Lions & Tigers & Updates – Oh My!

Life is funny. Some things you really can’t plan for—like getting T-boned by a car, for example. Nothing can truly prepare you for such an experience. Now, in year fifteen of life post-injury, it feels like I’m finally hitting my stride in our ongoing advocacy work. 

Earlier this year, BIHN was granted nonprofit status. From there, we positioned an amazing board of directors—passionate souls, each with a direct connection to the brain injury community. Some of us are survivors, while others are caregivers and members of the professional community. On Monday, we have another great board meeting, and I want to share a couple of updates. 

My passion lies in direct peer-to-peer support. This happens in our social communities every day, and our support groups have proven to be wildly successful. Earlier this year, as Sarah and I fleshed out our 5-year Strategic Plan, we hoped to go from one support group to four monthly groups by the time we hit the five-year mark. 

Amazingly, we are now at four support groups. We have our monthly Open Meeting, which just celebrated its one-year anniversary and is open to everyone. We also have a monthly virtual caregiver meeting that has helped so many. This week, a couple of big things happened. Our first Circle of Hope recovery meeting was held yesterday, and I was floored by the number of attendees at our inaugural meeting. Based on community feedback, this will now be a monthly meeting. 

One of our two caregiver groups was an in-person meeting until this week. Starting next month, this will transition to a virtual meeting, making it more accessible to everyone. We’re now at four virtual monthly groups. But this is just the beginning. 

In early 2025, we plan to add a second Open Support Group meeting and a second Circle of Hope recovery meeting. We’ll also be introducing a monthly mindfulness meeting early in 2025. This will bring us to seven monthly groups. Candidly, it’s hard not to be over-the-moon excited about this. 

Now at 50,000 members, our social communities are the heartbeat of BIHN. Just this morning, a community member from New Zealand reached out to me. Our membership spans every continent except Antarctica, with members from over 60 countries. Hurray for everyone who is part of our online family—because a true family it is. 

Starting next month, I’ll be looking for a few folks who are willing to volunteer with BIHN. 

Our mission statement reads: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘐𝘏𝘕 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘺, 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. 

With all that has come to pass, we are still barely scratching the surface of those who need support and resources. With volunteers working toward this goal, we’ll be able to reach even more people who can benefit from our work. 

I’ll be sharing periodic updates and, as always, welcome feedback about what we are doing that helps, what might need improvement, and any suggestions for better serving our community. 

In the spirit of service, 

  ~David 

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 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀

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