Parkinson Association of Alabama boosting statewide footprint

September 21, 2017  Stephanie Rebman

Mary T. Miller

The Parkinson Association of Alabama is launching some key initiatives that could have nationwide impact down the road.

Birmingham’s PAA, which formed its first junior board this week, has partnered with the American Parkinson’s Disease Association to create a resource center that will be a centralized one-stop shop for residents with Parkinson’s as well as their families.

The APDA is contributing initial startup funding of $40,000 over the next year for the initiative, which aims to launch in January, but PAA Executive Director Mary T. Miller said the nonprofit will begin a long-term fundraising campaign to both keep the center going and to establish a greater presence in Birmingham.

“The PAA will be seeking significant funding to develop and maintain the resource center and care navigator position for the next two years,” Miller said. “The amount needed to start the center and the position will exceed $250,000 for the first years.”

PAA currently does not have an office space in Birmingham, and the nonprofit runs a lean budget with employees working from home. The same concept will continue with the resource center and its care navigator.

“We will start off with a care navigator that we will hire by the end of the year,” 

Miller said. “This person will work from home in the beginning, as he/she will be going around Birmingham and the state telling neurologists and others about the PAA and the new center. As it grows, we hope to have office space that will house the coordinator and possibly the executive director as well.”

https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2017/09/21/parkinson-association-of-alabama-boosting.html