Hello fellow survivors! I am 3 1/2 years post TBI sustained in a motor vehicle accident. Having a local support group (BIAPH), helped me a lot during my recovery. It has been great to meet other survivors that can relate to you and understand you and your situation.

I made a whole new group of friends. I had wonderful experiences finally connecting with other survivors. The local support groups helped me share some of my challenges and learn from others. The Headspin group is more of a social group and we do more activities like cooking, movies, pool and bowling. During these COVID times HeadSpin switched very quickly to online activities to keep us all connected. I highly recommend that survivors find a local support group to get back at it!

The respite service that we receive through BIAPH funding has been extremely helpful for myself and my husband. Prior to my husband’s ABI, he was the grocery shopper in our family. By having my husband be able to take back his previous responsibility of the weekly grocery shopping (with the assistance of a respite caregiver), he has become more self-confident in himself and it makes him feel good that he is able to help out with the weekly household chores.
By allowing my husband the opportunity to be able to do the grocery shopping it has helped me immensely. This means that I do not have to take time out on the weekend to grocery shop, thus allowing us to be able to spend more time together and be able to do more family outings and not household chores…

I was encouraged to contact BIAPH and join their support group meetings. I have been attending since 2017 finding ways to get to the meetings due to transportation limitations. A friend or my stepmother helps me get to the meetings and often stay finding them informative and good at lending perspective to what I am experiencing. I am a bit shy so sometimes I sit back and wait for the group to get going before I speak up. I have really enjoyed people sharing their stories and hearing the speakers present. There have been some very informative speakers. Just listening to others helps me not feel alone and connected to others, you feel like somebody else understands what you're going through. Seeing happy faces makes me feel better, you know laughing despite pain it gives you a different outlook. Although I feel meeting in person provides a personable interaction, I've been able to adapt to online meetings as they continue to provide connection to others in similar circumstances. For those thinking about attending a group I would say come with an open mind and expect to receive something good. It doesn't matter where the group is, there's always something good.

Just a quick note to say thank you for the work you do. I really value the time you've taken each time to find me the right mentor. I am once again absolutely loving my calls with my current mentor and they are a highlight of my week where I know I can speak with someone who understands what I'm coping with. These are wonderful people who are mentors and I truly value their volunteered time to help people like me as we join the same path. I look forward to giving back as a mentor myself at some point.

In case you don't hear it often enough, thank you! 

We would like to say "thank you" to you and to everybody in BIAPH for the help we received within the last year. It means so much to us. BIAPH program, which allowed us to have 4 PSW hours every Sunday, was a wonderful gift, as it provided our daughter with friendly sensory stimulation activities, physical exercise, exploring new books and movies and having a friend to look forward to meet next week. She was just 11, when she had her brain injury in 2014. Her ability to move and to express herself is very limited right now, but she surely appreciates being active and having friends.
We understand that this is a one year program and that it is coming to the end this month, so that other families can be a part of it, too. We'd like to thank everyone, who we never met, but who made this wonderful program happen for our daughter. We very much appreciate this. This was the kind of help we came to really appreciate as we support our daughter managing severe ABI.

Lily comes twice a week and plays cards with him or encourages and supervises him while he plays piano. In good weather she takes him for short walks outdoors and calls his elderly mother to let her know he is ok and what they did together. Lily provides a few hours a week giving him someone to talk with and interact with. She knows his abilities and weaknesses. He is prone to be very very quiet and Lily draws him out and makes him speak. Lily is a gentle and kind person who brings him some socializing that he otherwise would not have. The program has exceeded our expectations. Lily is a gem and we have come to love her!

We go, depending on the weather for a nice walk, we're doing groceries and we're going for a cup of coffee. I usually leave it up to him and he really seems to enjoy it.

The caregiver relief program allows my husband an opportunity to be out of the home safely. I truly appreciate Patrick coming twice a week. A wonderful friendship has developed due to the consistency for at least 7 years.