Dear friends,
I’m writing to ask for your help. I am raising money for a cause very close to my heart, and hope you will be able to contribute. On October 15, I’ll be participating in the King Challenge, a fundraising event focused on supporting the Krempels Center – an amazing organization based in New Hampshire.
As you know, in late 2015, my mom suffered a stroke. While not debilitating, her brain injury has required my mom to live life a bit differently than she anticipated, both physically and emotionally. Anyone who knows Ruth, understands that she has always been an extremely strong and independent person. A nurse of over 30 years, mom was used to long days on her feet taking care of her sick patients and then coming home and keeping the household together while raising two sons. Relinquishing control, and allowing herself to become the care recipient instead of the caregiver has not been my mom’s favorite experience. While this adjustment hasn’t always been easy, we’ve been fortunate to have some incredible resources to assist. The Krempels Center has been one of these resources.
The Kremples Center is an outpatient rehabilitation facility that strictly focuses on helping people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. It is a one-of-a-kind program, that is not offered anywhere else in New England, if not beyond. The Center offers daily in-person, and online rehabilitation and cognitive programs of all kinds. Participants have the opportunity to meet and talk with others who have shared similar experiences in casual social settings, and a tremendous team to help sharpen some of the skills effected by brain injury through more intensive sessions.
My mom has been benefitting from their online programming since last year. When she was first presented with the idea of joining some of their classes, she wasn’t very enthusiastic. There was a long list of cons, and a short list of pros. Being asked to meet weekly with a bunch of strangers and talk about daily challenges didn’t seem appealing, dealing with logging into to a zoom call certainly was really overwhelming, and like so many people who suffer a stroke, my mom lacked confidence in her ability to feel that she could hold a conversation even in a small group setting. Luckily mom agreed to give the Kremples Center online program a try. Within weeks, and with a ton of support from the program directors, she slowly began to adjust. She began telling us how much she enjoyed her online groups (she attends a community meeting group where there is general discussion usually discussed over coffee, and lately mom has been going to the book club, always having been an avid reader this is one she truly loves). When I recently spoke to mom how classes were, she said “I really enjoy the group of people, they are so kind and they understand me, I can totally relate to them and vice versa”. We all agree that the Kremples Center has given mom the tools and confidence to interact with people more easily, additional skills life’s daily challenges, and a reframed sense of appreciation for life. If this experience has taught us anything, its that we must make the most of the time we all have together, whatever that looks like.
The reason fundraising for the Kremples Center is so important is because their services are available to all. If an individual cannot afford the program, the Kremples Center will offer services at no cost. In order to continue operations year in, and year out, the Kremples Center relies on private donations to be able to provide these services to everyone who needs them. As I prepare for the ride next month, your support of this incredible organization would mean a lot. 100% of your contribution will go directly to the Krempels Center work. You can contribute by clicking on the link below.
Huge thanks,
Antony Haivanis