News : Archives June 2011

Heart II Heart

Save the Date - Heart II Heart will host a Scrapbooking Class & Luncheon on September 24, 2011.  Class starts at 10:30 am.  Lunch will be served at Noon.

Location:  Checkered Cottage, 135 W. Jefferson, Kirkwood, MO  63122.

More information to follow, but mark your clendar now!!!

Daniel V Tyrey Leadership Award Presented

It was with great pleasure that GHA awarded their Daniel V. Tyrey Leadership Award to Nancy Phelps at the Family Education Weekend. 

This year's inductee has not only shown leadership the past year, but the entire 20+ years she has been involved with GHA.  This award could easily be named for her instead, because from the time she joined what was probably Bi-State Hemophilia Association in those days, she gave her heart and soul to this organization.

She was a scared mom with an infant that wouldn't stop bleeding, who thought she found relief when the doctors finally gave their family a diagnosis: Hemophilia.  They quickly learned that in the '80s, this only meant that they knew HOW to stop the bleeding, and possibly, not safely.  It was a scary time for a newly diagnosed family, and it would have been easy for a shell-shocked mom to shield her baby from the rest of the world, who were burning down houses of kids with hemophilia.  Thank God she didn't!  She and her husband jumped in with all they had and got involved with the Chapter, learning what they could from everyone they could and volunteering in every capacity at all events, eventually leading to a board position and later Treasurer.

She fell in love with GHA, like no one else ever has and knew it was her calling when GHA decided to create an Executive Director position.  She left her great job with great benefits to follow what was in her heart, helping families with hemophilia.  And that she did.

This F.E.W. is somewhere around its 14th year -- all thanks to her for starting the very first one so many years ago at the Holidome in Columbia, MO.  And, she has had a hand in every single one since.

And the first P.E.P. - she brought that as well.  She wrote a grant and brought such a worthwhile program to our new parents who were struggling with a chronically ill child while coping with the everyday struggles of marriage.  She put it all out there for those moms and dads and spoke candidly about how her own marriage nearly crumbled from the stresses. 

It didn't matter -- if it helped even just ONE family.  You could count on her to do whatever she could to help them.  If you were lucky enough to have joined GHA when she was Director, you probably even got a home visit, welcoming you to GHA and an unlimited Q&A with a mom who had been there and seen it all before.

GHA's strength today is due LARGELY in part to the families she personally welcomed into GHA.  She helped many of them out so much that lots of those families in turn felt a need to pay it forward and have given back to GHA. 

But, as one might imagine, the E.D. position can drain a person who doesn't know how to stop giving everything they have.  So, she thought she would take a break and go back into the "private sector" world.  So much for that, as she joined the board again and was nominated President!  Somewhere from there, she ended up in industry so she could continue to help families on an even more personal level.  But her heart never thought like an industry person, only as a mom who loved every family and even as a surrogate Mee-Maw (Grandma) to some!  It was no surprise to anyone when she chose to end her working career back at GHA, where she had left her heart.  I know we are all lucky and happy that it ended up this way.

But, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and she THINKS she is ready to really say good-bye this time.  We all need a break, and no one deserves one more than her.  In MY heart, I know she would never leave us completely.  I hear she has already committed to judging Trivia; after all, she started that too, you know.

One of my personal favorite quotes of all time is from Margaret Mead.  I truly feel like she could have been writing it specifially for the hemophilia community.  It goes something like: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

But, sometimes, I like to re-write the quote a little and say that ONE individual can change the world, because it all starts with one person.  GHA is no exception.  GHA is pleased to announce the honoree of the 2011 Daniel V. Tyrey Leadership Award for changing OUR world to Nancy Phelps -- for a lifetime of selfless giving.

-- Bridget Tyrey

Tee Off 4 Hemophilia

GHA will host its 21st Annual Tee Off 4 Hemophilia on Monday, September 26, 2011, at WingHaven Country Club.   Mark you calendars now for a day of golf with us.  Look for more information coming soon.