an adult receiving treatment in Houston’s medical center doesn’t have reliable transportation back home to Louisiana; a family in Mexico can’t afford to buy a wheelchair for their handicapped daughter. 

“If we see an opportunity to help somebody, we’re just going to try to get it done,” Jeffrey shared at his family’s home on what appeared to be a typical Saturday afternoon. Jeffrey sported a green baseball cap, and his wife Alli wore athleisure. Their daughter Julia plopped herself right on top of the kitchen table and swung her legs forward and back while her brother Joshua lay on the couch watching a football game, and George played outside with neighbors. 

Rewind six years, and this family portrait looked very different. Jeffrey was in a hospital bed in Houston’s medical center while the waiting room overflowed with his family, friends, and well-wishers. They all wanted to tell Jeffrey they loved him. 

QUALITY TIME  Julia enjoys hearing stories from her dad Jeffrey while they roll through Bellaire. (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

For Jeffrey, life was upside down. 

The then 32-year-old had just suffered a devastating spinal cord injury while on vacation in Mexico with Alli and longtime friends. It was October 10, 2018 and, in a split second, Jeffrey went from diving into a hotel swimming pool to quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down and on a life flight back to Houston for emergency surgery. 

The following days were a whirlwind. A week in the intensive care unit was followed by rehab at TIRR Memorial Hermann. A few days later, it was back to the ER for an unexpected appendectomy.

“It was one step forward and one step back,” says Jeffrey’s younger sister Emily Jalnos, who lives in Bellaire with her husband Brandon Jalnos and their two children. 

After a 40-day stint of intensive rehabilitation, Jeffrey was discharged from the hospital. It was two days before his 33rd birthday and the start of the holiday season. 

“It was like, ‘Okay Jeffrey, this is what you wanted. You wanted to get back into it,’” Jeffrey said. 

Alli and Jeffrey have known each other since they were children and have been married for almost 14 years. (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

But there was a long journey ahead. Jeffrey was still adapting to life in a wheelchair, and it would take months to master everyday tasks such as eating with adaptive utensils, using a laptop, and driving. Jeffrey’s injury left him with limited movement in his arms – he can flex his biceps but not his triceps, for instance – and no direct movement in his fingers. It would be a slow progression toward greater independence. 

“It wasn’t like, ‘okay let’s rock and roll,’” says Jeffrey, who works in the oil and gas finance sector. “Things were progressing in inches, not feet or miles.” 

Jeffrey continued outpatient therapy three to four times a week, and in the spring of 2019, he returned to TIRR for two more weeks of rehab. 

All the while, Jeffrey’s community rallied in support. Within a small radius of the Feinstein’s Bellaire home resides Jeffrey’s parents, Michael and Judy Feinstein, as well as Alli’s parents, Scott and Leslie Bormaster. Also nearby are Alli’s brother, Brian Bormaster and family, the Jalnos family, and dozens of friends who grew up with Jeffrey, a graduate of The Kinkaid School and the University of Texas at Austin. Those individuals and more have helped Jeffrey and Alli through the physical, logistical, and emotional challenges of life post-injury. 

In the days after the accident, so many people visited Jeffrey in the ICU that they couldn’t all fit in his hospital room. “People were just standing there waiting to go in,” said Stacey Tally, Jeffrey’s older sister, who lives in North Carolina with her family but flew to Houston after Jeffrey’s injury. A GoFundMe page raised more than $300,000 to help offset medical expenses and at-home care. 

“Jeffrey had a circle around him,” said Jeffrey’s dad, Michael, who still texts his son every evening letting him know: “I’m available if you need me.” 

Jeffrey and Alli receive love and support daily from family and friends. Pictured are parents Michael and Judy Feinstein plus their three children with their spouses – Emily and Brandon Jalnos, Stacey and Jesse Tally, and Jeffrey and Alli Feinstein – and their eight grandchildren, Sam, Cowles, and Wells Tally, Mila and Hattie Jalnos, and George, Joshua and Julia Feinstein on vacation together in San Antonio last summer.

