years, Gini commented that it was "apparent they [polio survivors] had two vital needs … people and information. They wanted to keep [up] with each other … and wanted to share information about their lives and equipment." Gini and her husband, Joe, started to meet those needs by building a heated pool with a lift at their home, where they held annual reunions of the alumni of the respiratory center. In 1958, the same year, they started publishing Toomeyville Jr. Gazette, featuring news of how polio survivors managed at home. By 1959, the vaccines had stopped polio, the public stopped giving to the March of Dimes, and the March of Dimes stopped paying for attendants and closed the respiratory centers. The sudden loss of attendant payments caused panic. There was no Social Security Disability Insurance, no Medicare, no Medicaid, no vocational rehabilitation for people with severe disabilities. There was only welfare or help from churches or family. Fortunately, polio survivors who had gone home from the centers had worked with attendants for a few years, and had worked out some systems of community support. However, they also needed the psychological support of other survivors. … Gini led a letter-writing campaign in 1959, alerting survivors in every state to write to their congressmen urging national attendant care legislation. The national campaign was unsuccessful, but it called Washington's attention to the problems of people with severe disabilities. However, the California campaign was successful due to the efforts of the respiratory polio survivors, and state legislation established attendant care (in her words) 'that later cleared the path for the independent living movement – for attendant care is the linchpin of independence.' The 1959 campaign for national attendant care demonstrated and solidified Gini's belief in networking – the power of connecting people with people and the power of information. [Gini wrote that] "Networking links people who share common needs or common goals. Networking is a support system. It is a method of self-organizing. It is the structure of a social movement. Most of all, it is a method by which people get things done. Laurie was determined to keep polio survivors in touch with one another, and with their medical specialists, as a way of assisting them as they went about building lives for themselves. In 1959, she formed a nonprofit organization called Iron Lung Polio Assistance, Inc. and began to publish the immediate