Day at Berkeley: NorCal SCI hits the town on Feb. 8

We don't mean to repeat ourselves but we will one more time.  As we've written before, one of our core goals from the day that we launched NorCal SCI has been to reach out to all the various organizations, agencies and individuals who share the same vision as what we have outlined for the Northern California SCI Community.

And to underscore that goal, we're thrilled to be spending the entire day on Thurs., Feb. 8th in Berkeley meeting with some amazing organizations.  To begin with, we're meeting first with Nikki Brown-Booker, the Executive Director of Easy Does It Emergency Services.  They provide assistance to individuals with disabilities and seniors living independently in the City of Berkeley. Should a disabled person or senior experience an unforeseen crisis or a temporary lapse in attendant care, that person can call Easy Does It for assistance.

Our next stop is with Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program (BORP) where we'll meet with Rick Smith, Executive Director.  BORP works to improve the health, independence and social integration of people with physical disabilities through sports, fitness and recreation programs.

Next, we're meeting with the folks at Disability Rights Advocates (DRA).  We met them at the Ed Roberts Day celebration gala a couple of weeks ago and were quite intrigued by what they were doing.  DRA is one of the leading non-profit disability rights legal centers in the nation and its mission is to advance equal rights and opportunity for people with all types of disabilities nationwide.  We think there are some common goals that together we can work on.

We're not quite done yet with our day.  We're looking forward to meeting one of the co-founders of No Limits Collaborative, Erin Hallet.  She has a B.S. in Rehabilitation Sciences at University of Pittsburgh and Doctorate in Physical Therapy from MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston.  We met Erin and her colleagues at last year's Accessibility Day and their energy was contagious.  They formed NLC to improve quality of life for individuals with spinal cord injuries and neurological conditions by providing access to high quality physical therapy, rehabilitative services, and wellness programs while building community through support, advocacy, research, and education.

Finally, we're thrilled to have been invited by the organizers of the Berkeley Spinal Network to be the featured presenter of their meeting that evening from 6:30-8:30 p.m.  Our goal is to introduce ourselves and NorCal SCI to those in attendance and share our vision and how we are working to change the conversation when it comes to enabling individuals with a spinal cord injury to thrive and live productively.  The meeting will feature a door prize for a Google Home Mini as well as free food and drinks and other goodies that we'll bring with us.  So, come on out and let's meet each other and have a good time.

We plan on sharing with you the details of our trip and meetings in the coming weeks.