February 23, 2024 • 28 mins
Clint Girlie is joined by Cassi Locke from the Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks to discuss their 25th Anniversary Year of providing support and recoruces for the thousands of people in the Ozarks diagnosed with Parkinson's Dissease. They also discuss upcoming fundraisers and community awareness events, like their Resource Fair coming up on April 20th. More info at parkinsonsgroup.org
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(00:00):
Well, hello and welcome to ashow that we call iHeart the Ozarks.
We appreciate you being here today.My name's Clint gurleyh and vice president programming
for iHeart Radio here in Springfield.And whether you're hearing this on one of
our five stations here in town,or of course on our iHeartRadio app for
listening to the podcast. We doappreciate it a lot because each week we
get the opportunity to sit down talkto groups, organizations, sometimes just individuals
(00:25):
who are doing a ton of goodfor our community. We try to find
out exactly what it is they're doingin maybe some ways that we can help.
I'm excited today because Cassie Locke isfrom the Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks.
And not only are we going totalk about what you guys do there,
Cassie, we get to do somecelebrating today, Is that right?
Yes? Well, actually this notjust this day, but this whole year.
(00:48):
Yeah. Well, this is theonly day we're gonna I've got I've
got a whole cake thing, allright, so let me candles and everything.
This year marks our organization's twenty fiveyear anniversary, so we are extremely
excited, not just today but everyday this year. So we're trying to
get the word out about that,let people know that we're out there and
(01:08):
we're happy to be serving those arks. Anything exciting planned, I mean twenty
five years is you know, prettylong time you guys have any like a
big party or something. We're goingto have some special events. Our first
one that we have coming up isgoing to be our Parkinson's Resource Fair.
Yeah. Yeah, I remember thisfrom from last year, and I remember
(01:32):
when we got together on this andjust realizing like how many things you guys
do as far as resources in thiscommunity for folks that are either personally afflicted
or have someone within their family orfriends that are. It's really incredible.
Yes, we're having a resource fairthat's going to line up perfectly with Parkinson's
(01:53):
Awareness Month, which is in April. Our event is going to be on
April twentieth at empower Abilities. We'regoing to have of local businesses, organizations
all over from the Ozarks there andthey're just going to be sharing information with
families about Parkinson's resources. So it'sa wonderful event for people to learn more
about what's available in the community.Sure, how did this all start?
(02:14):
I mean, you know, there'sa lot of and I'm not trying to
make light of any any disease,but there's a lot of diseases, cancers,
afflictions, you know what I mean. And so to have a group
that is solely focused on one ofthem, would I would imagine that that
has to have a reason for startingor somebody it was personal to someone twenty
(02:37):
five years ago, take us back, like what happened. Yes, it's
a little bit before the time Ijoined the organization, But twenty five years
ago there was a gentleman mild ofrise that had Parkinson's and he had pretty
much had a vision that he wantedto have an opportunity that resources were available
(02:57):
for the community, because there wasnot really anything at the time that anyone
could turn to. When you're diagnosedwith the disease, you feel kind of
alone, scared, overwhelmed. There'sjust, you know, a lot of
a lot of weight on your shoulders, and it'd be helpful for those resources.
So he started the Parkinson's Group ofthe Ozarks. It started off very
(03:19):
small, just a small handful ofvolunteer board members. They start off a
little bit with the support group,but worked diligently with other community members to
just grow the organization over the years. So it was just seeing a need
that this was something that wasn't reallyaddressed here in southwest Missouri and wanted to
have that resource available so that wouldn'thave a similar struggle. Gotcha, I
(03:42):
see. So let's do a stateof the union right now. Right it's
twenty five years later, how isParkinson's Group of the Ozarks going? And
where do you see it going inthe next twenty five I mean, it's
just it's jaw dropping. That's that'sall I can say. From the short
time that I've been with the organization, it has grown so much over the
(04:03):
past couple decades. Like mentioned,it started off there was no wellness classes
and we are now offering up totwelve thirteen free wellness classes for Parkinson's families.
So these are locations where families cango and they can do dance,
they can do boxing, they cando pilates, yoga, all these classes
(04:25):
that can help with their symptoms andit's offered to them for free. So
we have that wonderful opportunity that's justgrown over the years. Some of our
other events are five k we hadat the very beginning, many many years
ago, maybe twenty people participating inthe run, maybe thirty, and it
has grown to over about three hundredand fifty participants. So it's just it's
(04:47):
definitely getting the word out. Wehave a newsletter that has grown tremendously.