A few months post-accident, Jeffrey and Alli were hanging out at their friends Eric and Allie Danziger’s place. As they chatted, the two couples brainstormed how they would mark the one-year anniversary of Jeffrey’s injury. By this point, Jeffrey had made considerable progress: He was back to work and had learned to use adaptive tools such as grabbers and gloves that helped him perform key tasks on his own. 

“This is an ultimate game changer,” Jeffrey said while showing off the grabbing tool, which is designed for individuals who can move their wrists but not their fingers. “I don’t have to ask somebody to do something for me.”

Jeffrey had taken note of his reality and how it differed from other patients’. Many people he met who had spinal cord injuries were young men who hadn’t yet built a career, their own family, or a network that could help them ease back into their lives after a devastating accident. 

“They didn’t happen to be at the place in life that Jeffrey was in,” Stacey explained. “They didn’t have an incredible job in oil and gas in Houston. They didn’t have a wife. They didn’t have three kids.” 

Jeffrey uses the grabbing tool for a range of tasks, from putting clothes in the washing machine to picking up toys off the ground to putting away groceries. 

WALK & ROLL George, Julia, Alli, Jeffrey, and Joshua Feinstein (pictured, from left) joined nearly 800 others for a one-mile trek that raised $165,000 for the 2024 Walk & Roll for SCI. (Photo: Jaime Leigh Sonnier)

Grabbers and other adaptive tools can be prohibitively expensive and are not always covered by health insurance, Jeffrey said. If everyone who needed one could obtain one, they too might find greater independence. 

With that in mind, Jeffrey, Alli, and the Danzigers came up with an idea to pay it forward – the Walk & Roll for SCI (an acronym for spinal cord injury). They’d host a two-mile race followed by a family-friendly celebration as a fundraiser.  

“We had such a big community,” Jeffrey said. The idea was “let’s leverage that community and share it. Let them be your community, too.” 

Planning for the event began immediately. Allie texted her friend who owns 8th Wonder Brewery and quickly secured the spot. With the help of many volunteers, the event successfully came together, drawing about 1,000 people and raising $100,000. 

Family members participated in the first annual fundraiser, created by Jeffrey and Alli Feinstein along with Eric and Allie Danziger. (Photo: Meredith Symonds Photography)

As the years have passed, the annual race has continued each October. The event details have shifted. During Covid, the race was transformed for a year into a set of pop-up stations across Bellaire households that each offered a different activity. Since then, the race has been shortened to a one-mile course within Bellaire in which participants of all ages and abilities walk, stroll, or scooter, followed by a huge, inclusive community gathering with music and activities such as bounce houses, face painting, rock climbing, wheelchair basketball, crafts, and more.

Volunteers from the community lend a hand before and during the event. More than 100 volunteers helped last year, Allie said. This year’s event will take place on Oct. 5 at Evelyn’s Park. Family and friends are already excited. 

“It’s a huge fun party,” said Jeffrey’s mom Judy. 

As the Walk & Roll has evolved and grown, so too have the organization’s funding efforts. In addition to donating tangible items such as grabbers or voice-controlled devices, the organization gives money to people with spinal cord injuries for expenses ranging from building a ramp to their home to paying for mental health therapy. 

Volunteers Leslie Sutin, Erin Skalak, Nicole Dobbs, Alli Feinstein, Dara Frankel, Lindsay Cohen, Allie Danziger at the 2024 fundraiser. Not pictured are dozens of other dedicated volunteers, including Julie Blumberg and Amira Staller. 

Life post-injury isn’t always easy. “We have struggles every day,” said Alli, who works as a reading interventionist at Condit Elementary, the same school her and Jeffrey’s kids attend. “It’s a constant struggle, and we have different struggles every day.” 

Sometimes Jeffrey wishes for triceps – those muscles would allow him to more easily transfer from his chair to his bed, and to enjoy more activities with his kids, including throwing a basketball or catching a baseball. 

Challenges come up in simple activities, too, like going to a public event. Something as seemingly straightforward as watching their daughter perform in a school play takes considerable foresight, planning, and coordination for Jeffrey and Alli. In advance of the play, they must check if Jeffrey’s wheelchair can fit through the venue’s doors, whether there’s an elevator, and where Jeffrey can sit during the show. 

