NorCal SCI unveils six initiatives funded by the Reeve Foundation grant
Four weeks ago, we announced that the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation had awarded NorCal SCI a $24,500 grant. We are now pleased to take the wraps off of our plans to use this grant to further benefit our community. Our goal out of this grant was that through a series of workshops and demonstrations, led by topic experts, we would seek to educate and arm those with a spinal cord injury (and their caregivers and family members) the knowledge and tools needed to lead a healthy lifestyle and reduce or avoid various secondary conditions arising from a spinal cord injury.
We have developed an engaging collection of programs and activities that are fun and highly informative, led by some outstanding talent and experienced individuals who work with those with a spinal cord injury. These sessions will be held virtually beginning in July and running through May of 2021. We’ll begin announcing specific dates starting next week. There are six tracks that we have developed with each track featuring six new sessions and here they are:
NUTRITION & SCI - Led by Registered Dietitian, Shelley Wood, she will make you feel more comfortable sharing the knowledge you need to have about the various food groups in order to enjoy a healthy and nutritious diet that would benefit your dietary needs, especially for those with SCI. This includes discussion around grains, carbs, veggies, proteins, fats and fruits. Given Shelley’s passion and extensive experience working with the SCI population, you won’t want to miss any of her sessions.
COOKING WITH ARASH - We are fortunate to have a good friend and someone with a cervical spinal cord injury, Arash Bayatmakou, who is passionate about food walk you through and show you how to incorporate many of the topics that Shelley will be talking about in your day to day meals. Arash will also share how to shop on a budget and be efficient with your meal prep while addressing breakfast, lunch and dinner plans you could easily adopt.
PILATES WITH STEPHANIE COMELLA - She is truly an incredible talent and gem, having applied her mastery of Pilates to her work with the SCI population. A Certified Pilates Teacher and an author of a brand new book on SCI recovery, Stephanie will take you through an incredible journey of becoming more familiar and intimate with your bodies and learn unique movements to help become more functional.
PHYSICAL & WELLNESS TRAINING WITH RACHEL & ERIN - Rachel Kahn is a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher as well as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Erin Hallett has a Doctorate of Physical Therapy and is currently a Physical Therapist at UCSF and a co-founder of No Limits Collaborative. She has worked extensively with the SCI population. Together, they have prepared wide array of sessions that would show you how to take better care of your mind and body.
FUNCTIONAL ELECTRICAL STIMULATION (FES) & SCI - We’re thrilled to feature a highly-experienced Physical Therapist, Jennifer Kapetanic, who works heavily with the SCI population at arguably the top SCI Rehab Hospital on the West Coast, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Jennifer has amassed a tremendous knowledge on the use of FES to help with return of function, management of spasms and pain, and other uses of FES for someone with SCI. She will demonstrate exercises of all variety across all injury levels.
FUN WITH ADAPTIVE CYCLING - In our travels throughout Northern California, we have been mystified by the lack of adaptive cycling programs aside from BORP’s great program. We are working with BORP’s Cycling Center manager, Leo Siecienski, to bring more adaptive cycling opportunities in other communities for those with SCI to experience.
Each of these six tracks will feature six sessions presented between next month thru May 2021. We are working to make sure that regardless of your injury level, you will benefit from these sessions. We will record all the sessions (except cycling) and make them available on-demand to our community, so if you missed one session, you always have a chance to catch them at your own leisure.
We hope you will enjoy the fruits of our labor and look for announcements starting next week about the first series of sessions.
Nick & Franklin, co-founders