Member Spotlight – Malvina

May is National Member Appreciation Month: the perfect time to celebrate our incredible community! With so many people joining in 2020, we are taking the opportunity to highlight one of our new members, Malvina. Just before the new year, Malvina joined as a professional member. She has a personal connection to our mission and uses that to serve others. Here’s Malvina’s story:

My brother sustained a TBI as a result of a car accident while he was in the Navy in 1979. He lived 40 years with his TBI injuries and passed away in March 2019 after a heart attack. My husband sustained an ABI (acquired brain injury) in March 2017 as a result of having a stroke only 6 days after back surgery.

As a member, I hope to not only gain knowledge, but to share knowledge also. I would like to continue my pursuit to become a CBIS and use that in my current employment. After working in the human service field for over 30 years, I have worked in state institutions, ID/DD group homes and those with MH/SA disorders. I have seen numerous persons with brain injuries and the lack of how services were not provided. This allows me to learn about new services and what they involve.

It’s important for me to share information that is needed for others with BI, whether it is through networking, informational sharing, advocating or supporting through services. I would like for the areas that I provide services to be able to know what the BIAV does and if it can be useful to them.

We’re thrilled to have Malvina and so many others be a part of our growing community. Each person has their own story of how and why they joined us, but they all have common goals: to learn, share, and connect. Now more than ever, we need spaces like ours to show that near or far, we have each other.