For Immediate Release Contact: Emmy Llewellyn September 17, 2013 508-475-0032 Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts Celebrates 30 Years of Helping Individuals with Brain Injury and their Families National Association Started by Massachusetts Families More than 30 years ago a small group of family members met around a kitchen table in Framingham, Mass. to talk about how to meet the needs of their loved ones who had sustained brain injuries. Dramatic advances in trauma care and life support had significantly increased the number of individuals surviving severe head injury; however, at that time, the community was ill-prepared to serve this population. From these humble beginnings emerged the National Head Injury Foundation which later became the Brain Injury Association of America with chapters in more than 40 states. The Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts (BIA-MA) was incorporated in 1982 as one of the first statewide brain injury associations in the U.S. and remains the only organization of its kind in Massachusetts serving survivors and families across the Commonwealth. “The Association came out of parents’ needs to secure services for their children suffering from brain injuries. It came from the need to find help where there was none at the time. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention,” says BIA-MA Executive Director Nicole Godaire. “BIA-MA has grown tremendously over the past thirty years, along with the need for brain injury services and support—now more than ever with brain injury anticipated to become a global epidemic. Following thirty years of extensive advocacy for survivors of brain injury around the Commonwealth, we are poised for another 30 years.” Today the Association serves more than 60,000 children, teenagers, and adults in the Commonwealth, and offers 34 support groups statewide for survivors, caregivers and family members. BIA-MA has two regional offices located in Pittsfield and East Wareham to reach the western Massachusetts and Cape Cod communities. BIA-MA works with judges, district attorneys, police, and probation officers on programs to educate first-time offenders and teens at risk about the consequences of brain injury. It also collaborates with schools, hospitals, and state agencies, teaching people of all ages about risk-taking behavior and healthy living habits. BIA-MA has been honored locally and nationally for its prevention programs. “We will be here to serve those affected by brain injury in the Commonwealth—including the 64,000 new sufferers of TBI annually—with information and resources, support services, prevention programs and educational opportunities,” says Godaire. “We are truly driven to continue what those individuals started more than 30 years ago, keeping our original purpose at the heart of our work.” -more- Page 2/30th Anniversary Celebrate the Journey, a 30th Anniversary Reception, will be held at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 from 6-8:30 PM. WGBH’s Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, along with Robin Young of NPR, are the event’s honorary co-chairs. WBZ Radio Reporter Mary Blake will emcee the event. Jim Braude is also host of NECN’s “Broadside: The News with Jim Braude,” Margery Eagan is a columnist for the Boston Herald and Robin Young is the host of NPR/WBUR’s “Here and Now.” The 30th Anniversary Celebration is a major fundraiser for BIA-MA, raising much-needed funds to fulfill our mission. In 1980, Marilyn Price Spivack founded the Brain Injury Association of America and Inta Hall was a co-founder of the Massachusetts Brain Injury Association, now BIA-MA. These two extraordinary women will be recognized with the Founder’s Award. State Senator Harriette Chandler will be recognized with the Legislative Advocacy Award for her support of public policy efforts to improve the lives of survivors. The Compassionate Care Award will be given to Dr. Douglas I. Katz who has been the Medical Director of the Brain Injury Program at Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital in Massachusetts for more than 25 years. Arlene Korab, BIA-MA’s executive director, who retired in June, will be recognized with a special tribute. Brain injury is recognized as a major public health crisis in the United States. By the year 2020, brain injury (including strokes, brain tumors and anoxia) is expected to be the leading public health problem in the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control: • The incidence of traumatic brain injuries occurring each year is eight times that of breast cancer and 34 times that of HIV/AIDS. • A traumatic brain injury occurs every 18.5 seconds. • Approximately 18 percent of all TBI-related emergency department visits involved children aged 0 to 4 years. • The leading causes of TBI are Falls (35.2%); Motor-vehicle or traffic (17.3%); Struck by/against events (16.5%); and Assaults (10%). • Approximately 1.7 million people sustain a TBI annually. • 5.3 million Americans are living with a disability caused by a brain injury. • Estimated lifetime costs associated with a severe TBI are $9 million per person. TBIs requiring hospitalization cost the nation approximately $56.3 billion annually. This includes tax revenues and increased welfare costs when individuals are unable to return to work. # .