We send that out to over onethousand families in the Ozarks. I mean,
just the growth over the past decadehas just been fantastic. We have
seven support groups all throughout southwest Missourithat's available. Just seeing it grow over
the years, it's just amazing.You're so thankful for the support from the
(05:10):
community, from our board, fromvolunteers, from just everyone. Yeah,
that is really cool to hear,and congratulations to you all. I know
that it is needed, clearly twentyfive years later to be building and building
that signifies certainly a need in theOzarks. And so I think we as
a community are grateful for you alland what you do, which is really
(05:31):
really neat. So thank you fortaking some time today. I want to
go to like a very rudimentary questionand you can hang this on my ignorance
if you want to. I'm fineflying that flag. When we talk about
Parkinson's sometimes I feel like, oh, we know what that is, but
(05:51):
we don't know what it is.You know, it's a well known Parkinson's
disease, but what exactly is thatwhen you get that diagnosis? What does
that mean? Oh gosh, yeah, well it's a question. But like
it's the best way I could thinkof other than being like, so,
what is Parkinson's? You know?Well, no, that is a wonderful
(06:15):
question. That's actually, you know, something that a lot of people are
afraid to ask. You know,sometimes we have this idea in our head
of what the disease is, butactual and actuality is completely different. We
may not have all of the piecesor all the information. Parkinson's disease,
and I'll try to lay this outas simple as possible, is a nervous
system disorder where the brain stops producinga chemical called dopamine, and dopamine oversees
(06:42):
a lot of muscle control movement,but it also plays a factor and a
lot of other smaller things, somenon motor symptoms that we don't think of
as well. So usually when wethink about Parkinson's, the first thing that
people come to mind with the diseaseis the tremors. Are the shaking.
However, there are a lot ofother symptoms that are just not well known.
So sometimes a person may have alittle bit of a stiffness or rigidness,
(07:09):
a slow movement. Sometimes they havea trouble walking. Sometimes we'll have
non motor symptoms that will be alittle bit more prevalent than the other symptoms.
So sometimes they may have, youknow, constipation or stomach issues.
Sometimes they'll have where they start toknow as changes in their voice where their
voice is a lot more softer.They might start noticing their words are a
(07:30):
little bit more slurred. It couldbe memory problems, even cognitive changes.
So you know, sometimes kind ofconfused with or overlaps a little bit with
Alzheimer's or dementia, but they sharesome of those similar symptoms and a lot
of people are not aware about that. So Parkinson's isn't a cookie cutter disease.
You know, everyone experiences different symptomswith it. So a lot of
(07:54):
people identify with the tremors or theshaking, but some people may not experience
that at all, or sometimes thatmay be everyone. It's in a while,
everyone experiences a little bit differently withthe disease. How prevalent is the
issue in our community. In thecommunity here, we estimate maybely about two
to three thousand people are in theOzarks living with parkinson that's so much,
(08:18):
I know, it's hard to believethat. The Parkinson's Foundation estimates about one
hundred and fifty four thousand Missourians areliving with the disease here, So when
we think about the Ozarks, it'skind of hard to find that geography.
But we estimate about maybe two thousandand three thousand people. Some people like
mentioned may have some of the symptomsand already diagnosed yet, so then we're
(08:41):
not sure on all of those numbersbecause of that reason, because they may
not visited a doctor or a neurologistto get an official diagnosis. Okay,
so let me resent quickly. CansieLocked from the Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks.
I don't even think I said yourofficial title. What's your official type,
Cassie, I'm the executive assistant.Okay, that's awesome, thanks for
joining us here. We're talking aboutthe Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks. Obviously
(09:03):
the twenty fifth anniversary year on somereally exciting and fun stuff coming up here
over the next few months. Now, though, just trying to get an
idea of I mean thousands of peoplehere in the Ozarks, which blows my
mind still that number. How areyou getting connected to those people being diagnosed?
At what point during the process doesthe Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks come
(09:28):
in to help and how are youfinding out about it? Well, we
are very fortunate that we have alot of wonderful community partners, so we
work closely with Cox with Mercy,with Charlotte Health and Neurology and a few
other clinics here in the Ozarks tohelp get the word out about our organization
(09:48):
and what we do. So we'reable to provide a little bit more information
on that. Our biggest factor andthe biggest thing that we have to promote
our organization is actually word of now. So usually someone will kind of mention
the word to someone else in thatold fashioned way of getting the news out
has been our best route on gettingpeople to be aware about our organization.
(10:11):
But we're liking to have great communitypartners that are helping to spread the word
and letting people know about what wedo. So what is that experience like?
Start me from the beginning, somebodygets the diagnosis they hear either through
word of mouth or having already somepre existing knowledge that you guys are around
in the os arens and helping someonecomes to you and how like what happens
(10:37):
then you know. So usually whensomeone becomes diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, like
mentioned before, it's a little bitoverwhelming a lot of information. They like
to do their research, so they'reeither reading their books, looking things up
on the internet, trying to findout as much information about it that they
can, and by the time theycontact us, they just sometimes are overwhelmed
(11:00):
and don't know where to start.So we make sure that when they call
on everything, we answer any questionsthat they have. But usually the first
thing that we want to kind ofguide them to is a support group.
