Authored by BlueAngel on
Monday, August 09, 2004
San Antonio Polio Survivors' Association has completed a statement of their mission and profile. We hope that it will explain our philosophy to you in a friendly and warm manner.
The following was suggested by one of our members due to the apparent lack of information being given as to time, place etc in this introduction to the Mission Statement and Profile of the San Antonio Polio Survivors' Association.....(This was given in the profile in bold letters toward the middle). Here goes:
Time: 2nd Tuesday each month except June - August (Subject to Change) 1PM
Place: Warm Springs Rehabilitation Foundation, Inc.
Resourcenter for People with Disabilities
5101 Medical Drive
SAT 78229 - 4601
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
San Antonio Polio Survivors Association
Associated with
Warm Springs Rehabilitation Foundation, Inc, Resourcenter for People with Disabilities
5101 Medical Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78229-4801
OUR MISSION: “Education, Fellowship, Resources & Support”
• Education – To ensure that Polio survivors, family members, friends, healthcare providers, and the community are knowledgeable regarding Polio/Late Effects of Polio (aka Post-Polio Syndrome).
• Fellowship - To ensure a social outlet for our members, et al to be able to have social activities, such as, dining out, and excursions out in the community.
• Resources – To serve as a referral to useful local agency addresses/phone numbers, our own health care providers list, and to state/national organizations & agencies available when needed by the members.
• Support – To provide an empathetic, ‘common ground’ community of survivors which the members & friends can share information and ideas on how to live a more comfortable, productive, and fulfilling life.
ASSOCIATION PROFILE
“Long forgotten by political and health care agendas, polio returns to haunt its former victims with new symptoms.
There has never been and never will be another disease quite like polio. An infectious disease caused by a virus, polio has been around for centuries. Some of the first references to polio are Biblical. There is an ancient Egyptian carving that appears to depict a man with classic polio findings who is leaning on his staff. Initially, polio was a rather unusual occurrence, which lulled the medical community and the public into a sense of complacency. And then during the first half of the 20th century, millions of people were devastated by polio as epidemics swept across the world. Polio's transformation from a sporadic disease to one of epidemic proportions in the early and mid-1900s was paradoxically due in large part to technological advances. Improvements in sanitation unpredictably allowed some diseases, including polio, to flourish because when water supplies consistently were contaminated with the polio virus (prior to improved sanitation), people would be exposed to polio in infancy during which time they had protection from the virus due to their mother's antibodies (from breast milk). With cleaner water, people were now exposed to polio at a later age when they were no longer protected by maternal antibodies. Thus, epidemics began and continued until the development of a vaccine in the mid-1950s. Blind to age, gender, and race, polio affects men, women, and children.”
(From “Polio Returns from the Dead” by Dr. Julie K. Silver, Director, Spaulding Rehabilitation Center for Polio, Framingham, MA in Rehab Management, The Interdisciplinary Journal of Rehabilitation, January 2002).
San Antonio Polio Survivors’ Association was formed as the result of an outreach by Warm Springs Rehabilitation Foundation, Inc. Resourcenter for People with Disabilities in May of 1999. or 1998 Cathryn Matson, who was Director of the Resourcenter at the time, obtained some of the members names from the Gazette International Networking Institute (GINI) now known as Post-Polio Health International. Cathryn called us and we had a tentative meeting to reorganize the support group and establish meeting place, times and a general format.
The first general meeting to organize the whole group was held in June of 1998 in the Resourcenter for People with Disabilities. The speaker at the time was Don De Vore who had been a patient at the Warm Springs Hospital near Gonzales, Texas in the 1940’s, spoke on his experiences and reviewed a book he had written as well.
We settled on a name and motto after several meetings. We decided on San Antonio Survivors Association since we did not want the perception of self-pity. We had the original Polio infection during the time when the culture did not accept the disabled into the general community. As a result, most of us became over achievers to maintain our dignity and self-esteem. The motto as defined above was how we wanted to focus the group as well as making the motto our primary goal.
We usually meet on the 2nd Tuesday of the month (except for the summer months June-August) at the Resourcenter. The meetings are held from 1:00PM – 3:00PM. Either e-mail or cards send notifications for the meetings. Occasionally, we will have a meeting on Saturday at a local restaurant so more members may attend.
The Association invites speakers to speak on subjects of general interest to the whole membership. Some of the speakers have spoken on the various agencies that are available to assist us or our families, different types of new equipment that is available to our community like the new Iglide wheelchair and the new cushion(to prevent pressure sores) available for wheelchair, scooters, power chairs, and occasional chairs found in homes.
We have a quarterly newsletter, The Phoenix, sent to our local members as well as to others in our area requesting information about Post-Polio Syndrome or to others who have granted us permission to reprint their articles or information. The newsletter tries to be educational, humorous and present everyday hints for easier living. The name of The Phoenix is meant to symbolize our ability to be reborn after every perceived set back.
A “blog” site was donated to our Association from an Australian “Blogger” Munuviana to keep a site for posting current information about Polio, Late Effects of Polio, Social Security Administration/ Medicare information as well as other types of information that could be of interest. The site address is: http://sapsa.mu.nu/ You can add your own comments& get a response directly on the article’s comment section you are reading.
The Association has a very limited library of videotapes of several meetings. You can contact Mike Beard for the use of the video tapes free of charge. The main thing we ask that you return them in good shape. We are novices at recording these, so they are by no means or stretch of the imagination a professional version. You can contact MIKE through the email or the phone as listed further on the mission statement.
SAPSA (San Antonio Polio Survivors’ Association) funds are donated by the members/friends for the various necessary items of stationary(computer paper and cards), printer ink, envelopes , etc. and the dedication of the friends/members to keep the Association functioning. We are entertaing the course of asking for a dollar donation per member per meeting to place in a "Piggy Bank" at the beggining of the meeting. The "Piggy Bank" has been purchased and will be arriving any day now. The piggy bank is clear blue plastic with several particians. Each as a designated purpose. IT was and is a toy for childeren to use to learn the value of handling money at a young age. I was hunting for something that we could use the was very functional and I happened across this object as a result of an interview that Dianne Sawyer did on Friday the 29th on Good Morning America. It will definitely do for our purposes. There, hopefully will be a print out by the bank that will be self-explanatory of the different sections functions. If you happen to want to donate more than the initial dollar you can put it in the donation section.
I'll do more of an explanation, hopefully, by our meeting the 9th of November.
San Antonio Polio Survivors’ Association is also associated with Texas Polio Survivors’ Association, Inc. of Houston, Texas (www.texaspolio.org E-mail tpsa@flash.net ) since 2001.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Warm Springs Resourcenter for People with Disabilities
5101 Medical Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78229-4801
Phone: 210.595.9200
Fax: 210. 614.0649
John Machen, Director Resourcenter
Jmachen@wssahosp.org
Donna Teall, Coordinator
Texas AgrAbility Project
Dteall@wssahosp.org
SAN ANTONIO POLIO SURVIVORS’ ASSOCIATION
Michael Beard
Phone: 210.490.3190
E-Mail: Michael78247@yahoo.com
Ruth & Tom Moon
Phone: 210.523.6216
E=Mail: Moonfamily3@sbbglobal.net
Ethel E. Killgore Taylor
Phone: 210.696.1710
E-Mail: blueangel7131@sbcglobal.net
The San Antonio Polio Survivors’ Association membership does want to offer their knowledge, support and fellowship to anyone interested in the Late Effects of Polio as it affects the survivors, their families, friends & healthcare providers.
Please feel free to attend our meetings and to offer suggestions for programs you are interested in.
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