Friends' Health Connection
Friends' Health Connection is a national non-profit organization that connects individuals afflicted with the same health problem, allowing them to communicate and mutually support each other. Receiving national calls daily from patients – as well as their family members – with a wide array of illnesses, Friends' Health Connection connects people on a customized, one-to-one basis with another person who shares the same health problems. Individuals are matched according to personal background, effects on lifestyle, age, attitude and even interests.
Once connected, participants communicate in a variety of ways including letters, phone calls, e-mails and face-to-face meetings. Through their communication, members exchange questions and answers, compare experiences and perhaps most importantly, provide comfort and encouragement to each other. This mutual inspiration empowers both parties with the inner determination and positive attitude needed to continue fighting back illness. Friends' Health Connection's mission is to ensure that everyone with a health problem has access to support.
Roxanne Black-Weisheit established Friends' Health Connection 17 years ago from her dorm room during her freshman year of college. She had been diagnosed with a disease called lupus when she was 15 years old. During her sophomore year of college, lupus destroyed her kidney function so she administered dialysis to herself five times per day for nearly two years until she underwent a kidney transplant. Her oldest sister was the donor.
At the time of her diagnosis, Roxanne wanted to communicate with another lupus teenager who could understand what she was experiencing, and the seed idea for Friends' Health Connection was planted. Today the organization continues to adhere to the belief that when an individual is faced with a health problem, the only people who can truly relate are those who have shared the same experiences.
Ten years ago, Friends' Health Connection introduced a second mission: wellness education. The organization offers an unprecedented array of educational programs including lectures and workshops by top leaders in health, wellness and motivation. Recent speakers have included Andrew Weil, MD; Deepak Chopra, MD; Mehmet Oz, MD; Bernie Siegel, MD; author Marianne Williamson, and many more. To make these lectures accessible nationally, the organization recently began offering lectures by phone and internet so individuals from across the country can call in and interact with these leading speakers.
To learn more about Friends' Health Connection's programs and services, log onto www.friendshealthconnection.org or call (800) 483-7436. To be added to its e-mail list so you can find out about upcoming events, send your name, street address and email address to info@friendshealthconnection.org.
