How is it possible that we have reached the end of 2024 already? It has been a year full of triumphs and heartache, as we hosted a successful walk for stroke awareness but also lost a beloved family member. But we have continued our commitment to educating the public about strokes and also sharing resources with survivors and their families.
Here are some highlights from the year.
In March, Nikki connected with Ralph Cortese from Stroke Warrior Radio and was interviewed by him about her husband’s stroke story, being a caregiver, and also the work we’ve begun with Stroke Awareness Vermont. You can hear that interview here. https://drive.google.com/file/d/19MCj3N_kerVcOgB7RqVT1t0DeA7IfJNe/view
In April, Hannah took our message of stroke awareness to the stage of the Miss Vermont Competition. She is one of very few contestants nationally who speaks about strokes.
Over the summer, Nikki had the privilege to work with Molly Buccola of Beyond Stillness: Stories after Stroke to craft her story of her caregiving journey. The podcast episodes were released in August. You can listen to them here.
Through August and September, Nikki participated in a Stroke and Wellbeing Advisory Group through Massachusetts General Neurology Brain Care Lab. You can find out more about their work at https://www.cerebrovascularhealth.org/projects/bugher-collaborative-yechoor-lab/.
In October, Stroke Awareness Vermont hosted its second Walk for Stroke Awareness in Middlebury. It was a rainy day, but we had many supporters who had connections to stroke in some way as well as five stroke survivors who were able to meet and make connections. I know several were making plans to go on hikes together or stay in touch. The story about our walk was featured on ABC22! You can see that clip here! https://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/local-news/stroke-survivors-honored-at-annual-walk-for-awareness/
Nikki is also working with the University of Vermont Medical Center Stroke Center to implement a caregiver training program. She has had the chance to meet many caregivers over the last year to hear their experiences and challenges and share resources that she has found, to hopefully ease their journey.
We have big plans for 2025! Our goal is to make Stroke Awareness Vermont a non-profit organization as well as grow our membership and involvement in the community. We also hope to launch informal virtual caregiver meetings.
Nikki is going to take a leave of absence from her classroom teaching position at the end of January. After six years of being a caregiver as well as teaching full-time, she is taking some time to rest and recharge. While doing so, she plans to blog about her experience as she rediscovers who she is separate from being a caregiver. You can read those here on the website.
We wish you all a happy and healthy 2025!
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