Eleanor is a lifelong advocate for accessible housing and disability rights. She founded Concrete Change, an Atlanta-based national organization that pioneered home construction specifications to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. Through this work, she launched the national visitability movement, which promotes basic access in all new homes. In 1992, Eleanor was instrumental in passing the first visitability ordinance in Atlanta—legislation requiring accessible features in certain private, single-family houses. Her leadership has since inspired similar ordinances across the United States and Canada, greatly expanding the availability of accessible homes.

Eleanor co-authored the 2008 Visitability paper commissioned by the AARP Public Policy Institute and has published articles in Urban Land magazine and the Journal of the American Planning Association. She has also presented at national conferences and testified before a U.S. Congressional Committee, with her contributions being recognized through numerous honors.

In addition to her work on visitability, Eleanor was an active member of ADAPT at both the national and local levels, advancing the rights of people with disabilities. Eleanor contracted polio at the age of three and has used a wheelchair ever since, giving her firsthand insight into the barriers faced by people with mobility impairments.