Welcome to the Board, Stephen Mackintosh!
Join me in welcoming one of our newest board members, Stephen Mackintosh. We are thrilled to have welcomed Stephen onto our board this past December. Here is a little of his story and motivation for partnering with us in our mission:
"Hello, my name is Stephen Mackintosh. Recently, I joined the Neuro Assistance Foundation Board to help the organization fulfill its mission of "Helping Today For Independence Tomorrow".
The reason I joined dates back to May 2017, when I visited Neuro's Cinco de Mayo fundraising event. The reason I visited was twofold. First to meet Cindi Cooperman and learn about the Neuro Assistance Foundation, which I had heard about from Joy Hetrick, who was my caregiver at the time. Secondly, to meet Mike and Sharyn King, as well as Ben Hetrick, to learn more about Powered to Move and their nonprofit organization that involves hand cycling for persons with disabilities.
It was coincidental, that at the same time as this event, I was researching recumbent bicycles to fulfill my mission of gaining independence for myself and my family.
Winding the clock back to July 2012, I was involved in a tragic bicycle accident that left me as a C4 incomplete quadriplegic. From that moment on, myself and my family experienced and struggled with all the problems that NAF strives to solve. Fortunately, my family and I had made significant progress towards independence, and were working on our next adventure in independence, namely to ride a recumbent bike.
So there I was with my wife, at the Cinco de Mayo event among the energy and excitement of families experiencing the joy of being part of the community. They were interacting and connecting with others. I saw their stories, understood their stories, was living their stories firsthand. My wife, and me with my chin drive power wheelchair, mingled and enjoyed the energy. There I saw and experienced, the actualization of NAF real-time. Children and families affected by neurological trauma, out and about... Running, walking, pushing, pulling, sharing and caring together.
Meeting Cindi, Joy and her husband Ben as well as Mike and Sharyn King, set wheels in motion. How can I help this organization accomplish its mission.
We too had to leave the hospital and go home and deal with gaining independence for ourselves and the family. It all started with a ramp. Seemingly so insignificant, however that ramp was the beginning of going home. And to this day that same ramp allows us to leave home to connect with the world that we missed so dearly.
So here I am on the board. And there you are in the community. Why not join Cindi and the rest of us fulfill the NAF mission? It was 176 yesterday, why not 1760 tomorrow?
Thank you and see you in the community".
- Stephen Mackintosh
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