{"id":39164,"date":"2018-08-29T15:21:30","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T19:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/?p=39164"},"modified":"2020-09-25T12:57:07","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T16:57:07","slug":"familiar-faces-engraving-supports-people-recovering-from-brain-injuries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/healthy-tomorrows\/familiar-faces-engraving-supports-people-recovering-from-brain-injuries\/","title":{"rendered":"Familiar Faces Engraving supports people recovering from brain injuries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Rawlings put ribbons on medals as he shared his story about volunteering at Familiar Faces Engraving as part of his recovery from a brain injury.<\/em><\/p>\n

Stephen Rawlings unpacks trophies and medals from their shipping boxes, puts ribbons on medals and helps the employees with whatever needs doing at Familiar Faces Engraving \u2013 a trophy shop in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

He and fellow volunteer Bernel Hanley enjoy their work, and share another important point \u2013 they both experienced brain injuries and are volunteering at Familiar Faces as part of their recovery.<\/p>\n

Volunteering is one of many strategies used by The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s Robin Easey Centre (a residential home for patients recovering from brain injuries) to \u201chelp patients return to living in their communities,\u201d said life-skills counselor Kathleen Wiltshire. Volunteering helps enhance their self-awareness, adjust to their injury and to daily living, and resume their careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been very lucky to have a business near the Robin Easey Centre that\u2019s willing to offer support and volunteer opportunities to our clients who are interested in returning to the workforce,\u201d said Kathleen.<\/p>\n

For the past 18 years, Familiar Faces has quietly offered those opportunities to people like Stephen and Bernel.<\/p>\n

\u201cRehabilitation involves constructing a structured life, routines, knowing your limits, being punctual and reliable,\u201d said Stephen. \u201cVolunteering at Familiar Faces has done just that.\u201d His brain cancer came as a surprise back in November 2015. He was a carpenter and a business owner in Smiths Falls, his hometown.<\/p>\n

\"Bernel

Bernel Hanley (left) loves volunteering at Familiar Faces Engraving, owned by Sherrolyn Perras. She has offered volunteer opportunities for the past 18 years to people like Bernel who are recovering from brain injuries.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cBeing able to return to a work environment gives these patients a sense of accomplishment,\u201d said Familiar Faces owner Sherrolyn Perras. \u201cIt\u2019s a win-win situation for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

A brain injury can change someone\u2019s life drastically, requiring patients and their families to adjust to many physical, mental and personality changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not the same person,\u201d said Stephen. \u201cI lost my balance, my physical abilities, and my stamina. Sadly, I won\u2019t be able to work full time or return to carpentry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people don\u2019t have any visible disabilities, but they have some limitations,\u201d said Sherrolyn. \u201cThe centre brings over people who they think would enjoy it, who worked before, and have an interest in sports and manufacturing. Volunteering gives them a taste of being normal again and it makes me happy knowing I help them recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Stephen and Bernel said they enjoy working with their hands, without deadlines or other pressures.<\/p>\n

Bernel suffered a massive stroke 10 years ago and because of his disability, he couldn\u2019t return to fixing cars. His recovery has included volunteering at Familiar Faces Engraving for the past eight years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love coming here,\u201d said Bernel. \u201cIt gives me purpose and I enjoy the social aspect of it because of the people I am with.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the past 18 years, Familiar Faces Engraving \u2013 a trophy shop in Ottawa \u2013 has quietly offered volunteer opportunities to people from The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s Robin Easey Centre, who are recovering from brain injuries and looking to return to the workforce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":39165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[177,184],"class_list":["post-39164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-tomorrows","tag-community-engagement","tag-volunteers"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}