The San Diego College of Continuing Education will be a stand-out participant at the 2024 surviveHEADSTRONG Walk and Health Fair, a fundraiser hosted by the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation set for Saturday, March 23rd from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mission Bay’s DeAnza Cove (2740 DeAnza Road, 92109).

March is Brain Injury Awareness month, so students, employees, and families from the College of Continuing Education’s Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) program will proudly walk and roll together under the name, “Team ABI”. Newly-retired ABI instructor Heike Kessler-Heiberg formed the college’s Team ABI to partake in the event 16 years ago, and Team ABI has become a top donor, raising more than $300,000 since 2008, including $11,400 this year and counting. Once again, Team ABI will be the largest group of participants at the walk.

Team ABI together with the SanDiego Brain Injury Foundation are aiming to raise $70,000 this year to provide free-of-charge, life-changing programs, services and resources for San Diegans recovering from brain injury. The event is open to the public, to register, donate, or fundraise, please go to: https://sdbif.org/teamabi/.

The Acquired Brain Injury program at the College of Continuing Education is the only one of its kind in the nation — to provide free classes that support survivors recovering from brain trauma, stroke/aneurysm, brain tumor, brain infection and anoxia.

“Brain injury survivors move from all over the country to take our classes. Their recovery is very important to them and it is equally important to us as a college. We are honored to participate in the walk with our inspiring students and their families,” said College of Continuing Education President Dr. Tina M. King, who is determined to raise more funding this year for the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation and ABI scholarships. 

Following 35 years of service to the College of Continuing Education, Kessler-Heiberg will stay involved as Team Captain for Team ABI. “We participate in the surviveHEADSTRONG Walk to raise awareness in the community about brain injury. It is critical we do, because there are so many misperceptions about this frequently “hidden” or “invisible” disability,” shared Kessler-Heiberg, who has served as a San Diego Brain Injury Foundation Board Member since 2011.

Prior to her arrival at the College of Continuing Education, Kessler-Heiberg worked as a speech-language pathologist for Sharp Hospital specializing in cognitive retraining. Teaching brain injury survivors is her life’s work. “Helping a student be successful in achieving a goal, whether big or small, is the most rewarding thing ever. The achievements are so varied, but equally valuable: reading your first book since the injury, learning to use public transportation, successfully using a memory strategy, living more independently, feeling more confident…the list goes on. Our students are particularly appreciative of the help and validation they get in the program.”

At the College of Continuing Education, Acquired Brain Injury curriculum retrains students to achieve daily tasks and long-term goals to support their transition back into more independent living, volunteering, and career and educational pursuits.

The lifetime costs of a patient’s treatment for a traumatic brain injury (TBI) are estimated to run from $85,000 to $3 million, reported Northwestern Now. Findings show the cost of TBIs depends on the required level of care, duration, and insurance coverage.

“While ABI programs are not meant to be or replace rehabilitation, families choose the College of Continuing Education once insurance funding is depleted because we are exclusive to brain injury,” said Kessler-Heiberg. “The college provides an academic setting, teaching strategies and coping skills, available to survivors as part of the continuum of care, since brain injury is considered a chronic condition.”

“What San Diego College of Continuing Education has created in the ABI Program is revolutionary and so needed. Since I started with the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation over 20 years ago, the ABI Program has provided countless survivors, and their families, with hope and support as they reestablish their foundations after sustaining a life-altering injury. The partnership between San Diego Brain Injury Foundation and the ABI Program is deeply rooted in the same goal, to help improve the quality of life for brain injury survivors and the families,”  said Stephanie Bidegain, Chief Operating Officer for the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation.

“Every year at the surviveHEADSTRONG Walk and Health Fair, Team ABI reinforces how involved our community is by having the largest team and raising the most money—look at last year’s numbers: over $28,500 raised and over 130 team members! Simply stated, Heike is a one-of-a-kind person. Words cannot do justice to say how much we appreciate all her work and dedication. Thank you SDCCD. Thank you Team ABI.”

Free ABI classes currently take place online and are set to return in person and in a hybrid format at the College of Continuing Education’s Mesa College campus, as well as at the Educational Cultural Complex. Enrollment is open now. For more information contact the college’s Disability Support Programs and Services office at 619-388-4812 to schedule an intake appointment.

Media opportunities leading up to the March 23rd surviveHEADSTRONG Walk are available. Opportunities also exist for the morning of the walk at DeAnza Cove.

Schedule for Media:

What: 

surviveHEADSTRONG Walk and Health Fair, a fundraiser hosted by the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation. Team ABI from San Diego College of Continuing Education will participate as top donor. Free Brain Injury Classes take place at San Diego College of Continuing Education.

Where:

Mission Bay Park De Anza Cove

2740 DeAnza Road, San Diego, CA 92109

When:

March 23, 2024

8 am — Registration, Health Fair opens

8-9 am — Team photos at the Event Banner

9-9:15 am — Warm up with Neurolab 360

9:15 am — Walk Begins

Noon-ish — Raffle starts

1 pm — surviveHEADSTRONG & Health Fair concludes