Powell River Brain Injury Society receives provincial funding

Powell River Brain Injury Society has received $35,500 from the province through the Brain Injury Alliance to administer three programs.

According to brain injury society executive director Deborah Dee, annually, since 2015, the local society has received funds to offset costs associated with facilitating programming and operations.

“This year we are pleased to announce that we have received funding for three programs,” said Dee.

The nutrition, cooking and gardening program allows the society to hire clients and give them work experience and increased skills in gardening, harvesting, preparing food that they grow, preserving, and of course, enjoying the meal, said Dee.

“They also learn how to read labels at the grocery store and understand what the numbers mean and what levels of nutrients they should be taking in.” she added. “Each week, the participants of the program plan and prepare a large meal for their peers, with enough to take home. Having a bit of extra dollars is great for participants, as for the most part, our population cannot go back to their previous employment, and live on small disability pensions.”

In terms of outreach services, the Brain Injury Alliance has recognized that most funders do not pay wages, said Dee.

“The outreach services program is vital for our population, who often live in social isolation and cannot for whatever reason function well in a group setting,” she added. “Levering funding from Vancouver Coastal Health, this program reaches those individuals, as well as many others who cannot attend the brain injury drop-in centre in person.

“We have an outreach program on Texada Island and are busy setting up venues for the outlying areas of qathet Regional District. We keep in continuous contact with those who cannot be here and we ensure that we contact those who we have not seen for a while.”

The third program is peer support. Dee said this program recognizes that sometimes no matter the compassion, concern, education or experience, there is nothing like a peer to assist with an issue.

“We have leveraged funding from community gaming to operate this program and have one permanent and two part-time peer support workers who we have trained to work with us when our clients need a bit more than can traditionally be offered,” said Dee. “We are grateful to the province of British Columbia for the recognition and support of persons living with acquired brain injury, and to the Brain Injury Alliance of British Columbia for their forward thinking and financial assistance.”

According to a media release from the province, the investment will support a wide range of programs run by Brain Injury Alliance members. The alliance, a nonprofit organization comprised of 13 community brain-injury societies in BC, helps more than 4,000 people each year learn how to live with the changes and challenges they face after injury.

Alliance members are community associations that run rehabilitative programs and services (including counselling), individual support (such as life-skills assistance and homelessness prevention) and group services, such as drop-in sessions.

Founded in 2014, the Brain Injury Alliance aims to improve the lives of people living with brain injuries, including those resulting from car accidents and drug overdoses, according to the release. It advocates for adequate and sustainable funding for brain-injury prevention, education and individual supports provided by community nonprofit brain-injury services.