BRAIN INJURY PEER VISITOR ASSOCIATION® RECEIVES GRANT FROM CHRISTOPHER & DANA REEVE FOUNDATION FOR THEIR BRAIN INJURY PEER VISITOR PROGRAM

Alpharetta, Georgia – April 17, 2013 – The Brain Injury Peer Visitor Association is proud to announce that it has received a Quality of Life grant from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. The award was one of 76 grants totaling almost $427,000 awarded by the Reeve Foundation to nonprofit organizations nationwide that provide more opportunities, access, and daily quality of life for individuals living with paralysis, their families, and caregivers. Created by the late Dana Reeve, the program has awarded 2,131 grants totaling over $16 million since 1999.

This grant will be used toward copying and compiling 4,500 copies of the packets of information that are personally handed out or mailed to each brain injury survivor and/or caregiver, as part of each Brain Injury Peer Visit (a personal face-to-face visit in the hospital or rehab facility, over the phone, via email, or Facebook). A packet of information includes such things as website and resources lists, book lists, newspaper stories, CDC information, personal stories, general information on stroke and brain injury, and much more. The packets of information were given out at over 3,400 Peer Visits in 2011 and at over 4,300 Brain Injury Peer Visits in 2012.

Receiving this grant is a tremendous honor for our entire team of brain injury survivors and caregivers who share the Quality of Life Grant’s goal of “improving the daily lives of people living with paralysis due to injury, disease, or birth condition.” Many from the Brain Injury Peer Visitor Association were inspired for years by Christopher and Dana Reeve’s brave determination to live their lives fully while helping so many others. They stood as shining examples that even after a horrific accident and disability, a person could live happily with a productive life, giving back to society.

Ann Boriskie, Director and Founder of the Brain Injury Peer Visitor Association, says, “Being chosen to continue the work of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation inspires each Peer Visitor on our team to work even harder in 2013 to reach more brain-injured individuals, to help educate them about their own disabilities, and to inspire them to achieve the most from their own lives.”

Reeve Foundation’s Quality of Life Grants Program has always been a cornerstone of one of our core beliefs, the power of we. By supporting these organizations that align with the same beliefs as ours, we are better able to help our community members live more independently,” said Peter T. Wilderotter, president and CEO of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. “We are pleased to reward a number of tremendous organizations for their efforts.”

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Quality of Life grants program was conceived by the late Dana Reeve to address the myriad needs of children and adults with paralysis and other mobility impairments and their families. Grants support critical life-enhancing and life-changing initiatives that improve physical and emotional health and increase independence. Funded projects offer a diversity of services and approaches, improving access, providing education and job training, sponsoring organized sporting activities, and much more. Quality of Life grants are funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Award #1U59DD000838).

About the Reeve Foundation

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information, and advocacy. We meet all 20 of the Better Business Bureau’s standards for charity accountability and hold the BBB’s Charity Seal. The Paralysis Resource Center (PRC) is a program of the Reeve Foundation, and is funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Award No. 1U59DD000838. For more information, please visit our website at www.ChristopherReeve.org or call (800) 539-7309.

About the Brain Injury Peer Visitor Association

MISSION: The Brain Injury Peer Visitor Association, an organization led by volunteers, is dedicated to providing the “hope, support, empathy, education and information”© necessary to help hospitalized and rehabilitating brain injury survivors and their families navigate the often-difficult and confusing recovery process associated with brain injuries.

SLOGAN: “Hope, Support, Empathy, Education, and Information for hospitalized and rehabilitating brain injury survivors and their families from someone who has BEEN THERE … and DONE THAT.”

Ann Boriskie, Director and Founder
Brain Injury Peer Visitor Association, Inc.
aboriskie@braininjurypeervisitor.org

Janelle LoBello (800) 225-0292
Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation
media@ChristopherReeve.org