Please read the information below to obtain a
comprehensive understanding of what our organization is about.
Questions should be directed to Steve Mallory,
smallory@strokenetwork.org
History:
Our on-line stroke support community
initially began in 1995 on AOL as regularly scheduled chat
sessions for Stroke Support, which was made up of about 30
stroke survivors and stroke caregivers. Little did I know that
this small group would eventually become the start of the
membership for the non-profit website that is now known as The
Stroke Network.
What happened is that I emailed the management at AOL and made
them aware of the need for a stroke support chat room. They
agreed wholeheartedly! Up to this point, stroke support on AOL
just consisted of a small message board forum. I hosted the
monthly chat session, which quickly became bi-monthly and then
weekly. I was the Stroke Support chat host for over three years.
During our chat meetings we discussed serious and common issues
relating to stroke, plus we enjoyed our social interactions. One
night, one of our discussions was about having a place where
stroke survivors and stroke caregivers could go to on the
Internet for support and, more importantly, to gather
information about stroke. Back in those days, 1996, the web was
relatively new and there was extremely little information about
stroke. We wanted to get ourselves organized and thought that
possibly a web page might prove to be the focal point that we
needed.
I volunteered to get things organized and figured out how to
make and publish a web page. The web page was known on AOL as
Stroke Support & Information. It was actually an AOL personal
website. The problem with this is that the domain name was owned
by AOL. So, to break free of AOL and to become an independently
owned website, we renamed our site to The Stroke Network with
its current domain name of strokenetwork.org, in January 2000.
Our website has the privilege of being the very
first
on-line stroke support site on the Internet!
Also, I knew we would need funding to keep our
doors open for many years so I found a lawyer that would help make us a
legitimate organization. We were incorporated in September 2001 and we
received approval as a 501(c )3 non-profit charity in March of 2002.
The Stroke Network was amongst the first on-line
501(c)3 non-profit organizations, as well.
I had created a website that had evolved from just one web page to five
networked websites with over 100 pages, making it what is today, The
Stroke Network. There were no other on-line stroke support groups until
I published my web page. We started
with just three volunteer staff members. Today, we are managed by 45
unpaid volunteer staff members and 13 volunteers on our board of
directors.
The Stroke Network networks to an on-line stroke community that
registers our membership to a database, has multiple stroke survivor and
stroke caregiver support forums, provides every member with a blog to
write about their life with stroke and it provides each member with
Internet space to upload pictures of them, their family and events from
their lives. The network has a website that has its own private
chat rooms, with daily chat sessions scheduled twice per day. The
network has an information resources website where we can write and
publish a monthly newsletter, let visitors submit links to other
informative websites, has a newsfeed of relevant articles about stroke,
a web page with important information about financial assistance and
links to websites for disability products and equipment. The network has
a website that is basically a stroke awareness site that educates the
visitor all about stroke, what a stroke physically is, how to prevent
one, stroke warning signs, etc. Lastly, the network has a website that
explains all about The Stroke Network. It has pages with fundraising and
donating information, pages with our most important organization
policies and anything else pertinent about The Stroke Network
organization.
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Mission Statement:
Our mission is to provide on-line support to survivors of
stroke and stroke caregivers. We also want to educate you about stroke
and to provide as many resources and other types of information
as we can.
We want to bring support to the stroke survivors
and other members of the stroke family that want to use the
Internet as a medium for bringing a support group right into
your home. We are aware that not everybody has the luxury of
having a Stroke or Caregiver Support Group close to them or at a
time that is convenient nor does everybody have the
transportation to travel when you want.
Our hope is that we can provide on-line
assistance to the stroke survivor and their loved ones and help
them transition from a life of being able-bodied to one of
living with the disabilities that stroke can cause.
If you have a computer and are on-line we
hope that we can help you.
10 good reasons why you might want to
register:
1. Do you have a local stroke support group in your area?
2. Do you want or need stroke support 24/7?
3. Do you live in an inconvenient location from the stroke
support group?
4. Do you have to arrange transportation special in order to
make it to the group meetings?
