BIA-NJ Annual Meeting
On Wednesday night, I attended the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey ’s (BIANJ) 2006 annual meeting. This was a very historic meeting as BIANJ celebrates its 25 years of service helping people with acquired traumatic brain injury and their families. The attendees were treated to a 25-year retrospective presented by past presidents Jim Steen (1985 – 1987), Irene Parisi, Ph.D. (1997 – 1999) and Albert Pressler (2003 – 2005). President-Elect John Tiene then forecast where the organization was going in the future.
BIANJ also honored its Executive Director, Barbara Geiger-Parker, well recognized as one of the nation’s leading Executive Director’s of Brain Injury organizations. This point was brought home by the elegant message of appreciation given by Ellen Gambatese. She related how one day Barbara came to her lamenting the fact that there were many individuals and their families who were in need of services but did not have the money, the insurance or the ability to obtain this need. Barbara wished that BIANJ had a fund that could help these deserving people. Today, through Barbara’s hard work, that fund now exists. Today, the traumatic brain injury fund created by state legislation in 2001 has over $10 million which provides money for education, outreach and prevention activities coordinated by BIANJ under contract to the Division of Disability Services, New Jersey Department of Human Services. The fund purchases post acute support and services for individuals of any age with acquired brain injuries who have needs that cannot be met by insurance, private resources or government programs and benefits. Up to $15,000 per year, with a lifetime maximum of $100,000 is available to each individual. This fund demonstrates that with creativity and hard work, goals which seem unattainable can certainly be reached.
The meeting concluded with the presentation of awards. This year, the Sara and James Brady award, presented to an individual or group for public service based on an outstanding record of contributions that further the goals of the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey through work at the state and/or local level was presented to William A. B. Ditto, Director of the Division of Disability Services, New Jersey Department of Human Services. The 2006 Founders Award, established in 1985 by the National Brain Injury Association to recognize individuals or groups who have rendered exceptional volunteer services that benefit persons with brain injury and their families was jointly presented to Brain Injury Association of New Jersey’s support group leaders who volunteer their time throughout the state of New Jersey. Finally, the Silvio O. Conte award presented to an individual or group for public awareness and education based on an outstanding record of contributions that further the goal to the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey through work at the state and/or local level was presented jointly to the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey Concussion in Sports Committee. For readers of this blog, you will recall that in February of this year, BIANJ sponsored a sports concussion conference at Giants Stadium.
No organization can run without the hard work of its staff. Kristopher Hopwood and Rita Steindlberger were recognized for their 5-year service to BIANJ while Maryanne Conte was recognized for her 10 years of dedication.
I am proud to serve on the Board of Trustees of BIANJ. Next month, the entire board will participate in a two-day retreat to continue the outstanding work that our founders started 25 years ago.