The Power of Hope and Healing: Ruth Dunlap and the Mission of Sister-Bear Foundation

Matthew Darrah (00:01)

Hello and welcome to All Things Foster, a place for coffee, connection, and community. Guys, I'm super excited to have ⁓ some ladies on from Sister Bear. We'll get to that in just a minute. ⁓ But first, this episode is sponsored by Matthew Poole of Modern Woodman. Serving the high and rolling plains of Texas, Matthew Poole is more than a financial representative. He's a committed community member who believes in helping people

plan for life's journey. With tools like life insurance, annuities, and mutual funds, Matthew offers personalized solutions to help families overcome financial challenges and achieve their goals. Matthew's passion for service began long before Modern Woodmen with a background in wildlife biology and a dedication to public outreach and community support. Now he continues that legacy by empowering individuals

and their families to make confident financial decisions. Learn more about how Matthew can help you prepare for the future by visiting Matthew's Modern Woodman page, https reps, r-e-p-s dot modernwoodman.org slash mpool. And we'll have the links down in the show notes. And thank you, Matthew, for supporting our conversations in this community. And guys, I see it.

most every week because most of our sponsors are ⁓ folks that I know pretty well. And Matthew's a great guy and an adoptive dad himself. And so ⁓ if you need some financial advice, give him a call, check him out online. And thanks again, Matthew, for your sponsorship. And welcome to Ruth Dunlap and Julie.

Grainger, sorry, I feel like I should know that, from Sister Bear Foundation. Tell us a little bit where Sister Bear comes from. Yeah. So it all started back in 2018 after a tragic car accident with my daughter and a best friend. And that accident left her paralyzed from the chest down. And she did lose her best friend in that car accident.

We very quickly learned the lack of resources that we have right here in the Texas Panhandle. Her and I made weekly trips for seven months to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Golly. But I'll say that I was incredibly inspired every week that we made those trips. You you need a community of people that are in a similar situation. the place that we were visiting down there was started by parents just like myself and my husband.

I just thought, why can we not do that right here? And the specialized equipment and things that they offered down there ⁓ was, ⁓ I mean, it was impressive. ⁓ She was almost never in her chair when we were there. She was always in some specialized piece of equipment in the pool, in a standing frame. They had virtual reality. It was all about her trying to get her brain to talk to her legs.

just being able to be put into those positions made such a big difference in her outlook on her new life. ⁓ Because she was a healthy teenager when it happened and ⁓ full of life, played sports. So to go from that into a chair, hopefully it's not forever. But I think that's my hope in what Sister Bear does is that

They're coming out with a lot of impressive technology now where they can, ⁓ basically she has a complete spinal cord injury at the T3 level, which is right here in their chest. ⁓ They are able to basically connect that upper spinal cord to the lower so that they can walk again. But to be a candidate for something like that, you really need to have long lasting therapy. And I think that's where

you know, we kind of got to a place where insurance quit paying for it, you know? And so what do people do? You know, we don't even have a place where, I mean, our experience when we came back here after she spent a good portion of her time in inpatient rehab and at Baylor, the resources here were so limited. I mean, literally the neuro stuff that they had at an outpatient clinic here was really stuff that we could have done at home. And...

you know, we really couldn't afford to pay out of pocket long-term for that type of therapy it kind of was frustrating. That's why we ended up making those trips. she is independent today, Matt. And we were fortunate enough to be able to make those trips. Most people can't do that. And so I felt like our goal is we can help people right here. have 26 counties and there's, we've got a big area and we're too big not to have.

that the resources that people need to not have to travel. So that's Sister Bear came from. So what kind of things do you guys do? Sorry. You're good. So we have our program actually focuses on three parts, one being that physical wellness, the typical neuro rehab physical therapy that someone would think when they think about neuro rehab. So we're bringing one piece of equipment, specialized equipment.

to Amarillo at a time and just adding to that until we have that physical building, that neuro rehab center. The next part that we have is life enrichment because our life is way more than just that physical injury or illness or things that are happening with that. But it's everything else that happens in life. It's the caregivers, it's the family, it's the kids or the parents or somebody who's had to step in to support the family.

And it's also just lifestyle change. This isn't something typically a neurological injury or illness doesn't ever go away. There will be lasting effects of some kind for almost every single patient who encounters that. So this is a complete lifestyle change. It's a journey. It's not a one and done, this event happened and three months later we're okay. And so there's a lot of lifestyle changes. We look at things like nutrition, how we can best

care for ourself if someone has been physically active and eating whatever they want and now they're limited in their mobility, their diet may have to change based on what is pertinent to their injury. so even resources like that, a lot of times we don't see a lot of support for, what do we do now? What does the bowel and bladder regimen look like at home? How can I easily...