5. Are the meetings held at an inconvenient time?
6. Are you embarrassed to speak in a group setting?
7. Can you talk?
8. Did your stroke adversely affect your speech making it
difficult to communicate with others?
9. Do you have aphasia and have difficulty with
communication?
10. Do you need to communicate with others at your own speed?
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Web Site Network Structure:
The Stroke Network, Inc. consists of several sites which make
up a network of sites, thus the organization. We are making
these sites available in hopes that we can provide the best
stroke support and Information available on the Internet.
We recognize that stroke resources are necessary also,
especially immediately after a stroke. You can read our
information about stroke and also find all the support that you
need, survivors and caregivers, right here on our network.
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The Stroke Network
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http://www.strokenetwork.org/
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Homepage,
landing site for our network of websites.
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On-line Stroke Support Community
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http://www.strokeboard.net/
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Message Board - Forums, Blogs and Gallery
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Stroke survivor and stroke caregiver support
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http://www.strokechat.net/
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Daily Chat Sessions
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Information Resources |
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http://www.strokenet.info/
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Links, Explanation of
Brainstem Stroke, Information about Central Pain
Syndrome, Newsletter Archive, Financial Help, Bookshop, Newsfeed,
and an archive of over 1000 stroke related articles.
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About
Us |
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http://www.strokenetwork.net/
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History, Mission, Policies, FAQ, Guestbook,
Information for - Donating,
Contacting Us, Fundraisers, Accreditations, Our Location, Site Search, etc.
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Stroke
Education |
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http://www.strokeeducation.info/
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Warning signs, Tests and
Diagnostics, Stroke Recognition, Statistics
about Stroke, Prevention and Reduction,
Stroke Quiz, TIA, Stroke
Awareness Quilts. |
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StrokeNet Blog
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http://www.strokenetblog.net/
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Blogs written about
stroke. |
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Outreach Projects
Our organization has planned and completed several local and
International community Outreach Projects. It is our goal
to reach out to the community and to provide whatever we can and
in as many ways as possible. The following are a list of
our community outreach projects:
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Caregiver Handbook
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Purpose
- To assist the new stroke caregiver.
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How -
Written by members of our organization.
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Example -
click here
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Stroke Awareness
Quilts
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Purpose - To raise awareness about stroke.
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How - Fabricated by members of our
organization. |
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Example -
click here |
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Computer Therapy
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Purpose - To help stroke
survivors and caregivers, who are still in
the rehab hospital, become familiar with
on-line stroke support.
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How - Donated several
computers to a local hospital.
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Example -
click here
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Helping Hand
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Purpose - To assist one
handed stroke survivors open kitchen
items. |
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How - Donated 100 units
to a local hospital.
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Presentation Table
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Purpose - To educate
the public about the benefits of on-line stroke
support. |
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How - By having a
presentation table at several conferences.
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Speaking Engagements
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Purpose - To educate
local stroke support groups about the option of
on-line stroke support.
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How - Spoke at
several hospitals at their stroke support
meetings. |
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Accreditations
Rated as a top 5
stroke information web site by:
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Stroke Awareness
Our organization takes the responsibility to educate our
society about stroke very seriously. We want to raise
stroke awareness and provide educational information about
stroke. To do this we have developed a web site that is
dedicated to stroke awareness. We have also opened an
on-line store and have discounted our prices for all stroke
awareness items.
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Stroke
Awareness
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On-line Store
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Location:
The Stroke Network has no boundaries and has members on-line
from all over the world. Every continent is represented.
We are truly an International organization. No matter
where you live we are there for you! Stroke is not just located in one
region but rather it draws no borders and affects anyone, no
matter where you live. Nobody will be excluded from The Stroke Network, north,
south, east or west...black, white, brown, red or any color.
Anyone in cyberspace that is in the stroke family is welcome
here. We are all brothers and sisters of stroke.
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Contact Information:
Our headquarters is located in Maryland. Our mailing address
is:
The Stroke Network, Inc.
PO Box 492 Abingdon, MD 21009
Steve Mallory
Founder, President & CEO
smallory@strokenetwork.org
http://www.stevemallory.org/
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Copyright of The Stroke Network
All rights reserved.
Original date 3/1/96 Revised 11/24/08
