February 03,2013
ABI Alumni Club of Coastline CC announced their goals of a 50% increase in program enrollment by Spring 2014 and promoting the ABI Walk for Brain Injury Awareness scheduled for March 23, 2013.
Newport Beach, CA February 4, 2013 “ The ABI Alumni Club of Coastline Community College held its first Executive Board meeting at the Acquired Brain Injury Program's new campus in Newport Beach on Thursday January 10, 2013. The campus, which features spectacular ocean views, multiple state of the art computer labs and student lounges amongst its many features, is located at 1515 Monrovia, Newport Beach CA 92663. The purpose of the meeting was to identify the club's main areas of focus for the 2013 calendar year.
During the course of the meeting, which was chaired by club President William Salesky, the following topics emerged; promoting the 7th Annual Walk for Brain Injury Awareness, increasing efforts in advocating for the brain injury community, leveraging the advanced technology available at the new campus, launching our new fundraising site (http://art4causenow.org/) and spearheading an enrollment drive for the ABI Program.
Of the five topics identified, the board selected three to be their primary focus for the year.
The ABI Alumni Club has traditionally taken a very active role in promoting the annual ABI Walk for Brain Injury Awareness, and will do so again this year. The walk is the major fundraiser of the Coastline Special Programs and Services Foundation. The foundation provides vital support for the students enrolled in its programs at I time when many of them are facing dramatic life changes. The 7th Annual Walk for Brain Injury Awareness will be held on March 23, 2013 at Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach, California. Visit abiwalk.coastline.edu for more information.
With the new facilities and improved outlook for state funding, the ABI Program is excited to be able to reach out to more people who suffer from the devastating effects of brain injury. While the number of applicants to the program has remained constant over the last few years, enrollment has actually declined. This is in spite of the fact that the occurrences of brain injuries in the United States has grown steadily over the same period.
The new fundraising web site is nearly ready to be launched. With the promotional opportunities afforded by the upcoming ABI Walk and annual Ice Cream Social, occurring in March and May respectively, the board voted to launch their first art auction this spring.
Bill Salesky summed up the board's feelings quite well when he stated œI am very proud, as President of the ABI alumni Club, we have had many firsts during Academic year 2012 - 13. The ABI alumni club has increased to over 100 members by December 2012. In January 2013 the ABI alumni club was greeted with a new state-of-the-art facility in Newport Beach that will enable the Club to continue to extend our global to reach and stay in touch with our graduates through our post graduate programs. It is expected the alumni club will introduce a new fund raising vehicle for the ABI program through an online art auction. In January, 2013 the Alumni executive board has set a goal to assist the ABI faculty to increase new student enrollment to 60 through advocacy and communication of the benefits of the ABI program!"
About Coastline Community College ABI Program
The Coastline Community College Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Program was started in 1976 to help adult brain injury sufferers to develop compensation skills to overcome brain injury caused deficits and transition back into a productive lifestyle. To date the program, which features cognitive education, psycho-social training, technology aides and group projects in a small class size environment, has graduated 999 students. More information on the ABI Program can be found at http://www.coastline.edu/students/students-with-disabilites/acquired-brain-injury.
About the ABI Alumni Club
The ABI Alumni Club was chartered in April of 2011 and officially recognized by Coastline Community College that same month.
The purpose of the ABI Alumni Club is to contribute to individuals with acquired brain injury and their caregivers through coaching, mentoring, and speaking. They gather and distribute information such as strategies for coping with brain injury, caring for a loved one with brain injury, tools for cognitive retraining, and transitioning after receiving a brain injury. The club is active in supporting fund raising activities of the Community College Special Programs and Services Foundation for the benefit of the Coastline Community College ABI program and Club activities. Additionally, the club organizes and promotes social functions and networking opportunities that strengthen the bonds of friendship among Club members and the community at large.
The club meets on the 4th Friday of every month except November, which is usually rescheduled to avoid the Thanksgiving holiday, and December. Refer to the club's web site http://.www.ABIAlumni.info for additional information.