Kathryn will say that she has people all the time. Can you please show me the easiest way that you get in and out of your car? How you transfer from your car to your wheelchair? Just having support and people who can answer questions like that is huge. ⁓ That is a portion of our program where we've added the therapy dog program. So ⁓ being able to kind of have a smile, it was something that Kathryn was able to do. It was a highlight of her day when she'd get to see these therapy dogs. ⁓

on at her rehab. And sometimes just that break getting away and doing that. We have one of our patients who recently said, you know, I'm so glad to have seen your dog. Because when I had my injury, the first thing that I had to do was get rid of my dog because it was an overwhelming task to take care of an animal too. And so it's been a while since I've petted a dog. And just little things like that that we can do is it's huge.

The third part of our program is community. And that is our education and advocacy piece where we've been able to partner with the city of Amarillo with an accessible Amarillo movement. ⁓ have a task force specifically ⁓ that got assigned to us, which took years of work ⁓ of trying to find that connection for things like how the city is supporting accessibility.

that could be ramps and access to public buildings and parks. It could be accessible parking, the handicap parking, which we have several people within our organization that do work as volunteers with that handicap parking enforcement. And so there's just a lot of things that we can do in education and advocacy for these individuals as well. Sure. I had a hip surgery ⁓ first part of September and ⁓

So I got a scooter for about a month. I mean, you talk about opening eyes to this, how thankfully I was able to walk. ⁓ But it was eye opening. The building here, it doesn't have the buttons and things like that. And just getting through a door. ⁓

It's not easy. like I say, thankfully I was able to, you know, walk after that. But yeah, mean, the average Joe citizen has no idea how difficult just normal tasks like going to the restroom or getting in a building, how difficult that is. And I only have this much experience just recently. But yeah, I mean, I would think...

that awareness piece, ⁓ have you guys considered like ⁓ a challenge where like somebody like they have to go for a week or something in a chair just to see? that actually was proposed by our task force that the city of Amarillo would like for their employees ⁓ to take on a challenge and have to work at least for a day from a wheelchair and experience that.

And, you know, on that note, a lot of our program on what we do, it expands past helping someone with specific neurological injury or illness, and it helps anybody with a disability. That could also support someone, ⁓ a mom with a stroller or someone with a wagon trying to get their groceries into their apartment or, you know, anything along those lines. And ⁓ one of the committees that I sat on, we were talking about it that

majority of people will experience having a disability at some point in their life, even though it's temporary for you with that. And if we live long enough, we will probably have a disability. Yeah, for sure. Of some sort. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Or have to care for someone that has one or an elderly parent or grandparent. mean, I think that's one of the things and that's really what sparked my passion for the parking enforcement was

Kathryn moved out of my house to be more independent into an apartment here in town. And, it was frustrating because I wouldn't, she would call me late at night when she'd get home and, know, the only ramp to get to her apartment, there'd be a car or someone blocking that, the ramp. ⁓ and it was infuriating. Yeah, there's really not a whole lot she could do. ⁓

The apartment has to be the person that calls the tow truck, apparently. We kind of were searching different avenues of how we could take care of that problem. ⁓ And so I saw that car driving around one day and I followed these older men. I think they thought I was nuts. They finally got pulled over and I went up and I said, I know this seems really crazy that I'm following you, but...

just wanted to know how I can sign up to do what y'all do. And he gave me the lady's name and I took the class and did all the things. And now that's one of the more empowering things that I'm able to do because when I just, felt so frustrated when I would get those calls from her because that left her in a very vulnerable position and she's already vulnerable. And then to have to ask a perfect stranger to help her up onto the curb at 9:30 at night, you know, when it's dark and

I don't know, now it's very empowering to be able to write those tickets. so I think access, blocking access, those are my favorite ones to write ⁓ because that's where it came from. Yeah, sure. So, yeah, so I love that, you know, the city of Amarillo has gotten on board with us on that aspect. And really, again, the awareness piece of it, because people don't know unless they've been impacted. And I think if people were able to, and this is one of the things they're helping us to do,

is self-report, you know? No one wants to be confrontational. They don't want to go up to somebody and say, hey, where's your placard? Or you don't have a plate or whatever. No one wants to do that. I don't even like to do it when I'm out writing tickets. OK, but ⁓ they are going to offer a way for people to go online and put in the location. that way, us as volunteers, when we go out, we're not just going out randomly in different areas. We kind of know where to focus.

And it's going to help us to really help. And I've seen that from my perspective is when we start writing tickets in a certain place, it stops happening. word gets out and it's like, Oh, don't park there. You know, it's a $514 ticket. know, so people stop doing it once they, you know,

get those tickets. So it really is making a difference. I think, you know, I love that you've had us on here and you're helping us just to also bring some awareness. I mean, we need volunteers for that program. No doubt. I mean, if people are retired and they have a passion for, you know, maybe they're a caregiver of someone like I was. And I just saw that so many times where there's not a spot or they're blocked, they're parked in the stripe zone, you know.

