JANUARY SUPPORT GROUP SCHEDULE

We are excited to kick off our 2024 schedule with a full month of emotional, practical, and educational support groups for you and your loved ones navigating Parkinson’s disease. This month, you’ll see all your old favorites—including our Round Table, Partner in Care, and Grief Groups—as well as new favorites like Chair Yoga and Young Onset Round Table. 

A few key differences to this month’s schedule... for one thing, we’ve moved our evening support groups from 6:00 PM PST to 5:00 PM PST. This helps our Eastern and Central Time Zone friends to join us and hopefully doesn’t cause any major interruptions to our West Coast dinner schedules. We’re always open to feedback so let us know how this schedule change affects you. 

Everyone will miss Jo, although we hope she doesn’t miss us too much as she relaxes on a tropical island somewhere for the first time in 34 years. However, we have a great lineup of facilitators ready to step up to the plate and continue the quality care, information-sharing, and community-building you deserve. Read on for short bios on just a few of the faces—some new, some old—you’ll see this month. 

John Mason — John has been in healthcare his entire career, starting as a physical therapy aid, working in pharmaceuticals for 20 years, and more recently as the owner of a home health agency for 15 years (BrightStar Care). 

When he first started in home health, he was asked to moderate a Parkinson’s support group by none other than Jo Rosen. He enthusiastically said yes and the rest is history! Although COVID stopped those in-person support groups, he’s eager to step back into the fray. John will facilitate the Round Table Meeting on Monday, January 8th at 5:00pm and the Partner in Care Meeting on Monday, January 15th at 10:00am.

Neil Friedman — A familiar face to some, Neil has been a long-time attendee of our Partner in Care meetings and also attends the Round Table meetings with his wife, Sharon. Neil brings a wealth of hands-on experience as a caregiver; he demonstrates curiosity, compassion, practicality, and humor. Join him on Wednesday, January 10th at 5:00pm for our Partner in Care Meeting. 

Roger Moore — A fan favorite, Roger has been facilitating our monthly Mindfulness meetings for over two years. Roger Moore has been working with people in a variety of counseling settings for more than 40 years. Roger is a hypnosis practitioner dedicated to helping people to be able to use the power of your own mind to improve quality of life. He belongs to two of the most highly recognized organizations for Certified Hypnotherapists in the world: the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association and the International Certification Board of Clinical Hypnotherapists. You can catch Roger Moore on Tuesday, January 16th at 2:00pm.  

April Jones — Our favorite human pretzel is back for more with her twice monthly Chair Yoga class. Constantly seeking knowledge about the human body, its functionality, biomechanics, injury prevention and rehabilitation, April Jones of Yoga Central has studied anatomy, kinesiology and yoga teacher training through countless workshops, retreats, college courses and personal research. Her expertise lies in the ability to see each individual’s capabilities—limitations and strengths—and design a program that falls within those boundaries, yet provides challenges that are reasonable and safe. Join April the first and third Wednesday of every month for Chair Yoga at 10:00am. 

Glendon Geikie — He’s shared the spotlight with Jo at our twice-monthly Grief Groups. Now he will tackle the meeting alone. As an End-of-life Doula and retired MSW clinical social worker with over 40 years experience in psychotherapy and mediation focusing on families and trauma survivors, he’s more than up to the task. Join Glendon on the second and fourth Thursday of every month for Grief Group at 10:00am PST. 

Dr. Brandon Rosi, DPT, CSCS — Dr. Rosi has a deep knowledge of physical therapy and specific experience working with people with Parkinson’s. His energetic classes marry repetition and intensity to bring your heartrate up – because if you don’t want to lose it, you gotta move it. You can catch Brandon’s Movement Class every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 10:00am. 

But wait, there’s more… as of the printing of this Newsletter we are finalizing a few more very exciting facilitators and instructors to bring comfort, care, and the latest and greatest in Parkinson’s treatments and therapies.