Save the Date! 2023 Annual Meeting and Socrates Award Presentation

Entering the fourth year of the Brennan Rehabilitation Foundation, I want to thank all individual and institutional donors for your continued support of our mission through the “Double Down on Disabilities Fund.”  The Foundation uses your donations of cash and in-kind services to help individuals and their families burdened with the physical, emotional and financial stress of a spinal cord injury causing a permanent disability. Currently, 100% of your donations go toward this mission.

The Foundation alleviates these costs through our Socrates Award program — which offers lifetime grants to paralyzed individuals who best embody the mantra of the Socrates Creed, derived from the Latin phrase, “mens sana in corpore sano” which translates to a “healthy mind in a healthy body.”

Each year, individuals are nominated and selected to receive this lifetime award based on their efforts pursuing the daily grind of physical rehabilitation and recovery. The Double Down on Disabilities Fund, provides monies to awardees to be used solely for the following four things: equipment, prescription drugs, in-home care, and therapy. Financial amounts provided each year are determined annually by the Board.

On March 19th, our 2022 Socrates Award recipients will be honored at the Brennan Rehabilitation Foundation Annual Board meeting at The Michigan Shores Club in Wilmette, Illinois from 4-6pm.

Dr. Richard Fessler, a Neurosurgery Specialist at RUSH University Medical Center, will be our keynote speaker. He will be speaking on the topic of stem cell transplantation for spinal cord injury. Afterwards, the Socrates winners will be presented. The following are our 2022 awardees:

1) Cooper Roberts – Eight-year-old Highland Park resident who was hit and paralyzed from the waist down by a bullet in the mass shooting on July 4, 2022.

2) Daniel Golden – US Army veteran and Chicago Police Officer who was shot in the back and paralyzed from the waist down while breaking up a fight in July 2022.

3) Christopher Medak – Creative Writer and Producer living in Los Angeles, who was paralyzed in a surfing accident in August 2017.

Annually, both new and past Socrates Award recipients are recognized for their daily pursuit of a “healthy mind in a healthy body” in the face of true adversity. Please join us to celebrate these incredible individuals whose inner discipline and mental toughness is an inspiration for us all.

If you know somebody whom you believe would be an excellent recipient of this award and the ideals it represents, please visit brennanrehabfoundation.org where nominations for the 2023 Socrates Awards are now open.

The Brennan Rehabilitation Foundation is a 501-C3 charitable foundation located in Lake Forest, Illinois.