And ⁓ so it really is empowering to be able to do that. And so if you're that person and you've got some extra time on your hands, ⁓ it's kind of fun. I can imagine that would be especially in kind of a self-righteous thing too. Right. I mean, you're like, but like, like, like, ⁓ like it is with most things, I think in the nonprofit space, we don't know what we don't know. And so ⁓ I think most people, once they're

once they're kind of confronted with the reality of a situation, whether it's some kiddos coming into foster care or somebody ending up in a chair and things like that, we are made aware that it's a thing, then like say you write a few tickets there and the word gets out and it's like, okay, well, I need to not do that because it's gonna be a problem. ⁓

I can see that in our nonprofit space, I'm sure in y'all's and in lots, once people are made aware of the needs, people respond. mean, especially here in the Panhandle, I mean, we really do live in a community that's extremely giving. And so, I mean, I definitely see that.

So alongside, I know you said mind, body, and soul, right? So ⁓ you talked about some equipment that you're getting brought here. that, that's the physical therapy equipment? Do you guys get equipment for people's houses? What all kinds of equipment are we talking about here? So we'll kind of do both. Okay. So we do work with our partners at Northwest Texas Hospital, the therapy center on Georgia Street.

And we have an amazing team that just, dive into really figuring out how could they can further the specialty therapies within that neuro rehab. And so we've got big pieces of equipment. We have something called a Locomat, which is a robotic gate machine that ⁓ individual can be in a harness and depending on what their injury is, maybe their post stroke and they have.

a right-sided weakness to your body. The machine can be programmed to where it provides the movement for that right side that they're not able to do while still allowing them to engage that left side of their body. And then as they get stronger and keep those core muscles and they continue that neuro-frequency stimulation, they can lessen how much work the machine is doing and the individual do more work.

And we actually just replaced that machine and are very grateful for the supporting community that has helped us raise the funds for that. And so the medical equipment is not cheap. Yeah, I was curious how much that machine costs. So new it's close to half a million dollars. And so we were really blessed to be able to find one that had less than nine hours on it. That was from a clinic. So we were able to quote unquote by it used. But really, I mean it.

it still had the new car smell to it, Like it was brand new. But we were able to work with the company to be able to make sure that we have that. We also have equipment called BioNess equipment, that's specific hand or foot rehabilitation. So if somebody has foot drop after a stroke or a surgery and they need help to be able to walk, it does that stimulation to be able to provide them the ability to continue walking.

keep their job or have mobility around the house with their family. And so that's really unique and the hand one allows them to do things like brush their teeth. Yeah, okay, so some really, really good friends of ours, ⁓ the wife had some spine issues and this has been several years ago that she got this machine and it straps on her leg and it, ⁓

I can't even, I don't even know. It helps her walk. It does something with the nerves and stuff that helps her to, because I guess the ability is still there, but the control of it, it was the thing. And so somehow or another, this machine that she straps on her leg helps the leg to move and all that kind of stuff. It has the nerves send the signal to the muscle that tells the muscle to activate. And so that's where the disconnect is. And so this machine...

will actually help bridge that gap of miscommunication. And so you guys have some funding to be able to help individuals purchase those if their insurance doesn't or Yes, they can use them in clinic and we have those therapies in clinic and we're actually adding two more pieces of equipment, what's called an FES bike and then.

⁓ Our goal for this year's Panhandle Gives is to raise the funds for what's called an Excite II and it's a stimulation machine that allows for muscle stimulation to mimic things like push-ups or different things like that to help strengthen the entire body. So some therapies are done in clinic, but things like the BioNess equipment, we are able to let that patient can take, ⁓ can get a device that they take home with them. so...

⁓ We're able to step in for different types of equipment, ⁓ even if it's a standing frame or a wheelchair or a specialty shower chair or whatever the patient might need that insurance, insurance likes to say the word no. No, I know. When they got that device for her, and this has been, I don't know, quite some time ago, probably seven, eight years ago, and it was an experimental. And so they had to...

they had to pay for it out of pocket, the whole friggin' thing. so, yeah. Oh yeah, and pieces of equipment like that can run, you know, five to $10,000 to do. when it's that necessary piece of equipment, if you can keep your job, we have a gentleman that, his story is connected on our website and our YouTube channel, his name is Steve, and he was able to keep his job working in a warehouse because of that piece of

because he wasn't dragging his foot anymore. He was able to safely walk. So you think about the investment towards what that does for the rest of this person's life and family's life. That's where we get to step in and really give that hope and independence, which is part of our mission. Because I mean, when you can't be self-sufficient, when you can't take care of yourself, you can't, like I said, just for...

a few weeks of not being able to walk around and things like that is difficult. so, man, to kind of look at a future where you, yeah, that's got to be so hard. And so that's where the other, that's where the mind piece comes in, right? Because, so I know you said you guys have some groups. So talk to us about the kind of the groups that you guys have.

