I attended yesterday’s BIST meeting to celebrate the awarding of a $72,300 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Government of Ontario. I expected the usual boring speeches. Instead, Ontario MPP Mike Colle got up and grabbed the crowd’s attention with his compelling no-notes speech on how brain injury is leaving the social taboo hemisphere and how important it is to celebrate success whether little or big. He then presented BIST’s president with a celebratory plaque.
“When you recognize success, you make people feel stronger … and you go on to another success.”
The very first benefit of the grant is the hiring of social worker Michelle Ratcliff. The grant will also allow BIST (Brain Injury Society of Toronto) to expand its programs to provide support groups for those with brain injuries and their caregivers; workshops; and community meetings in two locations, not just the current one.
