Compassion Motivates

 July 18, 2016

Emly is recognized for helping people with Parkinson’s disease

As her husband's caregiver, Eilene Emly gained a first-hand understanding of what a Parkinson's diagnosis means to people living with the disease and their families.

Her compassion for families and commitment to making their lives better led to her recognition at an awards ceremony June 9 at the Struthers Parkinson's Center in Golden Valley, Minn. She received the Paul Silverstein Community Service Award.

The award recognizes her contributions as a mainstay of Minot's Parkinson's Support Group, which she had helped organize and continued to lead after her husband's death in 2006. However, Emly said the credit goes to the Minot community and its health professionals, businesses and foundations that have supported Parkinson's awareness and education.

"This was the exciting part of getting it. It wasn't that I felt like I had done so much, but Minot has been really helpful," Emly said. "I just felt like Minot needed the award for what they do for Parkinson's."

Parkinson's is a neurological illness that occurs when certain brain cells degenerate, reducing the chemical called dopamine. Symptoms include slower movement, rigid muscles, tremors and changes in balance or posture.

In the United States, more than a million people have Parkinson's. About 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, including a growing number of people younger than 40. North Dakota has ranked third in the nation for Parkinson's prevalence per capita.

Emly's husband, George, was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1993 when they were living in Williston. The Emlys were elementary teachers, both graduating from Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, Wash. From 1967 to 1970, they were missionary teachers in Ethiopia. When they returned, they taught in Minot for eight years and in Williston for 18 years.

After George Emly's diagnosis, they began attending a Parkinson's support group in Williston. The Emlys later moved to Mobridge, S.D., where Eilene took a teaching job on the reservation. They would travel to Bismarck to attend a support group.

When they planned a move back to Minot, they were urged to start a support group there.

"I said, 'Not me. I could never,'" Emly said. "I just didn't think we could. But we did."

The turning point in her thinking came after chatting with Neil Krenz, who had Parkinson's, during a chance encounter at a home improvement in Minot in April 2004. The Emlys and Krenzes met for lunch to discuss their shared desire for a local support group.

Emly said they thought if they got the word out, they might get a handful of people to come to coffee. Ten people came to the first meeting.

"We put up fliers. The more we put up, more people came. So now we have over 80 people on our list," she said. Today, meetings draw 20 to 30 people, and Emly visits the nursing homes to ensure members there stay connected.

"I just love these people. They are so neat. People looking at them might not realize what a talented group this is," Emly said.

Krenz, who died in 2009, had videotaped group meetings, and while that continued, Emly would deliver tapes to members who couldn't attend. Students from Bishop Ryan High School once had assisted with the videotaping when Krenz no longer was able to do so. It's an example of the kind of community support the program has had, Emly said.

Financial support has come from St. Joseph's Community Health Foundation, Verendrye Electric, Minot Area Community Foundation and its Roger and Delores Odell Endowment Fund.

Shelly Weppler, executive director of the St. Joseph's foundation, nominated Emly for the Silverstein award.

"She's just so deserving of this award. She just does so much and she is so dedicated to that group and continues to be dedicated. We are lucky to have her in our area," Weppler said.

Weppler recalled Emly's efforts to obtain a St. Joseph's grant to purchase guide books on Parkinson's and how Emly and her husband personally delivered the books to area public and school libraries and other locations. Written by Mohammad Ali's daughter, the book, "I'll Hold Your Hand So You Don't Fall," answers questions in a format simple enough for children to understand.

After attending a Parkinson's symposium in Moorhead, Minn., Emly set out on an even bigger venture.

"It was always my dream to some day have a conference in Minot, where our people could go," Emly said. She obtained a grant several years ago to launch an annual conference, and today professionals who attend can obtain education credits due to the quality of the event.

This year's conference is Sept. 8 at the Knights of Columbus, which has hosted since 2011. "They are so eager to help. It has really been a blessing," Emly said.

The organizing force behind the conference, though, continues to be Emly. Setting up the conference involves scheduling vendors and exhibitors, arranging for meals and canvassing the community for items for gift bags and door prizes.

Emly's grant-writing efforts also have been successful in assisting the support group to purchase food for meals for grieving families upon the death of loves ones with Parkinson's. Emly has been active in delivering meals and also attends the funerals.

Speech therapist Marla Rose said Minot's Parkinson's Support Group is the most successful group she has encountered, and the credit goes to Emly.

"She runs her meetings very professionally. She's extremely organized," she said. Emly's involvement isn't limited to what goes on at meetings, either, Rose added.

"She gets to know her members, I think, very well personally so she's able to offer them support on a one-on-one basis as well," she said. "She's a warm, caring and giving person."

That personal involvement can be demanding.

"She seems to have an endless pot of energy," Rose said. "I am still amazed at her loyalty and her commitment and her energy. She's very unselfish with her time."

Along with her Parkinson's work, Emly, 83, is an active volunteer in the community and serves as secretary of the local AARP chapter. She's raised five children and has 13 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.

Emly attributes her organizational skills to her time teaching in rural schools, but adds that using those skills to help people with Parkinson's has never been a chore.

"It's just fun to do it for these, especially when I love them so much," she said. "The encouragement and the vibes they give back, it's better than any money anyone could give."

The support group's mission is to enhance quality of life through education and by providing a motivational, optimistic atmosphere.

"When you see the people here and what it does for the people to get together to be able to eat," Emly said. "Many of them don't go out and eat because of dropping and spilling. Here we all understand that. They get in here and just enjoy visiting, and they need that."

The Parkinson's Support Group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 1:30 p.m. at Brentmoor. There is no cost to attend either the monthly meetings or annual conference.

Emly has built a relationship between the group and the Struthers center, which often provides speakers for the annual conference and for monthly support group meetings. Struthers serves the Upper Midwest Region as a National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence. Part of the Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, it provides comprehensive care, research, education and support to people living with Parkinson's and their families.

Local health professionals also have been generous with their time in speaking to the support group, Emly said. In return, the support group has looked for ways to give back to the community, including donating treats to 2nd Story for Christmas.

Emly hopes to organize a board to oversee the Parkinson's Support Group, knowing there needs to be a structure that will outlast her. She doesn't want the group to simply become a business venture, though.

"There has to be some warmth to it," she said.

(Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Editor Mike Sasser at 857-1959 or Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944. Either can be reached at 1-800-735-3229. You also can send e-mail suggestions to msasser@minotdailynews.com.)

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