Yeah, so we are and work have been working with Northwest since there are partners as well to launch a monthly caregiver support group, which will be for any type of caregiver where we can look at things like ⁓ Burnout caregiver burnout ⁓ that that caregiver fatigue self-care how to ask questions how to advocate for yourself and your family member those kind of things with that

We also have the third Tuesday of every month, we do what's called community support. And this would be for people that are patients, families, caregivers, ⁓ practitioners and providers in the community of almost any kind. And it's not specific to neurological injury or illness. It's a definite support. Or we talk about things like experiencing trauma or finding a support group, ⁓ self care.

We've talked about nutrition. We've talked about how to advocate for yourself with your provider because that's a huge thing. And I know that's something that Julie's been able to step in and has experience with as well. Yeah, it's such a big deal. I mean, because like you just said, insurance likes to say no. I think sometimes it's just it takes a few phone calls to get the right person that, you know, and I tell people all the time to don't.

People are mean to the people that work for the insurance companies. I felt like that got me farther whenever I would call and just be like, man, we really need help. Here's our situation. just, I don't know, I really kind of made it personal with the person I was with on the phone. And I think that got us a lot farther when people, because they really wanted to help. They wanted to figure out a way that they didn't have to say no. Or meet us halfway or something. Because I think...

If you ever turn it around like, well, Matt, what if this was your daughter or your son? Like, I mean, what would you do? You know? And that's really the question I would ask him is like, who can I talk to? You know? And I think being that advocate for your loved one is so important and you can't just, you can't give up. You know, you got to keep fighting. And I know it took a while to get there. I mean, we were drowning in, like I was explaining a little bit ago about

know, catheters and the cost of that. mean, Kathryn for her to go to the bathroom, it's $5 for her to go to the bathroom every single time because she has to self-cath. And, you right now that's $3,500 a month. you know, initially when our accident happened, it was right around $2,500, but we were having to pay out of pocket as a family until we could get her, because that was the problem too, right? She wasn't quite 18. She was 17. And so until she turned 18, you know, it was...

much easier once she turned 18 and she could have her own insurance. But before that it was like we really had to fight for any program we could qualify that would help us to pay for these things. So I really would just like for people to be encouraged and feel like you you're not alone in that and I think that Sister Bear Foundation wants to be that hub. So if you're struggling and you can't figure out a way, give us, mean like reach out. Get on our website and

on the contact page and Ruth is so good at being that social, she's not a social worker, but she fills that role. Maybe if she doesn't know or I don't know, we know somebody that will be able to help you. And I think, I just don't want people to lose hope and just take no for an answer because really it's not no. I mean, let's figure out a way that we can repurpose this that maybe they'll say yes.

And so much of it has to come from your primary care doctor. You've got to have the documentation or even your physical therapist. Usually, insurance will pay for things as long as it's documented correctly. And I think that's such an important thing and I learned that along the way. ⁓ If it's documented, then they'll pay for it. I think that's... Well, and a lot of what you guys are going to experience with foster care...

anything along those lines is that you're doing the same kind of advocacy. We're having to speak up, we're having to advocate, ⁓ we're having to explain to this physician why this is not my child, this is this, this is going on this account, this insurance, ⁓ and even finding the ways to connect to providers and which providers actually take that insurance.

⁓ And so when we start using the word, know, Medicaid, or something along those lines, then we have a whole gamut of struggles and things to overcome. ⁓ And it is something that's part of some of our advocacy that we're able to do right now is I have an honor of sitting on a, as a stakeholder on the Texas Disability Project. And it is something that, ⁓

you're going to start seeing in the next couple of months come out for the state of Texas because I can tell you this because this is public information that Texas right now has the largest Medicaid waiting list of all the states. 380,000 people. The next one above us at the lowest end is 32,000 people.

Okay, so we have a struggle. Yeah, and you know, we see that with our patients and their family members You guys are gonna see that on your side too; So a lot of what we do even though our organization is specific to neurological injury and illness the things that we're doing and the things that we're advocating for are going to affect anybody and everybody across the board ⁓ and and I do know that on your side that there are a lot

of kids that end up in foster care that do have special needs. And so there's a lot of disability. I don't know the statistics on that. Maybe you can speak to that or something that we can find out. But ⁓ I do know that that is ⁓ a high level, ⁓ a high number on that. And so we're going to have a lot of overlapping things, kind of like our program that works with accessibility. It's going to help the mom with a stroller too. ⁓

I think that's a beautiful thing about our program and the way it's set up is it really does help just about anybody. And it kind of prepares us for when that thing happens in our life. Because chances are, whether it's you or whether it's your loved one or your neighbor or somebody, you're gonna know somebody who's going to end up with a disability. No doubt. Yeah. Yeah, you're talking about, there is a...

a tremendous amount of ⁓ kiddos that are in care that have either neurological issues due to some form of abuse or some other ⁓ disability and things like that. So I know you said that right now you're really kind of really more geared focused, I think, if I understood it right, developing the program with adults and then the goal being to

then be able to provide more ⁓ assistance to the younger ones too, right? Is that right? Yes. Right now our mission is focused towards adults because building that framework for the program and everything with that, ⁓ that's where the specific need immediately was in Amarillo. However, all of our events and programs are not limited to adults. That can cross over. Our funding right now is limited to adults. ⁓

But here's the thing, I mean the kids become adults. having that set up like that, once we have our Neuro Rehab Center here in Amarillo, we will be serving all population with that. But right now our focus is towards that framework for everything. And don't forget we've got the TURN Center. And I know as the founder of this nonprofit, I really, I looked for other people to get on board with to not have to have another 501c3 in Amarillo, Texas.

because there's a whole bunch of nonprofits. And I went to the Turn Center because I was, at the time, mean, Kathryn was not an adult yet. So I guess my thing is, we've got that resource already for kids. Is that what this, I don't know really what the Turn Center does. takes care of children with neurological accidents, illnesses, things like that. So, once they can become...

you know, an adult, then where do they go? And we didn't really have anything here before that. So that's why, you know, they couldn't really, I guess they could amend their mission, but I mean, that's hard. That's very hard thing to do. know, they're focusing on children really well. Exactly. Our stuff looks to partner with places like that. So when we do have that under one roof neuro rehab center,

we hope to have places like the Turn Center being able to have a location there and be able to see the children and to be able to do that. Because the goal is to have everything under one roof, an accessible gym and a place for alternative pain management care. Maybe it's ⁓ acupuncture and medical massage and different things to where our patients can come to one location and get everything that they need for that neuro journey.

But hey, I mean, the collaboration that I mean, that's what we're all about. I want to send people to the right resource. And so that's their focus. We're focused, you know, our mission is adults, but again, it's, we can all work together. Yeah, absolutely. the people. For sure. And so that's, that's what I love. mean, early on I got brought into, I forget what it was for, but we both showed up to be the main speaker.

The other group happened to be Haley, at the time she was with the Turn Center, Haley Bell. And so we get there and I'm like, I thought I was the main person and then they're like, no, Haley's the... And I was like, okay. But you know what? What perfect way for us to come together and go, we have a very similar thing. It's just they serve children, we serve adults. So it actually was like God's timing. I love it. He always puts people in the right places at the right time.

and we were able to connect and then she knew about our resource. So it was really a great thing for us to be able to meet there in that room. I was over at the Ronald McDonald's house, know, Shelley. She always brings us all together. but yeah, it's, you know, we want to be collaborative. For sure. That's, I'm sorry. No, go ahead. We're actually launching right now an online resource directory. So that way,

individuals can go and they can find all of these things and that will help your families as well. if we're looking for ⁓ home caregivers or we're looking for places that have different types of medical equipment or service wheelchairs, ⁓ if we're looking for counselors who really and anyone that we're partnering with with this is it's not just anybody, it's somebody that we've had a chance to sit down with and say,

How can you handle working and advocating for this specific population with disability? Are we finding the right people? There's a ton of counselors in Amarillo. Are we finding the people who have a heart and a passion and also knowledge? And do they have any specific study? Do they themselves live with a disability? All of these kinds of things to where we're making sure that the resource directory list that we're putting out is the people.

that are trusted that we can say, hey, if you need something, you go talk to these people and they've got you. And that's the thing too, I think that we've experienced is it is the journey. It's a lifelong thing. And so at different points, you need different resources. Again, independence, going back to that, it sounds crazy, but just Kathryn learning how to dress herself was...

That was independence, you know, and then she figured out how to be able to self-cath. So then she could go out by herself and not have to have me there to help her do these things. And then from there it was like, okay, now what does it look like for her to drive again? You know, I mean, I didn't know at the time, but like, you know, we don't have a class here in Amarillo Texas. You have to go to Lubbock to take a class to figure out what type of hand controls they recommend for, to be installed in your car.

so, mean, we don't even have that here. It's like, it seems really basic, but it's specialized, right? So I guess that's why, but I think the goal and for my heart is like, I want to be the person that they call and say, where do I go now to be able to get my son or my daughter or my mom to be able to drive again? What does that look like?

⁓ And so there's different things along the independence journey where it's like and again, maybe it's that other resource over here that we need to connect them to to figure out how that works. ⁓ Open Road Mobility has been incredibly helpful. They are a local business here and they helped me learn things that I wouldn't have known what to do or even where to go. So I think it just takes a lot of people to really navigate.

you know, how to become more independent. But it makes all the difference for people, you and it's like you talked about with Steve, being able to go to work. I mean, that looked very different for him. And now it's like he's thriving. know, so I love that it's a journey and we all, we need different resources along the way, but we all want to be that directory of people. Okay, so are you ready to do this now? So here's where you're going to need to go and the process that it looks like.

Do you all have numbers of roundabouts of how many disabled adults there are in Amarillo? So that is something that is not exactly a solid report. Yeah, it's probably depending on what the disability is. ⁓ to talk specifically about a neurological injury illness is a completely different number as well. so ⁓ that is one thing that... ⁓

We're actually working with that Texas Disability Project on finding out what our regions and what our major cities have in those reports, but then also to narrow it down to specifics. And so we do have a survey that we'll need to be putting out and figuring out those numbers because the studies haven't been done yet. ⁓ We don't have that Neuro Rehab Center here.

⁓ But as we are building that and building the foundation of what that's going to look like, we are going to, we're the ones that are going to have to get out there and get those numbers for that. So it's a big task. Yeah, for sure. mean, but that's the end goal, you know, is a neuro rehab and wellness facility right here. People shouldn't have to travel outside of that. And you know what? think if we could do that and get

people on board to help us get there. I mean, again, I think it's community involved. Like we have all these students, right, that could benefit from the clinical rotations in a place like that. They need a place to be able to get these experiences. And I think that would be another thing that we could help provide to students in our area, but also...

We have a shortage of neurosurgeons and neurologists here. If you're trying to get into a neurologist, you're going to be waiting a while, which is also the reason people, usually need it now. They're not going to wait six months. So they're going to go to Lubbock or they're going to go to Dallas or wherever it is because they're not going to wait the time because we have such little resources as far as neurosurgeons and neurologists right now. But I think if we could build it,

we could get people that would want to come and bring their families and live here and make a living doing that. Well, mean, people think, well, it's just the panhandle, right? And they talked about this in the leader circle. The panhandle is the size of West Virginia. And so that's an entire state that doesn't, I mean, if you were in West Virginia, you'd have to go to Virginia or whatever to go to get that kind of support. And so...

⁓ Yeah, think it's ⁓ definitely ⁓ something for us to go to Lubbock. Well, it's two hours, but what about somebody from Dalhart to go to Lubbock? Now it's four hours. so, I I definitely think ⁓ that it's an awesome thing that you guys are doing. ⁓ It's a deal, but it's going to take a lot of community involvement, corporate.

partners, individual donors, like all the people. faith-based communities. It's going to take everybody. Sure. Yeah. I mean, we are seven years into this, and we've done some really great things. But to get to that goal is going to take a lot of people. And I think that's been one of my challenges over the seven years is...

Again, people don't know we don't have these things until they need them. And that's exactly where I was. And so I think getting that out there and people, because I mean, they don't know. And so it's like, I feel like it's just a few of our voices going, hey, did you know that we don't have these things? And so it's taken a while, but I feel like we're starting to really gain some traction. mean, people come up to us when we got our shirts on and they're like, my gosh, Sister Bear Foundation, I've heard about you guys. I love what you're doing. And they see the need.

And that's so encouraging to me because, you know, for so long, I felt like it was just such an uphill climb. You know, like I just, ⁓ was almost times were just discouraging because it's like, how are ever going to get there? Yeah. You know? And now it's like, I actually can see us getting there. Yeah. And, you know, I don't, I just want to, Ruth is such a good, she has helped us get so much further into this process. So.

You know, she is our only employee. Everybody else is volunteer. And, you know, we're going to need some more help. is. And it's a lot. is. it's a, you know, expanding program past just providing physical therapy. That's a necessary component, but there's so much more to the person, the individual.

the family, the caregivers, the things. And in discussing everything when we were writing basically the framework ⁓ for the program itself, when I was talking to the physical therapist, I said, well, what is the biggest need that you see? And they said, we can't do anything about when a caregiver is sitting here and it's a parent that's so incredibly frustrated because they don't have support. And we can care for this patient, we can take care of this kid, but...

What about mom? What about dad? What about grandma? What about these other people that are sitting over here and they see these needs of that support ⁓ or just someone to give them a hug. I mean, just to say, hey, I'm here. ⁓ I've walked this road before. Is Julie even be able to say, or ⁓ I have this skill or this thing that we can help connect you with. And that piece of

of expanding the program into those things is such a foundational missing piece for that hope and independence. Absolutely. Because what happens is physical therapy comes through and let's say that somebody is lucky enough to have insurance and they're covering things. When we get to a level of there's not going to be any further improvement, right? That this is the most mobility this person is going to have.

