Arista Wins Top Workplaces AwardBy: Valerie Diem, Co-Director of Stroke Life Center
May is Stroke Awareness month and the BEFAST acronym is valuable information for sure. I am here to tell you that if you or a loved one has survived a stroke, Toledo Ohio has one of the best resources to help you get living your best life post-stroke. The Stroke Life Center (SLC) is a nonprofit founded and run by stroke survivors for stroke survivors and their families. We are the fourth in the country to do what we do. We believe that the stroke happens to the entire family. We also believe we can understand the nuances of living with stroke differently than health providers can.
SLC is 100% independent, located on the fourth floor of the Mercy College Building at 2200 Jefferson Ave, Toledo Ohio. We have nearly 8000 square feet of space that includes a physical therapy area designed with the help of University of Toledo Physical Therapy Professor Dr. Tori Smith. Stroke survivors love giving back to the future healers in the area and SLC has a fantastic working relationship with both the Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy departments at University of Toledo. The students gain valuable experience by collaborating with our members prior to clinical rotations. SLC hopes that our members will use the information from the students and prior PT experiences to exercise on location four days a week all year.
Cindy Roshon, Co-Founder, I and all our members are here to support each other through the ins and outs of life in this new existence.
Founded ten years ago, we have continuously had our Wednesday 1:00 pm support group meeting, (even through Covid19 when we met on ZOOM!) One of our core tenets is rehabilitation does not stop when your insurance quits paying. We have members that are twenty plus years post stroke STILL making gains. Offsite we have aqua therapy at NOMS off Central Avenue. On Tuesdays we have yoga and either occupational therapy or physical therapy. Wednesdays we have a support group and once a month the caregivers go into another room to reinforce the special needs they have. We have just added yoga on Thursday also. We go on ‘field trips’ to The Toledo Museum of Art, Copper Moon Studio; we go out for dinner monthly and support our local sports teams. This helps give members the confidence to travel. SLC demonstrates to our members and the community that there is life after stroke. We laugh, turn ‘can’t’ into ‘not currently able too,’ share ideas, have the best potlucks in the world, hug and sometimes cry. And we dance. Cindy and Sue Rindskopf (co-founder) decided that the Vivian Greene quote fit our mission perfectly. “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
Please feel free to look at our calendar and join us. If someone you know has been touched by stroke let them know about us. We have rack cards available, just contact me and I will send them to you. I invite you to any of our fundraising efforts: Euchre Tournaments quarterly, a 5K run/walk on July 14th as well as an October event that will show up in THIS newsletter soon!! Help us to no longer be one of Toledo’s best kept secrets.
Valerie Diem is the Co-Director of Stroke Life Center
Contact her at ValerieD@strokelifecenter.org
Follow us on Facebook or www.strokelifecenter.org
Arista Home Care Solutions is a proud sponsor of SLC.
