Who We Are
History
The Brain Care Centre, a non-profit organization with offices in Edmonton and Edson, Alberta, is a merging of NABIS (Northern Alberta Brain Injury Society) and EBIRS (Edmonton Brain Injury ReLearning Society) that was created on April 1, 2011.
NABIS was incorporated under the Alberta Societies Act on July 7, 1983. It was formed by concerned family members of brain injury survivors and professionals working at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, who were aware that many people being discharged from hospital had no supports at home.
In 1984, with the assistance of one employee and the dedication of its founders, coffee house meetings were initiated to provide family support. Then NABIS began collecting information in order to establish a library/resource centre.
NABIS was first located in a junior high school. In 1997, NABIS relocated to an office in Royal Alex Place where it resides today. The Brain Care Centre staff are currently supported by volunteers who serve on the Board of Directors, provide administrative help, raise funds, lobby for services and build a strong community of concerned citizens.
Many initiatives have grown out of the Brain Care Centre office and community:
- Brain Injury Awareness Month (June) focuses on educating the general public, professionals and government officials as to the special needs and concerns of individuals affected by brain injury;
- Networks Activity Centre, a program providing leisure and recreation opportunities for survivors, was developed by the work of the Inter-agency Planning Committee for Persons with Acquired Brain Injury, with NABIS taking a key role, in 1998. Networks became an independent society in 2003.
In 2001/02, NABIS was very influential in public consultations which led to the provincial government acknowledging brain injury with its own program, the Alberta Brain Injury Initiative. This program provides funding for service coordination provision through community based agencies like NABIS.
To continue to fufill the goals of providing support, service coordination, education, and increasing public awareness, Brain Care Centre offers programs and services at no cost to clients in its offices in Edmonton and since 2002, in Edson. Outreach services span Edmonton and area, Drayton Valley and the communities along Highway 16 from Stony Plain to Hinton and Jasper.
