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Brain Injury Awareness Month

How to be Active During March

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month and the beginning of the 25th Anniversary for the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance and everyone who has been on the journey. The Volunteer Department would like to invite you to participate in engaging your community, family, friends and celebrating the journey.

What are a few ways you can do these things?

Invite a member of the Speakers Bureau out in March
We have many trained speakers who tell their personal story of life with a brain injury. These stories are compelling and powerful. These speakers are on the front lines of awareness and education in our communities. They have spoken to non profits, schools, and many different clubs. There is no audience to small for these speakers to share their story with. Wouldn't it be great if we could host 25 presentations to kick off the 25th Anniversary? This could be a reality by helping to organize a speaker to come to your book club, church, office or school. There are speakers who are available at all different times of the day so give me a call if you are interested in hearing from on of the speakers.

Gather your friends and family together to talk about your brain injury
Many of you know that this journey is not one that is traveled solo. During brain injury awareness month is a good time to gather your friends and family together to discuss your brain injury, to talk about goals you have achieved and ones you have in front of you. Even if you have had your injury for 15 years it can still be a good experience to dedicate a specific amount of time to revisit it with those closest to you. Meet at a coffee shop or invite people over for a potluck. Sometimes the most effective awareness and education about your injury can be done with this community.

Hold a Project Brain Bridge awareness event
Project Brain Bridge is an awareness event that can be held anywhere by anyone. In Project Brain Bridge packet you will receive step by step instructions on engaging an audience with interactive tools. They will learn how the brain is affected by injury and what life is like after injury. This is a project that can be done in grade school through high school, in the classroom, in the cafeteria, at a public library, in a community center, at an office or in your house. What is most important is information is getting out to communities all over Minnesota. Don’t forget to take pictures of your event and write to us to let us know how it went. If you are interested in getting a Project Brain Bridge packet contact the Volunteer Manager at 612-238-3234 or 800-669-6442 or e-mail Lee.

Click here to see a sample of what project brain bridge is.

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Come to Public Policy Matters Conference
One way of advocating for you and others affected by brain injury is to talk with your legislator. You don’t know who your legislator is? You don’t know what they would like to hear? No problem. Come to Public Policy Matters Conference and learn about telling your story and identifying important parts of your life that you think legislators need to know about. A great way to start building this relationship is to write a personal letter to your representative. Out of the thousands of people in Minnesota very few actually work at building a relationship with their representative. They won’t know what you want unless you tell them. Public Policy Matters a will be held on March 28 from 10 a.m. – 1p.m. at the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance office. If you are interested in coming please RSVP.

These are only four ways to get engaged. If you decide to participate in any of these activities I would love to know how it went. Or if you are recognizing Brain Injury Awareness month in a different way write to me and let me know what you did and how it went. It is very important for people to be active in the community and being ambassadors for all people with brain injury. There is still a lot of misunderstanding and confusion about brain injury. Things will only change if we actively work for it.

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What You Can Do:

• Learn More about brain injury causes and effects
• Stay Informed - sign up to receive more information about brain injury and support services
• Volunteer your time to support persons affected by brain injury
• Become an Advocate for persons affected by brain injury
• Become a Member of the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance and show your commitment to our mission
• Donate to the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance