Friday Blogging

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Three men hard at work!! Here are the great folks from the Accomack Fence Co. in Onley, VA, working on our new fenced chicken yard.
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Almost done! We are so grateful to the Eastern Shore of Virginia Community Foundation for supporting our Productivity and Sustainability Project! Our new coop in its fenced yard is a big part of that grant-funded project.
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Brandon and DJ getting the composter ready for spring!
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It was beautiful weather for yard work!
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David showing off the No Limits Eastern Shore Team’s entry in the Ugly Cake contest at the Waggapalooza fundraiser for a Chincoteague dog park this weekend. We call it “Kitty Litter Cake”!!
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Faith and Sherry with their Waggapalooza Ugly Cake entry, “Dog Park”. Ladies, your cake is just too pretty to be ugly!!
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Maryann and DJ weeding the vegetable bed. They did a good job!

Remembering an Advocate

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No Limits Eastern Shore is sorry to announce the passing of longtime disability rights advocate Marylin Copeland of Norfolk, VA. Among the many roles she held in her lifetime of service was that of Regional Coordinator for the Brain Injury Association of Virginia, serving the Tidewater area, and through her work with BIAV she came to be a friend to the brain injury survivor community of the Eastern Shore.

Marylin retired from brain injury services several years ago and was continuing her advocacy with the Norfolk Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI-Norfolk). She was perhaps best known for her powerful advocacy work on behalf of Pam Brown, a brain injury survivor know as “the Hula Hoop Lady” who was tazed by police near Wards Corner, but her efforts on behalf of survivors of brain injury went well beyond that single case. She was a tireless resource for problem-solving and disability rights and her assistance in the early years of the No Limits brain injury day program was invaluable.

Rest in peace, Marylin, and thank you for your service. Her full obituary can be found here :  marylin-obituary

 

 

Friday Blogging

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These peeps are doing really great work! They are making treats for dogs and cats at the local shelters.
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We have a lot more to make! Look at our cat treats! Good job Amy.
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Amy says “Kyle looks very smart giving the garden meeting!”
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DJ the Note Taker! He was taking minutes for the garden meeting.
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Adrian giving a Health Advocacy lesson! Everyone looks so interested.
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Hey Eddie! Nice shades.
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The Animal Control Men on their way to deliver handmade treats!

Friday Blogging

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Working on comfort dolls with our newest pal, Eddie!
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This project is one that we work on with the Kiwanis Club of Accomack. The dolls are given out to children and the elderly in our community.
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Men hard at work taking care of our hens!
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Brandon flew the coop! Just kidding, he flew in it! Hahaha. We got a cool angle of Brandon cleaning!
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Thumbs up for a brand new chicken coop!
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This coop was purchased with grant funds from our Productivity and Sustainability Grant which we received from the Eastern Shore of Virginia Community Foundation!  Thank you for helping us expand our Productivity projects!!
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Brandon says “It’s raining chicken coops!”  Just kidding it was just being delivered from Backyard Escapes.  We would like to thank Backyard Escapes from Pocomoke for making/delivering this beautiful coop to us!
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The No Limits crew posing in front of the new coop.  Nice shot!
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Putting final touches on the comfort dolls!

Brain Injury Awareness Day 2017

Another successful Brain Injury Awareness Day has come and gone!  Each year on brain Injury Awareness Day No Limits sends a team of staff and members to the VA General Assembly in Richmond, VA to visit with the Delegates and Senators to ask for continued support for brain injury services!  For the 2nd year in a row we made dog treats for ALL of the Delegates and Senators (that is over 300 treats folks)!  Thank you to the Brain Injury Association of Virginia for hosting this special day!  Please keep reading to view our pictures from this year’s Brain Injury Awareness Day trip.

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Brandon, DJ, and Rachel visiting with Senator Lynwood Lewis!  It is always a treat to speak with this kind man.
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Say what?!  We got to see our pal Terrance who was also visiting delegates with his new friends from Denbigh House!  Terrance seems to be doing well; it was so good to see him!
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This year we attended a rally for Brain Injury Awareness outside of the General Assembly.
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Listening to Anne McDonnell, Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of Virginia, speak at the rally!
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What a great turn out!

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Wait…what?!  We love everyone’s facial expression in this picture!  What did they say to confuse y’all?  haha
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Close up of Anne speaking.
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CL did his good deed for the day.  He put a quarter in the meter to prevent someone getting a ticket!  Nice job CL.
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Zel with Jody Hopkins, Rob Bloxom’s Assistant!  Sharp dressed men!
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We are so happy we bumped into Terrance.  It was a busy day but not too busy for an old friend!
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Representing the 2 day programs in the state of Virginia!  Kyle and Zel pose with Zachary Daniel from Brain Injury Services: Fredericksburg Community Day Program!

 

Friday Blogging

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Zel the Coffee Master says “Hey, yo, Adrian I need to drink my coffee first!”  These 2 men were putting down wire to predator proof our new chicken coop! A new coop is part of the Productivity & Sustainability grant provided to us by the Eastern Shore of Virginia Community Foundation – thank you!!!
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Happy birthday Diane and many, many more!  Woot woot!
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Zel giving Diane a handshake for her birthday!
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Good job Zel!  You made Diane smile. 🙂
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Amy says “Wooo!  Go my buddy Jack, Jack!”  Move it or lose it, right Jackie?!  Keep it up we love to see you walkin’!

Our Visit with Charlene – a Missionary (and dear friend) from the Congo

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Our friend Charlene Harris, a missionary from the Democratic Republic of Congo, came to discuss the great work that she does in Africa!
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Charlene brought wonderful pictures of where she lives to go along with her stories.
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All of the pictures were so interesting!
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We would like to take this opportunity to thank Charlene’s mother, Margaret Ann Harris (pictured in the green shirt above), for everything she has done for our program as well.   Margaret Ann has been a volunteer and friend of No Limits for over 15 years.  Boy did we luck out in meeting these wonderful women – they have both been so good to us!  Margaret Ann was here with us when Charlene came to visit this time but unfortunately we did not get her in any of our pictures, which is why we used this photo of Margaret Ann at a Christmas party in the old No Limits building in the early 2000s!!!
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A picture of patients waiting to be treated at the local hospital.
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We call this picture “the Star Transit of the Congo” because this is the public transit system there!
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Charlene is a great speaker and we love hearing her stories.

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Women waiting to give birth at the local hospital – they walked miles to reach it!

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A picture of a wooden map which outlines where Charlene lives and works in Africa!

Charlene is a wonderful lady and we think she does great work in the Democratic Republic of Congo!  We would like to thank her so much for always coming to see us when she is able.  We love hearing her speak about the wonderful things she does.  Check out some video clips below so that you may hear our awesome friend Charlene speak as well!

In this video hear Charlene discuss the soap making industry where she lives in the Congo!

This is a continuation of Charlene discussing the soap making industry.

We especially like this video because Charlene describes making a walker for someone in need from scrap metal materials.  Brandon says “It is awesome that they reused the metal – it’s recycling!”

In this video clip Charlene shares stories about other missionaries that she works with in the Congo, the politics of Africa, and about her pet cat named “Sweetie”!

Charlene explains the excitement of cars being seen in the Congo!  Brandon thinks it’s really good that so many people were interested in seeing a car for the first time – he  says, “If they were not interested they would not have gone and may not have learned about the church!”

In this last clip Charlene is singing a hymn in Swahili.  We think it is so cool that she can sing in another language!

Thank you again for everything that you do Charlene!  You are a role model and we love to see you!