I want to kick off 2011 with a very interesting, uplifting story. It’s a story of people helping people, with the timely subtext of health insurance not helping people enough. The story has a religious tinge to it, and if that bothers you, so be it. I’m paying attention to it for a much different reason.
My former boss, Sharon Rohrbach, runs a not-for-profit consultancy called Dynamic Change. She is the founder and former CEO of Nurses for Newborns Foundation. Since retiring from NFNF, a $3MM not-for-profit agency she started out of her house in the early ’90’s, she has kept quite busy with her new consultancy, and her church.
In fact, it’s her church that’s offering a special program to the citizens of St. Louis. It’s called REHAB, and it stands for Rehabilitation, Energy, Health, and Blessings. It’s a free resource for St. Louisans that need rehabilitation services who either cannot afford it, or whose insurance has run out. You make an appointment with a REHAB fitness RN, it’s free of charge, and they’ve had some amazing results.
What are “amazing results?” Besides the examples provided in the linked-to article, Sharon tells me that “One man was scheduled to have his leg amputated and the surgery was cancelled due to the tremendous improvement he made in our REHAB program. His health insurance told him he had exhausted his rehab benefits for the year and so he came to us.” Holy cow! It’s not every day that you almost lose a leg.
Sharon tells me they are very interested in getting the word out to the people who need the program. “We can make approximately 100 appointments per week and serve about 50 patients at any given time. Most patients come 2 to 3 times per week in order to see any progress.”
Read more about REHAB here, and if you or someone you know is in need of rehabilitation services, contact Christ Memorial Lutheran Church. They are located at 5252 South Lindbergh, 63128 (next door to Ronnies 20 Cinema and adjoining Incredible Pizza), and their phone number is 314-631-0304.
Keep doing great things Sharon!