One highlight of the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania’s annual conference is the presentation of awards that recognize the achievements and contributions made by individuals, institutions and families to Pennsylvania’s brain injury community. Nine recipients were honored at the BIAPA Conference in Lancaster on June 27, 2002.
The following individuals were honored for the year 2022:
Service to the Association Award - Amanda Burgy Allemang Leadership Award - Paul Brooks Pioneer in Brain Injury Award - Madeline DiPasquale Service to the Brain Injury Community Award - Eileen Fitzpatrick-DeSalme Direct Service Award - Diane Hamm Service to the Brain Injury Community Award - Cheryl McCutcheon
The following individuals were honored for the year 2021 and were presented with their awards at this year's conference as we weren't able to present them in person last year.
John Sears Inspiration Award - Jack Cavanaugh Service to the Association - Kara Latshaw Dennis Minori Family Tribute Award - The Steinberg Family
An article with details about each of these very special honorees can be found here.
Introducing Meghan Walsh-Farrell:
BIAPA Programs Coordinator
The Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania is pleased to welcome Meghan Walsh-Farrell to our team as Programs Coordinator. Meghan comes to BIAPA with a background in school counseling. After her son sustained several severe brain injuries in 2016, Meghan became immersed in the brain injury community. She founded the Project Green Heart Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in support of pediatric brain injury patients and families. Meghan originally started to work with BIAPA as a volunteer for the Ambassador Program, and she is thrilled to further her involvement with her new position as Programs Coordinator. Inspired by her son and her family‘s journey, Meghan has a passion for brain injury advocacy, and she is excited and honored to be able to serve the brain injury community through her work with BIAPA.
BIAPA Welcomes Penn State Rehabilitation Hospital as Brain Injury Ambassador Partner
BIAPA is pleased welcome Penn State Rehabilitation Hospital in Hershey to the Brain Injury Ambassador Program! We are glad to be able to offer the services of our trained volunteer ambassadors to brain injury patients and families in these facilities. Our ambassador volunteers, who all have lived experience with brain injury, offer an important personalized connection for families and serve as a bridge to brain injury resources and programs. Ambassadors connect with patients and families through a one-time phone conversation, during which they give the message of help and hope, and provide an overview of existing resources. They follow-up by sending a packet of educational information and resource materials. We are looking forward to working with the team at Penn State Rehabilitation and welcome inquiries about our Ambassador Program from other hospitals or rehab providers! For more information, contact BIAPA Programs Coordinator Meghan Walsh-Farrell at walsh-farrell@biapa.org.
Focus Group: The Impact of COVID-19 on Persons with Brain Injuries and their Families
This group will take place via zoom on Thursday August 25, 2022 at 5:00 PM. We will be discussing the physical effects and ramifications of contracting the virus, as well as how the pandemic affected daily life. If you or a family member with brain injury are interested in participating, we would love for you to share your thoughts and experiences with us. CLICK HEREto register for our focus group. Feel free to share this with others who you think might be interested. We'll send the link for the meeting to those who sign up to participate.
Employment Opportunity
The Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the PA Department of Health, is developing an awareness campaign and educational initiative on the intersection of brain injury and opioid misuse. BIAPA is seeking to hire an Opioids Education and Outreach Coordinator to work on this important project.
Work tasks include, but are not limited to: assisting with the development of materials for building awareness, reaching out to contacts in key stakeholder groups to disseminate awareness materials, conducting outreach to identify audiences for training, scheduling and hosting educational trainings. There will be potential to participate in training activities as well.
The Opioids Education and Outreach Coordinator will be a part-time independent contractor estimated at 10 hours per week on average. Requirements include: Bachelor’s degree and 5 years of experience working in the field of brain injury. Individuals with substance abuse treatment experience will be considered. Experience working with individuals with co-occurring brain injury and substance abuse preferred. Strong interpersonal and communication skills are essential to this role. Specific job-related training will be provided.
Interested applicants should submit a letter of interest and resume to Monica Vaccaro, BIAPA Director of Programs at vaccaro@biapa.org.
Adapting to Unprecedented Challenges
This article was contributed by Community Skills Program ®, a BIAPA Corporate Partner.
Like most, if not all, of you, Community Skills Program ® has faced unprecedented challenges since the pandemic began in 2020. The COVID-19 guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Governor Wolf posed particular (but understandable) barriers for staff providing services in clients’ homes and communities, especially due to social distancing and positive COVID-19 tests, which resulted in disruptions in carefully designed service delivery. The Community Skills Program’s neurorehabilitation specialists have been thoughtful and adaptable in continuing to offer individual services to their clients and support for their clients’ family members. The staff appreciate the flexibility of the Department of Health Head Injury Program’s staff in relation to telerehab.
Community Skills Program ® staff have continued this year to contribute to greater understanding of the needs of and resources for persons with brain injuries, by serving on committees and giving presentations. Stefani Eichelberger, M.S.W., LCSW, CBIS, CESP, client services liaison for Community Skills Program, was appointed this year to serve on the Department of Health’s Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board. Stefani and Sally Kneipp, Ph.D., CRC, director of Community Skills Program ® , were co-presenters at the Professional Development Institute of the Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Association on April 13, 2022. Stefani is also an independent contractor with the NeuroResource Facilitation Program of the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania (BIAPA). Community Skills Program ® staff attended the 2022 BIAPA Conference and would like to congratulate BIAPA on the successful return to an in-person annual conference. Community Skills Program ® looks forward to the growth of BIAPA.
Support Group Corner
The next meeting of the BIAPA online support group is scheduled for Thursday, August 18th at 5:00 PM. We'll have a discussion about coping after brain injury, a topic of interest identified by the group. Come to talk with others and share experiences and ideas. Please email survivorsupport@biapa.org if you would like to be included on the distribution list to receive an invitation and link to the Zoom meeting.
A full list of all of Pennsylvania's support groups, along with contact information for each, is on the BIAPA website's Support Group Listing Page. We are in the process of updating the information, and while we have done so for most groups, there are still some that we're trying to reach. If you are aware of groups that are meeting either virtually or in-person and are not on our listing, or if you have any updated details about a group on the list, please contact Melanie Morrison morrison@biapa.org so we can let others know about them.
Thank you to our Corporate Partners
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___________________________________________________________________________________ Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania MAILING ADDRESS 947 Wayne Avenue, No. 110 Chambersburg, PA 17201 Phone/Fax: 833-242-7248
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