Area Organizations Work to Strengthen Community

I wish you all a joyous Thanksgiving full of quality time with family and friends and, of course, plenty of delicious food. We have much to be grateful for as a state and nation, and leading up to the holiday, I had the pleasure of meeting with several organizations working to make our communities even stronger.

On November 19 I attended the Brain Injury Association of Missouri’s Survivor and Family Support Group. I had the opportunity to meet survivors of traumatic brain injury and their families who have experienced firsthand the value of brain injury services. One gentleman I met, who is a constituent, suffered a brain injury during his deployment in Afghanistan. I was pleased to hear that he had a positive experience with the Veterans Affairs clinic at Jefferson Barracks.

The Department of Health and Senior Services’ Adult Brain Injury program is the only state initiative that provides rehabilitation and other services to individuals who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. Extensive rehabilitation is needed to help them regain their mobility and overcome physical and cognitive impairments. The recovery process often involves significant physical therapy. When the brain injury survivors at the meeting found out that I am a physical therapist, they jokingly referred to me as a “physical terrorist” and called physical therapy “pain and torture.”

Due to the great need for brain injury care in our state, the wait time for services as of July 2014 was 480 days. Unfortunately, the Governor has exacerbated the problem by withholding the $948,381 that the legislature appropriated for brain injury waiver services. You can find more information on the Brain Injury Association here.

The next day I attended an industry update hosted by the Missouri Railroad Association and visited People’s Health Centers in St. Louis. This Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) provides high-quality, comprehensive services to the medically underserved and uninsured in the St. Louis community. FQHCs throughout the state are offering dental care to patients, which is an essential component of overall wellness. The General Assembly included funding in the last budget for oral health services for low-income adults, but Governor Nixon has restricted all of the money. Preventative dental care would have improved overall wellness and reduced ER visits for dental pain, so this will be a top priority for the legislature next year.

On November 21 I was able to visit Parkway School District’s Spark! Classroom for a government relations meeting. School administrative officials, parents, and legislators discussed pertinent issues facing Missouri’s education system, such as unaccredited districts, the unrest in Ferguson, and school transfers. I was also very impressed with the Spark! Classroom. The Spark! Incubator Program is a unique Parkway initiative that allows junior and senior students to work with business professionals to develop a business plan and grow their idea into a business venture. Students work out of authentic workspaces in the Chesterfield Mall for academic credit. I am proud that our district has put together such an innovative program to encourage and train our state’s future entrepreneurs.

Each of these community partners is filling a unique need in our community and state, and I look forward to working with them in the future.