On Saturday, July 14, Brain Rehabilitation and Injury Network (B.R.A.I.N.) celebrated the opening of its new facility in the city of Cypress at 5656 Corporate Ave. with a festive ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by a well-attended reception.
B.R.A.I.N. is a non-profit organization (501c3) that advocates for and administers help to brain-injured adults and their families. B.R.A.I.N.’s mission is to advance the highest level of research, recovery, and residual care for adults who have sustained a brain injury, and to provide their families with resources and support. The organization is unique in that it provides services to consumers whether they can afford the help or not. Because B.R.A.I.N. has such a high ratio of volunteer help, the organization is able to offer services without the expectation of making a financial gain.
B.R.A.I.N. offers a weekly meeting for brain-injury survivors and their families called Friends of Brain Injury, or F.B.I. Consumers can attend with family members so that the entire family is assisted in gaining valuable information about brain injury and the survivor learns skills in communication, cognition, public speaking, and other social activities. B.R.A.I.N. also has special presentations by physicians, therapists, and legal and financial representatives who provide inspiration and encouragement to the families who are impacted by brain injury.
The organization also has a one-to-one partnership/friendship program called B.R.A.I.N. Cells that provides individual assistance by pairing up a volunteer with a survivor. The adults can improve at a faster rate when they are engaged in real life coaching by an understanding and sensitive partner.
Consumers and supporters are informed by B.R.A.I.N.’s monthly newsletter with pertinent information, interesting articles, and compelling stories of survivors walking the road of recovery and overcoming challenges.
B.R.A.I.N. has a continuing, growing list of ancillary professionals who are solidly supporting both financially and by offering their services, often at a reduced rate.
In addition, there is also a home health care team that goes into the home to offer assistance to families who have brought their loved one home from the hospital. Whether it is walking the dog, cooking, running errands or keeping company with the brain-injured, B.R.A.I.N. volunteers are enthusiastic about giving families understanding and lightening their load of care.
B.R.A.I.N. was established by Mrs. Sue Rueb and her husband Dr. Jerry Rueb in 2007, when their family discovered after 31 years of misdiagnosis that their daughter Kristin had sustained a brain injury at birth due to a rushed forceps delivery. The Ruebs found that resources were scarce and the living facilities available were less than adequate to care for their daughter.
The urgency of having adequate care for their daughter gave them the motivation to begin B.R.A.I.N., an organization where families can gain insight, information as well as investment return when they donate to the brain injury cause. B.R.A.I.N.’s dream is to establish a campus encompassing a diagnostic and therapeutic clinic, a large meeting area, and living arrangements for brain-injured adults. This community will ultimately provide a purpose driven program for their lives. They believe that there is much to learn and much to be grateful for as a family moves forward with a loved one with a brain injury. B.R.A.I.N. exists to give those with brain injuries hope for the future. Every 21 seconds, someone in the U.S. suffers a brain injury. B.R.A.I.N. aims to give a voice to this “silent epidemic.”
For more information regarding B.R.A.I.N.’s programs and services, or for information to get involved or to make a donation, visit the organization’s website at http://www.thebrainsite.org/, or call 714-828-1760.
For information regarding the city of Cypress and city services for the business community, or for information on how to relocate your business to the city of Cypress, contact Redevelopment Project Manager Steve Clarke at 714-229-6728.