OUR MISSION

Neuro Assistance Foundation is dedicated to assisting spinal cord injured and disabled individuals in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area to achieve self-sufficiency and mobility through assistive vehicles, equipment, technology and home modifications.

 OUR VISION

NAF will strive to ensure that every spinal cord injured or disabled person in our community has the equipment necessary to be mobile and independent.

Take a moment to watch 

"Neuro Assistance Foundation - Our Mission"

click on the address below  to watch the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8y8uu7CDfk

NAF Board Members & Officers

Cynthia Cooperman – Board Member, President and Co-Founder

Beverly Olson – Board Member, Vice-President Operations and Co-Founder

Willie Phea – Board Member

Kimberly Rayburn-Booker – Board Member

Keith Tansey, M.D., PhD – Board Member

Biographies

Cynthia Cooperman (Board Member & President)

Cynthia Cooperman is a co-founder, Board Member and President of the Neuro Assistance Foundation.

Cindi has sixteen years experience in the airline and travel industry both in customer service and management.  Her management experience extends to purchasing, quality assurance and competitive analysis. While working for a major airline, she was instrumental in the creation of several new departments and was responsible for their quantitative results.

In 2007, Cindi met Beverly Olson and her life was profoundly changed by their friendship. Through Bev, she learned that the spinal cord injured community was doing without basic equipment, which in turn, made the simplest aspects of daily life significantly more complicated. Through this friendship, the Neuro Assistance Foundation was born.

Cindi is a member of the Greater Keller Women's Club and has been active in various communities by volunteering her time in the St. Louis Community School District and the Keller Independent School District. In addition to volunteering in the classroom, she also gives her time to sports programs at the high school level. When she isn’t volunteering her time at the schools or working for NAF, she is spending time with her husband, Jerry, and their four sons.

Beverly Olson (Board Member & Vice-President Operations)

Beverly Olson is a co-founder of the Neuro Assistance Foundation and has been on the board and staff since April, 2008. She is currently Vice-President- Operations.

Bev has spent the last twenty years in the airline industry in various capacities from customer service to management.  During her career, she had the opportunity to assist many individuals with disabilities and was committed to ensuring their needs were met both on and off the aircraft.

In 1997, Bev was involved in a motor vehicle accident which left her a T4-5 spinal cord injured paraplegic. She did her rehabilitation at Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas. Since leaving rehabilitation, she has had multiple back surgeries but continues to dedicate herself as a part-time volunteer for other non-profit organizations. She has also mentored newly injured individuals at UT Southwestern.

For the past twelve years, Bev has seen the insurance industry and the government deny equipment that people need to live a productive and independent life after injury. With the Neuro Assistance Foundation, Bev works toward her hope and dream that every individual with a neurological disorder will have the equipment needed to live the quality of life they experienced prior to their illness or injury. Her passion is invaluable to NAF. In addition to her work with NAF, Bev is also a member of the Greater Keller Women's Club.

Willie Phea (Board Member)

Willie joined the board of Neuro Assistance Foundation in September, 2008. He comes to us with fifteen years experience as a physical therapist tech for Baylor Healthcare Systems. Willie divides his work between the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation and Baylor Grapevine. When he isn't working, Willie volunteers his time providing physical therapy to homebound patients.

Kimberly Rayburn-Booker (Board Member)

Kim joined the board of Neuro Assistance Foundation in April, 2008. She owns The Rayburn Agency of Nationwide Insurance in Ft. Worth and has previous experience in corporate marketing with AT&T and Procter & Gamble.

In addition to her business activities, Kim is very active volunteering in her community. She is on the board of the local YMCA and teaches for Junior Achievement of the Chisholm Trail. In addition to her duties with the above organizations, she also volunteers numerous hours to the Keller Independent School District in other capacities.

Kim is a graduate of Texas State University and lives in Keller, Texas with her husband, Scott, and their three sons.

Keith Tansey, M.D., PhD (Board Member)

     Director, Spinal Cord Injury Research Shepard Center

     Research Faculty

     Departments of Neurology and Physiology 

     Emory University School of Medicine

    Attending Physician

    Spinal Cord Injury Clinic

    Atlanta VA Medical Center

Dr. Tansey joined the board of the Neuro Assistance Foundation in September, 2008.  He is currently Director of Spinal Cord Injury Research at the Shepherd Center and directs the Departments of Neurology and Physiology at Emory University School of Medicine as well as being on staff at the Spinal Cord Injury Clinic at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.

Dr. Tansey completed his B.S. and M.S. in Biology and Biomechanics at Stanford University and then completed his M.D. and PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where his dissertation research focused on spinal cord physiology. He completed his residency training in neurology at Washington University in St. Louis and then fellowships in spinal cord injury research and neurorehabilitation at Washington University and at the University of California Los Angeles. He returned to UT Southwestern and directed the Spinal Cord Injury Program there before he moved to Shepherd Center.

Dr. Tansey is board certified in Neurology and Spinal Cord Injury Medicine. He has won several teaching and research awards including one from the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) and he has presented his research work to the National Neurotrauma Society, the American Society for Neurorehabilitation, the Society for Neuroscience and at several international scientific meetings. Dr. Tansey also served as a Research Consortium Associate for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.

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Contact Us Today!

Please contact us anytime! We look forward to hearing from you.