I am an advocate for a 21 year old man who experienced an anoxic brain injury in Nov 2012. He grew up in North Baltimore County and is currently residing in a nursing home in Catonsville. While he has lost use of his extremities and speech, he is learning to communicate with a gaze-directed computerized program and is clearly alert and aware of what is happening to him. His family is very actively involved and visit regularly, but as you can imagine, life in a nursing home is isolating especially for a young man. So we are hoping to find a local college student (or a few!) who would be willing to visit. An ideal scenario might be a few students who visit once or twice a month but spaced out so he has someone to hang out with for an hour or two each week, and so he sees friends even if someone has a lot of homework. Activities might include bringing a laptop to look at Youtube videos, helping him check Facebook pages of his old friends, in nice weather take him in his wheelchair for a stroll on grounds, etc. His parents can provide a list of suggestions and I suspect you will have good ideas of your own. 

Kathy Vecchioni, MSW

Advocacy Consultant