Pro-Bono Physical Therapy
Stroke Camp
Building of Community Center
Reading Initiative

Pro-Bono Physical Therapy:

For the past four years, Dr. Riley has provided physical therapy services to those who are unable to afford private physical therapy services in rural Jamaica. In the past, Dr. Karen Sawyer and Michelle Bogan have also provided pro-bono physical therapy services in Jamaica and are currently serving as board members. Dr. Riley treats patients in a donated space at a local heath clinic run by the Catholic Diocese three to four days per week. She also performs home visits one to two days a week throughout the parish of St. Elizabeth. Patients are asked to pay a nominal fee or are treated free of cost if unable to pay for services rendered. All equipment used is donated through volunteer medical teams from the U.S.

Volunteer PT Christie Davis works on Yasan’s gait following his traumatic brain injury

Therapists Michelle Bogan (left) and Brooke Riley (right) work with Daniel who is learning to crawl

Miss Irene still smiles after a hard hour of stroke rehabilitation

Home visit with Miss Olive who is recovering from a stroke

Stroke Camp:

Due to the high number of stroke patients needing physical therapy and the inability to meet their needs as a lone practitioner, Dr. Riley plans to conduct a series of stoke camps. Dr. Valerie Carter from Flagstaff, Arizona, and other stateside physical therapists have agreed to donate their time and expertise to help run the camps. Several patients suffering the effects of a stroke will receive a five-day intensive physical therapy treatment consisting of pre-testing, three day intensive therapy, and post-testing. Patients will be asked to pay a nominal fee, if able, in order to show some responsibility for their healthcare. Dr.Valerie Carter is certified by the American Physical Therapy Association as a Neuro Specialist and conducts annual stroke camps in Arizona.

Building of Community Center:

Through efforts of its own, Friends of Ridge United (FOR U Jamaica) has acquired a small piece of property with a partial building structure for the purpose of building a community center. Due to limited resources, FOR U Jamaica would be unable to complete and sustain a project without outside assistance. Friends of the Redeemer United (FOR U) would like to partner with the Ridge community to help with the cost of the project as well as assist in carrying out future programs.

Through partnership we hope to increase US awareness of the community’s needs and encourage involvement through donation of goods, time, and in-kind services. FOR U will organize volunteer work teams from the US to help with the construction of the center to diminish the cost of the project. FOR U also plans to collaborate with the Social Development Commission (SDC) of Jamaica, which is an organization that provides advice and assistance with the development of community projects. As a way to promote unity and ownership of a community center, all families and persons benefitting from the community center programs will be required to give back to the community center in one of three ways:

1. Donate time (two hours/month)

2. Volunteer expertise (teaching, construction, ETC.)

3. Pay monthly membership fees to offset general operating expenses

Community leader Anna Edwards works alongside other volunteers on community center

Arcadia University PT students Erica Angell and Stephanie Sparco (far left) help with community center project

Community volunteers use bamboo to hold up the newly cemented roof of the center

Reading Initiative:

Due to oversized classrooms in the public schools as well as high illiteracy rates among parents in St. Elizabeth many children in rural Jamaica fall below the average reading level for their age group. To combat this literacy problem, FOR U will carry out its Reading Initiative program over the summer. In February 2009, volunteer educators Meredith Mitchell and Tiffany Pollard from Gulfport, MS, donated their time and traveled to St. Elizabeth to administer the Informal Reading Inventory. The inventory was administered to ninety-three community children, five to sixteen years of age, to evaluate their reading level and identify areas of deficit. Seven out of ninety-three children were found to be at the age appropriate reading level while the other eighty-five children fell below. The results from the reading inventory will be used to develop a reading curriculum to be carried out over the summer. US volunteers and Jamaican teachers will work together to carry out the reading initiative in July/August 2009. Each child will be re-tested at the end of the summer to evaluate the success of the program and to identify ways to improve for the future. If effective, this program will extend into the school year as an after-school reading program three days per week. The Reading Initiative will be overseen by community leader and FOR U board member, Anna Edwards who has a level 2 certificate in Early Childhood Education.

Anna Edwards and community kids pose in front of her ice cream shop where FOR U programs are temporarily held

Jahvani is all smiles after winning a spelling contest

Volunteer Educators Meredith Mitchell (far left) and Tiffany Pollard (back center) pose with community children after administering the reading inventory

Volunteers help with an after-school homework program, started by Anna Edwards in 2005

Community kids have some fun after completing their homework