Next meeting: March 12, 2007

Lifelines: The Brain Injury Support Group
hosted by the Neuroscience Center at the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas.


The March meeting is scheduled for Monday, the 12th, from 6:30 – 8:00 PM (directions below).

Jane Fuld, a vocational counselor with the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services of Texas, will present information on vocational rehabilitation.

DO YOU WANT TO WORK???!!!

DO YOU NEED HELP REACHING THIS GOAL???!!!

Vocational Rehabilitative (VR) services help people with disabilities prepare for, find and keep jobs. The Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services is the state agency responsible for the delivery of the vocational rehabilitation program in Texas. A person may be found eligible for services depending upon his or her individual needs. You will be helped to make informed choices of services, service providers and an employment goal.

Do you want to get back to work?

Is the only thing stopping you the fact you need more therapy and can't afford it?

Are you struggling to hold on to your job?

You need to come to this meeting.

If you want to get back to work but don't have the finances for the different therapies that you need in order to do so, then DARS can help you. If you are struggling to hold on to your job, DARS can help you. If eligible, DARS offers the following services: neurocognitive rehabilitation, vocational training, counseling and neurofeedback. Services will determined through informed client choice. You will only get the services that will help you reach your goal.

In order to get services, you must:

• be in Texas
• have a physical and/or mental condition that affects your ability to work
• be able to get and keep a job after receiving services
• need services in order to help you get and keep a job
• recipients of social security disability benefits (SSI or SSDI) are presumed eligible for vocational rehabilitation services

DARS website: http://www.dars.state.tx.us/


Come to the March meeting to learn how to properly prepare for your appointment with a DARS counselor and how to best navigate the DARS system.

Please send a reply email to Kimberly Aikman (kaikman1@sbcglobal.net) or call 214 289 0286 so we know to expect you.

Directions to Presbyterian Hospital:
Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas is located on Walnut Hill Lane, just east of U.S. 75 (Central Expressway). The meetings are in the

Fogelson Building, Ground Floor, Classroom A

Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas

8200 Walnut Hill Lane

Dallas, TX 75231

***The main entrance to the hospital was closed at the time of February's meeting, so be advised that entry is a bit complicated. When turning into the campus from Walnut Hill, the best route of entry may be the driveway prior to the light. The Fogelson Building is to the right when facing the main hospital entrance, and is next to the Margot Perot Center. Using the underground parking is the easiest way to reach the meeting location; if entering from the main floor, cross the foyer (past the stairs) and take the elevators to the ground floor. Classroom A is to the left off the elevators.

Remember that parking is now free! Be sure to get your validation sticker at the start of the meeting.

Neither Lifelines: The Brain Injury Support Group nor Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas support, endorse or recommend any method, treatment, or a program for persons with a brain injury. The intent of the group is to provide support and make information available. Attendance in the group is not a substitute for an informed discussion between a patient and his/her health care provider. No endorsement is intended nor implied.

February 12, 2007

Lifelines: The Brain Injury Support Group
hosted by the Neuroscience Center at the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas.


The February meeting is scheduled for Monday, the 12th, from 6:30 – 8:00 PM (directions below).

Chaplain Ariail Gores, of the Presbyterian Pastoral Care Department, will lead a group discussion on The Meaning of Faith. You are invited to participate as much or as little as you are comfortable with.

Thought
Many times in childhood, we ask the questions: "What's this for?" and "What do I do with this?" As life progresses, either in times of trouble, or in times of plenty, again we might ask the questions: "Why?" and "What do I do with this now?" Perhaps faith is the simple understanding that life is a mystery, and living in the mystery is what life is all about.

Life is full of "what if's" and "why's." Faith helps us accept life on its own merit and believe that we are capable of handling whatever circumstances life tosses our way.

Purpose
What is the purpose of our February meeting? We would like to stimulate discussion regarding individual definitions of faith and how faith has helped group members cope with the changes brought about by the brain injury.

Group Exercise
Please spend a few minutes thinking about the definitions listed below and what the words mean to you.

Faith
When you have come to the edge
Of all the light you know
And are about to step off into
the dark of the unknown.

Faith
Is knowing one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid to stand on
OR
You will be taught to fly.

Above text courtesy of the National Stroke Association's Discovery Circles manual.

Spiritual care delivered through the Pastoral Care Department addresses concerns of the spirit: faith, hope, despair, meaning, purpose, life, death, guilt, forgiveness, fear and doubt. Pastoral care offers help for people trying to connect meaning with life circumstances that don't often make sense or seem fair. Members of the Pastoral Care departments have answered a call to offer hope for those in the middle of brokenness. Pastoral Care Department chaplains do not try to convert people. They are trained to help bring together the physical, emotional and spiritual components that are necessary for an individual to experience healing, health and hope.

Please send a reply email to Kimberly Aikman (kaikman1@sbcglobal.net) or call 214 289 0286 so we know to expect you.

Directions to Presbyterian Hospital:
Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas is located on Walnut Hill Lane, just east of U.S. 75 (Central Expressway). The meetings are in the

Fogelson Building, Ground Floor, Classroom A

Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas

8200 Walnut Hill Lane

Dallas, TX 75231

***The main entrance to the hospital was closed at the time of January's meeting, so be advised that entry is a bit complicated. When turning into the campus from Walnut Hill, the best route of entry may be the driveway prior to the light. The Folgeson Building is to the right when facing the main hospital entrance, and is next to the Margot Perot Center. Using the underground parking is the easiest way to reach the meeting location; if entering from the main floor, cross the foyer (past the stairs) and take the elevators to the ground floor. Classroom A is to the left off the elevators.

Remember that parking is now free! Be sure to get your validation sticker at the start of the meeting.

Neither Lifelines: The Brain Injury Support Group nor Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas support, endorse or recommend any method, treatment, or a program for persons with a brain injury. The intent of the group is to provide support and make information available. Attendance in the group is not a substitute for an informed discussion between a patient and his/her health care provider. No endorsement is intended nor implied.