Parkinson's education center opens today in Richardson

April 7, 2017

Samantha Elandary (standing) leads a group session at the Parkinson Voice Project in Richardson. Elandary, a UNT alumna, founded the nonprofit agency when she saw Medicare cutbacks affect speech therapy for patients with the disease. Elandary has developed two programs that help Parkinson's Disease sufferers keep their voice and their ability to swallow.

Parkinson Voice Project

The Parkinson Voice Project opens the Clark and Brigid Lund Parkinson's Education Center at 2 p.m. today with a ribbon cutting at the new center in Richardson. 

The voice project is a nonprofit founded by University of North Texas alumna and speech pathologist Samantha Elandary, who pioneered two programs that help Parkinson's patients regain speech ability and volume. 

Frisco residents Clark and Brigid Lund gave $500,000 to Parkinson Voice Project for the new center. Clark Lund, a retired J.C. Penny executive, was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2011. He went through Parkinson Voice Project's SPEAK OUT!® The program teaches Parkinson's patients to  improve their speech, which suffers as the progressive nervous system disorder affects the mechanical aspects of speech . He's also a member of the LOUD Crowd® speech maintenance program.

http://www.dentonrc.com/news/denton/2017/04/07/parkinsons-education-center-opens-today-richardson