Chicago’s A Safe Haven Foundation Making Impact on Concussion and Brain Trauma Education

Local Foundation Partners with Boston Based Sports Legacy Institute to Bring Much Needed Training

(CHICAGO, IL) — With a rise in concussion awareness in the sports industry, often times people forget about the daily non-sports related causes for brain trauma. Chicago’s A Safe Haven Foundation is collaborating with The Sports Legacy Institute (SLI), a Boston-based non-profit organization founded to advance the study, treatment, and prevention of brain trauma in athletes and other at-risk groups, to raise awareness for all forms of brain trauma prevention in the Chicago market. The Chicago Concussion Coalition will expand their concussion education initiatives to Chicago Public Schools (CPS) nurses and physical education instructors.

On the heels of recent cases of athletes taking their own lives due to the effects of traumatic brain injury through sports, A Safe Haven wants to make sure the message reaches even the most impoverished communities in Chicago through their case managers and staff.

“People are homeless for many reasons. We are learning that many homeless people may have had a previous head injury or concussion which may have caused issues that may have contributed to their homelessness. People who may have been victims of domestic violence, sports related injuries and/or Veterans are examples of people who may have been particularly exposed to a head trauma or injury,” commented A Safe Haven Co-Founder Neli Vazquez-Rowland.

One of the best methods of prevention is education. With the budgets of many government funded education programs falling victim to cuts in this tough economy, A Safe Haven also wants to make strides in bringing both training and safety equipment to those who face potential injury the most.

“A lot of our residents have young children who have the opportunity to play sports for the first time in their lives. Sometimes socio-economic standing makes it hard to receive the education and equipment needed to insure the prevention of these debilitating injuries. I believe the education by SLI will help the residents and our staff understand how to better tailor our services to help the resident plan to work with and overcome any lingering issues.We want to make as much of an impact as we can,” continued Vazquez-Rowland, who was named a Chicagoan of the Year in 2011.

SLI will host a press conference in conjunction with A Safe Haven Thursday, August 30, 2012, at 3:30 PM at A Safe Haven’s 2750 West Roosevelt Rd location in Chicago. The press conference will be followed by Advanced Concussion Training at the same location from 4 – 5PM.

“For too long concussions were a silent epidemic, and we applaud A Safe Haven Foundation for recognizing the key roles of case managers and staff in preventing and managing concussions,” commented SLI Co-Founder Chris Nowinski..

For more information about the Sports Legacy Institute visit www.sportslegacy.org. For additional information about the August 30th joint press conference and A Safe Haven Foundation, please contact media@asafehaven.org or visit www.ASafeHaven.org.