Voice For Joanie ( VFJ ) is a group of volunteers providing computer technology and assistance so that people with ALS have a "voice"
This site is dedicated to Joan Margaitis.
A team of VFJ volunteers meets with the client and family members to evaluate the need and to determine which communication equipment will help. Computer technology is adapted and modified according to specific needs, and a volunteer is assigned to each client to provide continuous individual support.
During the 10 years it has been in existence helping those suffering from ALS, Voice for Joanie has assisted over 564 people.
At the present time we are helping 60 people. We are always in need of technical assistance and it would be especially helpful to have volunteers who would learn the programs we offer. These people could help with teaching, or be available to answer questions. Contact SIG leader Shirley Fredlund.
Mission:Provide and support people with Lou Gehrig's disease with special PC equipment.
The Danbury Area Computer Society ( DACS ) continues to promote and support this effort. If
you would like to give a few hours of your time please come to our monthly meeting or
contact Shirley Fredlund.
Can you - install software,train users on new software, learn about new assistive technology, repair computers, write articles for the website .. the list goes on, your help would be greatly appreciated.
Special thanks to:
The Danbury Area Computer Society ( DACS )
Provides technical support, donations and promotion for this cause.
I think it was my third month in DACS. We had just moved our monthly meetings from Brookfield Library to Datahr Rehabilitation Center, when Shirley Fredlund rose to ask for volunteers for Voice for Joanie, a program she had founded to provide computer-assisted speech to victims of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. In response to Shirley’s plea, a new SIG was created in DACS to help coordinate volunteers, and an appeal was launched for charitable contributions and donations of used equipment. Voice for Joanie had gotten its start 18 months earlier as a memorial to Shirley’s friend Joan Margaitis, a resident of Morris and victim of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease which causes the body to reject its own nerve cells, resulting in muscle degeneration and paralysis. Through Shirley’s efforts, IBM had donated a portable computer, a voice synthesizer, and an infrared switching system that would enable Joanie to communicate by blinking to select words and phrases on the screen and having them spoken out through the system loudspeaker.
Joanie’s life struggle, which ended just before the equipment arrived, became the inspiration for Shirley’s personal crusade, which through hard work and relentless publicity, had already brought the gift of speech to five other victims of ALS. Today, after more than ten years in operation, Voice for Joanie has provided that gift of speech to more than 300 people throughout Connecticut and nearby New York State, and has 60 computer systems currently on loan to individuals suffering from ALS, MS, and traumatic injuries. Through its promotional efforts and technical support, DACS has been able to attract more than $25,000 in computer industry donations and awards, and has received recognition for its part from IBM, Microsoft and the Association of PC User Groups. We are proud of our contributions, but we humbly recognize that none of this could have happened without the dedication, persistence and hard work of Shirley and her loyal core of volunteers.
--Allan Ostergrendacsprez@aol.com