BLINK Family Spinal Cord Injuy (SCI) Navigation & Support Team

The BLINK Family SCI Navigator provides personalized relational support 24/7, empowering families with educational, practical, and family resource information during the first 30 days of injury and through many transitions, including rehabilitation choices. Families are in shock and often need significant emotional support, trauma crisis support and logistical management help. SCI Navigators walk alongside families helping them stay hopeful, providing mediation and conflict transformation tips, and helping them stay a step ahead to transition their lives successfully.

What is the cost for BLINK to support a family with a loved one with an acute Spinal Cord Injury?

Although every family is different in their needs, the approximate cost for BLINK to provide the bedside crisis care, support and health care navigation is $3,125 for one family. These costs for each family include:

$500 for hotline, investigation, connection to family, consent, and coordination of services
$2000 for travel to the hospital ICU, lodging and meals, stipend for the SCI Navigator volunteer who will spend 6-10 hours in the hospital with the family
$500 stipend for ongoing remote support of the SCI Navigator for the first 90 days
$125 patient/family communication supplies including white board, ABC board, journal

For each family we support, it is estimated that we touch at least seven to ten family members including mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, children, who are critically and tragically affected by the loved one's SCI and resultant paralysis, rehabilitation, emotional and physical health care needs.

What we aim to solve:
BLINK of an Eye aims to close the wide gap that currently exists in the medical and community response to Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) nationwide. SCI is one of the most complicated medical injuries and only a handful of hospitals have expertise in this area. Families who have a loved one with acute SCI have their lives turned upside down, and life will never be the same. BLINK of an Eye fills this gap by providing trauma informed, rapid response support, practical tips and care navigation provided for patient families by navigators with real SCI lived experience. They are trained as mediators and help to empower families and support and educate medical teams about the family experience. BLINK supports and nurtures families impacted by SCI, providing them with Hope, Empathy, Advocacy, and Logistical (HEAL) support with care, compassion and expertise. BLINK SCI Navigators walk alongside families helping them stay hopeful and helping them stay a step ahead to transition their lives.

SCI is a perfect storm for families and medical staff. Families are in shock and often unable to navigate by themselves the complicated medical, financial, and emotional upheaval to their families. BLINK of an Eye™ seeks to fill these gaps with education, connection to resources, and emotional support for neutral decision making and choices For SCI Families By SCI Families