They say, done, check it off, you've completed physical therapy. The problem is, what happens two months from now, six months from now, two years from now? And we go through this roller coaster cycle of physical therapy, we're getting better, we're doing all these things, we're being active, and then we drop off and the insurance says, nope, you don't need it anymore. And then we start declining and becoming more sedentary.

It becomes more of a struggle and it's more of a burden on caregivers. And so then we get to a point where we go, no, our loved one now has to be transported out of Amarillo to go to rehab because we haven't been able to continue this maintenance care. And so then we're going to rehab and we're getting better and we drop right back off again. And hopefully what we're able to do, which I say hopefully, I know what we'll be able to do is to maintain.

that continuity of care across all areas to where we are continuing this maintenance and level of independence and quality of life. That is such a huge part of this is what are we gonna be able to do to maintain this higher level, not just the bare minimum. We want people, when we talk about access and things within the city,

We're actually about to launch a really cool program called the Barrier Free Business Program. And part of our resource directory will be businesses that are not just they didn't just pass their minimum ADA requirement inspection, you know, 20 years ago, they're actually working to be accessible right now. Yeah, and what they're doing, their clothes racks, people are able to get wheelchairs through, you know, different things like that.

And maybe it's a nail salon that's going to understand that if somebody like Kathryn comes in by herself, she might need a little bit of help from getting into this chair or that there's some kind of something else that we might have to have a little bit of an awareness to. And there's a lot of businesses from us starting that discussion that say, yeah, man, what do we need to do? Because the flip side of that is,

⁓ It would be a little bit more difficult for us to go in and tell people, Hey, there's a better way to do this or you're doing this wrong. We don't want to do that, but we're able to come in and these business owners are saying, no, I want my place to be accessible and inclusive to everybody. Please come in and tell me, tell me that you can't get your wheelchair through our clothes racks or that you can't reach certain things. Can't open our front door, you know.

And it may be as simple as us coming up with a solution that maybe the boutique can't afford to put in an electronic door opener or something, but they can put a little doorbell on the outside that says if you need assistance, let's ring this doorbell. So we're gonna be able to do some really great things in that advocacy and education in this space too. Yeah, and then you can put, approved by Sister Bear Yes.

Yeah, I like that. So this is something while you were talking, I was kind of thinking about. let's talk, you you've got a foster adoptive family and they've got a ⁓ kiddo who's got some neurological issues. And so they're going to transition from living at home, needing this caregiver support into this adulthood. Do you guys help kind of...

let's look six months down the road and they're gonna want to get to a place where they can be on their own and you guys kind of help point them in the direction of these are the things that you should do or can do or need or whatever. Is that something you guys do? Is it something you've thought about doing? Yes. So we can definitely pair anybody with, we have an amazing team of volunteers, most of them having some

of lived experience with a disability and ⁓ be able to pair them with somebody who can ask questions. And that's also pointing people towards those resources of, what does it look like to live on your own or to start driving or whatever those things are? ⁓ There's also ⁓ some state programs that are in the works right now that are going to help with that ⁓ kind of education point from

school age children into that young adult life and what that would ⁓ kind of transitioning and looking like yeah, because ⁓ there seems to be kind of ⁓ a disconnect well, what do I do now? you know, I I'm not following the typical normal path of transition and ⁓ There's there's actually some statistics that I don't have in front of me

now on the number of individuals that are youth that have disabilities that end up not ever going into the workforce or anything like that, which is just not going to give a quality of life of the finding connection to a purpose or a skill set that they enjoy doing or the ability to feel like they're contributing either to their family or their own personal life. ⁓

There is some gap within that. ⁓ Actually on our wish list of things to develop ⁓ is some kind of ⁓ educational program that could be taken into the schools or ⁓ done in a group setting where we can get together with these individuals that are transitioning from that childhood ⁓ into adult because the typical thing that we have is that standard

is my child grows up, my child moves off, goes to college, starts a life, does their own thing. When we are talking about a child with a disability or special needs, whether it's IDD or anything along those lines, then ⁓ we're looking at that caregiver role never really transitions to complete independence. Because this child could, your child could now be an adult who's 35.

who still has to be checked on every day or still has to, can't go to the grocery store, can't do these things. So that caregiver role never really tapers down. In fact, in a lot of ways it changes and it increases towards things. ⁓ And that's just something that is one of those identified missing gaps that hopefully we can add to our advocacy program at some point.

