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Washington State transitioned from the Brain Injury Alliance of Washington (BIAWA) case management service to a 2-1-1 brain injury information and referral call center on Oct 1st, 2022. The BIAWA developed into the go-to resource in Washington State after the passing of the Tommy Manning Act. The BIAWA has come to be known as our brain injury institution. Before the transition, it was suspected by brain injury survivors that a call center would cause more harm the good. Our research confirms these suspicions as the depression and anxiety scores increased.
The Tommy Manning Act, also known Traumatic Brain Injury Strategic Partnership Act of 2007 (RCW 74.31), was the first time that our state specifically addressed issues related to persons with Traumatic Brain Injury. This comprehensive legislation created an advisory council, a funding source for services and the development of a comprehensive statewide information and referral network for individuals with traumatic brain injuries. Additionally, it developed a statewide registry to collect data and for statewide planning.
Kitsap Brain Injury is wholly nonpartisan and has no political agenda. However, we do support BIAWA in its funding conflict with the Washington State TBI planning committee, the Washington State legislature, and the Washington State governor's office.
We have been supplied a copy-and-paste document to email your representative. You can download the document and follow the instructions.
The pandemic affected us all in the past year. We switched to online groups early on, and I am sorry to say that our group was one of the few support groups to survive the pandemic. Last March, due to the pandemic, the Brain Injury Alliance of Washington discontinued fiscal support to external groups. In June, we began a founding committee to begin formalizing Kitsap Brain Injury to become a nonprofit 501c3.
The latest information is that long-time support group member Donovan Viet recently joined the founding committee. Donovan was recently awarded his Ph.D. in education. Let’s all welcome Dr. Donovan! With this addition, we had to update our information with the state. The turnaround on this update is about seven weeks. Once completed, we will register as a 501c3. The 501c3 process normally takes six months to a year.
We are pleased to announce that we have two online support offerings in 2022.
The Monthly Support Group and the new TBI Koffee Klatch
Our monthly support groups meets on the second Thursday of the month at 3:00-4:30 PM
The Koffee Klatch meets every Monday at 10 AM
For more information please visit the online groups page
The podcast is produced in collaboration with Goal 17 Media.
The BIAWA produces a podcast series for brain injury survivors. The series includes several great topics. Brain Injury Today is the official podcast of the Brain Injury Alliance of Washington
Research conducted by the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) has identified that approximately one out of every two homeless people are brain injury survivors.
As the weather is getting harsher and temperatures are colder, our brain injury survivors want to help. We have identified the best way to do that is through donating blankets. Coats, etc. to local area community organizations.
We have identified these organization for you to safely donate and spead warmth this winter