Mission Statement
Mission Ophoenix is a charitable organization dedicated to assisting patients recovering from disabling medical conditions to leave the hospital if needed, and re-integrate into the community. Utilizing both new and traditional technologies, our goal is to enable these "patients" to become productive members of the community and realize their full potential as individuals.
The Ophoenix icon is a stylized drawing of a solar eclipse. After a disabling injury or illness, a person's true self is often eclipsed or hidden by the visible aspects of his or her disability.
Description
Programs Wireless Internet Access for Patients ( WIAP) and Virtual Visit
The WIAP program helps hospitals and their supporting foundations to design, fund, and implement wireless networks to connect patients and their families to the Internet from within the hospital. We are currently working on an exciting program that brings desktop video conferencing to rehab patients at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and their families . This Virtual Visit program allows loved ones to schedule a voice and video call from their home to the hospital. This is a tremendous help to patients with families that live far away.
Going Home Program This program helps needy patients obtain materials and utilize other resources to leave the hospital and rejoin the community with the highest level of function possible. Each year over 90,000 Americans incur severe disability due to spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries. Individuals and their families suffer significant and devastating losses due to these injuries. Most insurance companies don't pay for home modifications, wheelchair transportation, adequate medical equipment, or computer/communications systems that allow individuals to communicate their needs and thoughts to others.
Technical support and help desk for the disabled Ophoenix helps provide computer technical support for any technology (see WIAP for example) that it has helped put in place. We will also provide technical advice to disabled individuals and their families on a best effort basis. These services will be provided without charge, although donations to keep the service running will be periodically solicited. Organizations requesting extensive technical advice or support may be required to pay a modest and reasonable fee.
Community outreach, education, and publications This program is oriented towards increasing community awareness in order to gain support to help further the successful reintegration into society of the disabled and chronically ill. Through publications and presentations, we will educate the public about the value of including disabled individuals in their community activities. We will also work to help the public understand the value of funding rehabilitation and medical support, from the hospital to home care. The Ophoenix directors believe that prevention is a key ingredient in reducing the root cause of a significant number of disabilities, and each year our goals include making presentations to corporations (and their employees), schools, and other gatherings of the general public.
Partnerships with other nonprofit organizations Ophoenix works towards building mutually beneficial arrangements with other related public benefit and nonprofit organizations. Because of our small size, we are be able to act quickly as compared to larger organizations. There are many other nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area performing related work, and our intention is to partner with these groups rather than compete with them.