That's cool. Yeah, I could just see that, you know, being something that, I mean, I wouldn't have the first clue how to, I mean, I know how to get my kids into adulthood, you know, hopefully anyways, ⁓ as successful members of the workforce and society, but I wouldn't know what to do because you don't want them to be, I mean,

I wouldn't have wanted to have been stuck, you know, living with mom and dad, dependent on them for everything and stuff like that. mean, you know, there aren't very many that would, I would think. So you had a, you told me before we got on here, you had a near experience with needing some of this stuff too. Do you mind sharing that? Yeah. Well, in 2022, I was told that I probably would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

And so it wasn't a direct neurological injury, but it was indirect. Because of a back injury, it caused neurological damage to my back. And so I did go down that path of we were having contractors doing bids. How am I going to add a ramp? am I, you know, if I get in the back door of my house, then I've got stairs to get up to the main part. If I go up the stairs to the front, then I have to get on the stairs to the back, you know.

What does that look like building a ramp inside the house and outside the house? And the doorways, I lived in a 1927 house. Doorways were not made 36 inch wide doorways. You were lucky sometimes if they were 30 inch. And so what is that going to look like? What is the shower going to look like? What has to change with that? Making just minor, minor changes that make life a whole lot different.

Yeah, sure. was, you know, it was life changing. told everybody when we moved the washer and dryer from being downstairs to the main floor, because that meant I could buy a laundry basket on wheels that even when I was using my walker, I could push it over. And I had the washer at the height where I could put it in without bending over. I could start everything and I could get it back to the bedroom on my own. didn't have to wait to ask some.

to help me pick up a laundry basket. And as simple as something like that sounds, that was an independence thing that, mean, you gotta have clean laundry. And so ⁓ being able to make that move to be able to make that change ⁓ or helping people find ways to make stuff like that work. ⁓ I mean, I was there. I was able to have several surgeries.

be able to do a ton of physical therapy and get back to a state of mobility. And a lot of individuals, most people aren't. Yeah, wow. And that's the, was that the impetus to come work for Sister Bear? You know, I had somebody introduce me to Sister Bear and I worked for a little over a decade in fire and EMS. And so I'd work at the scene of the car accident or.

when the individual was actively having a stroke or something along those lines, and then ended that career working for emergency flight service here. And as a supervisor for that service, I knew when we would fly a patient in from one of our rural hospitals, it was almost like clockwork on how many hours it was until we were flying them out to Houston or Dallas or Denver or something along those lines. so, ⁓

With that being said, ⁓ when I got the opportunity to connect, mean, there's several different layers of connection and seeing the need for that. Yeah. So, yeah. Well, I think what you guys are doing is really, really important. my recent experience with this scooter situation, my hip surgery, like,

Like I say, I think you should do a citywide challenge, you know, just to give people, maybe it's setting up at the mall or something and making somebody go in and shop in a wheelchair or something like that. Because it was, like I said, was eye-opening for me, because I'm kind of stubborn and kind of like to do things myself. And so anyways, I do, think it's, I think what you guys is,

doing is super important. do people connect with you guys? Yeah, so the best way is our website. It's sister-bear.com, but also through our social links, Facebook, Instagram. So those are the best. But honestly, the website can get you anywhere. And the Connect Forum is a quick way that you can reach out and we'll get back with you. And so top need.

Money. It's a nonprofit. It's a nonprofit. It's always finances are always there. But I think more than anything, ⁓ it's people and awareness. It is making sure that people are aware. ⁓ And then people have a lot of passion and skill and they want to be able to help. And so our volunteers are key. And so whether it's somebody who has a connection, has a skill, maybe it's someone who's a retired teacher.

would love to still do some kind of interaction and teaching or could help with some data entry or helping us call people, different things like that. mean, ⁓ as Julie said, I'm the only employee. And so our organization is run by volunteers. And so I would say people are our biggest asset. Yeah, for sure, for sure. So and the types of things that they could do aside from

What are the kinds of things that they could do as volunteers? Well, we have two main fundraisers throughout the year. One is a gala, dinner, ⁓ dinner concert, know, fun time with that. So we're always looking for people that can help connect us with different people that would love to sponsor or be a supportive ⁓ agency for that or items, of course, for auction. People that will help us spread the word about those events. We also do a shoot every year.

And so that sporting clay shoot, we need volunteers for setup. We need people to help us with the running of that. So those kind of physical things. But then also ⁓ one of our biggest things is when agencies or organizations or groups, maybe a fraternity or sorority or a faith-based organization, that your group's looking to do something and raise some funds. Maybe you're doing a t-shirt fundraiser, you're doing a hot dog cookout or something like that as a third party fundraiser.

to be able to help us. So you guys get to do something, you get to do something with your group and come together ⁓ and it does get to benefit us, which then we're able to continue our mission. Well, fantastic. Well, guys, I'm so thankful that y'all were able to come on today and share just a little bit of the kind of the story behind Sister Bear and, ⁓ you know, I hope that some folks here and ⁓

get plugged in and things like that. Thank you again to Matthew Poole with Modern Woodmen ⁓ for your sponsorship of our episode. Thank you for your friendship and for just believing in what we're doing. Guys, tune in next week and ⁓ we'll see you then. Thanks.