Janie Smith, Founder
Janie is no stranger to trauma. One of her most formidable traumatic event was when her 15 year old daughter, Tanya, sustained severe brain injuries in an automobile accident. From the critical life and death issues in the trauma unit, through rehabilitation and finally home is a journey with mountaintop experiences of exhilaration, joy, and incredible accomplishments to the very depths of hell.
The Smith family traveled down the treacherous roads of the rehabilitation process. The exhilaration of each achievement gave them hope for the future until violent outbursts and physical aggressions tore through the fabric of their being. Each family member struggled in their own way to accept this new person that emerged from the wreckage.
Brain injuries most often change their personality and along with it many other issues such as short and/or long term memory loss, physical deficits, emotional outbursts, fatigue, impulsivity, etc. Each brain injury is unique and a mystery. Since Doctors are unable to predict how far a person’s brain will be able to recover, it is a journey into the unknown.
Today, Tanya is successfully living in her own apartment and is keeping busy with volunteer work. Tim, their second oldest, served four years in the Marine Corps and is living in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife, Jessica. Their youngest, Terry, joined the US Army and recently returned from Afghanistan completing his sixth tour in this war on terror. He is stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii and lives with his wife, Lauren and baby daughter Taryn Nicole. Richard, Janie’s husband, retired from the US Army in 1991 after 22 years of service.
She earned a B.A. degree in Physical Education & Health and taught preschool through high school in the United States and in West Germany. Janie worked for the American Red Cross as a Hospital Recreation Worker stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington D.C. and became familiar with wounded soldiers returning from Vietnam. She founded a travel agency for people with disabilities and was an integral part in starting several brain injury support groups. Later on she partnered with a company to teach back to work and life skills to adults with brain injuries. Janie worked with developmentally disabled adults exhibiting extreme behaviors in a community integration program. She received her coach certification through Coach Training Alliance.
Janie has personally experienced the effects of brain injuries all her life. Her older brother was brain injured at birth. A first cousin sustained severe brain injuries in an automobile accident in the 60′s. Her Dad died suddenly of a brain aneurysm in 1970 and her sister-in-law was killed instantly in an automobile accident from massive brain injuries in 1990.
Janie lives in Fairborn, Ohio, home of Wright Patterson Air Force Base, with her husband of 38 years, Richard (First Sergeant, U.S.Army Retired) and their dog, Rudy.
