Spinal Cord Injury Association of Washington is Born
The Spinal Cord Injury Association of Washington is up live on the internet as of December 16, 2010.
SCIAW is the state chapter of the Christopher Reeve Foundation. www.christopherreeve.org. Our goals are to:
- Create a community of members who will help one another.
- Compile a database of human, medical and legal resources.
- Advocate legislatively on behalf of those with SCI and their families.
- Campaign for better medical care, better insurance coverage and more SCI research.
- Create broad awareness and understanding about the causes of SCI and the potential ramifications.
- Provide a full array of human, medical and legal resources to individuals and their families/friends, from when they first sustain a SCI and for their entire lives.
- Offer services that promote independence despite having a SCI.
- Legislate on behalf of those with SCI and their families.
- Campaign for better medical care and more SCI research.
The SCIAW board of directors currently includes Dr. Charles Bombardier, Director of the NW Spinal Cord Injury Resource System out of Harborview; Dr. Vivian Moise, Director of the Spinal Cord Injury Program at St. Lukes Rehabilitation Center in Spokane; Tony Choppa M.Ed of OSC Vocational Services, Inc., Jesse Magana an SCI advocate, and myself.
My law firm has been instrumental in getting SCIAW off the ground and provided the seed money to develop the website and create the logo. I am the executive director/president to get everything up and going (haha you know determined I can be). Hopefully we will be able to afford someone to take my place! Thank you Catherine Fleming, my daughter Cristina and everyone at SKWC who has supported the vision of this organization. Thanks also to the Arizona SCI Association – its ED Paul Mortensen and board member Robert Bohm for helping with the practical aspects of what needed to be done. And thanks to our friends with SCI who have helped and inspired us to start this organization.
If you know anyone in the community who has a SCI or is caring for someone with an SCI, please let them know of this resource.
SCIAW is a charitable organization. http://sciaw.org/
We are also in Facebook.
karen