Our most vulnerable neighbors

I’m a registered service provider with the Brain Injury Alliance of Washington (BIAWA), the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and Sound Generations, a social services agency for seniors. I teach a bare-bones organizing class for BIAWA clients. The Society approached me after one of its clients found me online and decided I would be a good fit for her needs. It has now added me to its database of providers. I gave a brown bag lunch talk at Sound Generations, which led to my inclusion in their registry.

The stories of many of the people I meet through these organizations are shattering. They are often left to fend almost entirely by themselves after injuries or illness have devastatingly altered their ability to function day-to-day. If they are lucky, they’ll have supportive friends and family. Instead, too often, friends and family refuse to acknowledge the reality of the survivor’s circumstances and lose patience for helping. Organized charitable support is often haphazard – underfunded, understaffed. Political, government support can actually be punitive. For brain injury patients, resistance to providing holistic care in the medical community, whose members are not always as familiar with patients’ issues as would be competent, can be a debilitating exacerbating factor.

The tiny bit I can help feels like pushing back the tide. And I don’t know how to fight the larger battles, for better funding, more staff, more community centers…