“It’s a whole process,” Jeffrey said. “And then there’s actually showing up.”

GETTING REEL Alli and Jeffrey are chairs of this year's ReelAbilities Houston Film and Arts Festival, an annual showcase highlighting people with disabilities. Pictured at last year's festival are (back row, from left) Judy Feinstein, Emily Jalnos, Kelly and Brian Masel; (front row, from left) Alli and Jeffrey Feinstein, Leslie Bormaster, and Kim Bormaster. (Photo: Mark Katz Photography)

Despite the hurdles, Jeffrey and Alli’s mentality is to continue pushing forward while maintaining a positive outlook.

“We aren’t going to sit and sulk,” Alli said. “This is our life, and we have to live it.” 

To manage post-injury mental stress, Jeffrey said he has made talk therapy part of his weekly schedule. Doing so has helped him understand and process uncomfortable feelings such as anger, sadness, and envy. 

“You’re trying to organize this bucket of emotions,” Jeffrey said. “How do you internalize it? How do you come out of it?” 

Through the challenges, he has maintained his sense of humor and friendliness, according to friends and family. 

“Jeffrey doesn’t allow us to be doom and gloom,” said his mom, Judy. “He’s always got a smile.” 

Jeffrey says it’s Alli who is “the engine” that keeps the household running each day. She wakes up at 5:30 a.m. and ensures the kids are ready for school, taking on many of the stresses of modern-day life and parenthood. 

“It’s a lot to manage, and from my perspective, it’s crazy impressive,” Jeffrey said. 

Jeffrey achieved greater independence in 2021 after learning to drive using hand controls in a wheelchair-accessible van. (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

In 2021, Jeffrey enrolled in a therapy-based driver’s ed class designed for people with unique driving needs. He secured a driver’s license and, the following year, obtained a wheelchair-accessible van that was adapted to his needs. Instead of pedals, he operates the car through hand controls. Driving opened up new opportunities for Jeffrey – driving to work, picking up groceries, dropping the boys off at baseball practice. On days off, daughter Julia loves going with her dad to Claw Mania, an arcade in Chinatown with dozens of claw machines. “I can do things to be present in the way I want to be as a father, husband, friend,” Jeffrey said.  

On several occasions, he’s packed up the van and driven across Texas with a caretaker for family trips to Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, and San Antonio. He’s also driven out of state to Vail, Colorado and to Disney World. 

Those trips are physically challenging but rewarding. And when an opportunity presents itself, Jeffrey says to grab it and leave no room for regret. 

“It makes no sense to look in the rearview mirror and say, ‘Oh I should have done that,” Jeffrey said. “If there’s an opportunity, just take it.” 

New opportunities have been coming Jeffrey’s way lately. This year, he and Alli are chairing the ReelAbilities Houston Film and Arts Festival, a three-week annual event promoting inclusion for people with disabilities. Organized by the JFS Houston Alexander Institute for Inclusion, the festival runs Feb. 2-23 and includes an art showcase, speakers, film screenings, music, and programming for Houston-area schools. As festival chairs, Jeffrey and Alli, along with co-chairs Jamie Wolf, Rori Feldman, and Sandi Helfman Wolf, help select the material showcased at the festival. Most events are free to attend and open to the public but do require online registration.

“The festival is built around the idea of inclusion, the idea of advocating for those who don’t have an easy ride, an easy walk, to doing anything,” Jeffrey said. “It’s a way to show the city of Houston all these fascinating stories and movies and artwork that may have been passed over.” 

Jeffrey and Alli also came up with a new event called ReelCommunity where attendees can participate and learn about inclusive activities including pickleball, arts, and dance. 

“It’s a pilot year so we don’t know what it’s going to be like or what will happen, but we are all very hopeful,” Jeffrey said. 

Editor’s note: To see the ReelAbilities festival schedule and to register for ReelAbilities events, visit www.reelabilitieshouston.org. To find out more about the 2025 Walk & Roll for SCI, see www.walkandrollsci.org.