We have several in the area,so port group is just a great opportunity
for them to meet others and toask those questions and to get actual personal
(11:20):
insight from other families that are experiencingmaybally similar things, walking in those same
footsteps. So it's just a wonderfulopportunity to get out and meet others that
are having the same journey. Andlet me briefly interrupt, you are these
I don't have any experience with supportgroups. My wife, who is a
therapist, you know, runs themall the time. Me personally, the
(11:41):
only experience that I've had is seeingthem on TV shows or whatever. So
it's everyone sitting in a circle anddoing the talking thing. Is that kind
of what we're talking about here?Do they look different? What does it
feel like in those? I meanI would imagine at first probably a little
nerve wracking, right. Well,each support group is a little bit different,
(12:01):
so each one has a little bitdifferent style format. A lot of
the support groups do what they callis share and Care sessions, and then
they also do educational educational sessions.It's almost a tongue twister. The share
and Care sessions is where everyone kindof gets together and they'll have a topic
that they like to discuss. Sosometimes it may be medication and maybe home
(12:22):
health care, maybe about cognitive changesand just that kind of Q and a
time where everyone can kind of visitand discuss the topic. Other times,
the support group is kind of arounda guest speaker, so we'll have local
healthcare professionals that may come in andmaybe someone that comes and talk about eye
care or someone that talks about falseprevention or planning for your future, and
(12:46):
they'll come in and talk about thosecertain topics. So it's a little bit
of a learning experience as well forthem and kind of get some the brain
turning on things that you know,maybe they weren't thinking about before. So
those are it's just great formative sessionswhere they can ask those additional questions that
sometimes arise along the way. Sure, the very very brief Google search I
(13:07):
did before we talked, because againI've got no problem showing off how ignorant
I am, was eye opening becausewith a lot of famous diseases or afflictions,
there is a shorter life expectancy.And from what I understand, and
(13:28):
you correct me if I'm wrong,but folks who are diagnosed with Parkinson's don't
really see a shorter life span asregular. It goes near normal life expectancy,
right, So it kind of reinforcedto me the Parkinson's group of the
(13:48):
ozarks being that this isn't a shortterm thing. This is a many many,
many, many many years thing thatfolks have to deal with. Yes,
the biggest factor with all of thatis how proactive someone is once diagnosed
with the disease there. Staying active, you know, and when we say
(14:11):
active, not just physically but alsomentally socially. Staying inactive and all those
realms is going to make a hugeimpact on the future with the disease and
how the symptoms are managed throughout thethroughout the course. Yeah, so I
interrupted you. We were talking aboutthe support groups as being one of the
first steps you'll you'll point someone who'scome to your organization for help towards what
(14:35):
what other things are you guys offeringthere at Parkinson's Group at the OZECS well.
In addition to support groups, wealso have free wellness classes, so
we have a variety of different classesjust about almost anything to suit anybody's needs.
It can range from non contact boxingto plates to dance to yoga.
(14:56):
We've had ping pong. We havealso a our social activities like game nights.
We'll have a trivia night event comingup, so we have a lot
of opportunities for families to come outand a lot of our classes the care
partner is welcome to attend. They'reall offered for free for our Parkinson's family,
so it's a wonderful opportunity. Iwas going to ask a lot of
(15:18):
the time with this show, andit's one of my favorite things because I
like to nerd out and find outwhat goes on behind the scenes. So,
but you know, you guys havefundraisers throughout the year, and you
obviously raise money because of what you'retrying to support. What are you guys
primarily spending the majority of your fundson. I'd say with that, you
(15:41):
know, our biggest focus right nowis our wellness classes and getting those opportunities
out directly towards for our family.So we are exploring to looking at new
locations right now. A lot ofour classes are in the Sprinkfeld area,
so we're always expanding, always lookingat options, and we're actually having a
new class that's starting in March that'sgoing to be a Nixa that's a yoga
(16:03):
class for Parkinson. So that's ourtaking those small steps to reach outside of
the Springfield area and more of southwestMissouri. So that's one of our main
goals. Cassie Locke joining us hereon iHeart the ozarnch She's from Parkinson's group
of the Ozarks, celebrating their twentyfifth anniversary this year and some cool events
(16:23):
coming up. We briefly touched onthe Parkinson's Resource Fair, but I know
I remember when we were doing publicservice announcements last year and you guys sent
me here's what's going on, andit was just, I mean, the
longest list of things. It wasa Cassie, this is a thirty second
thing we're doing here. You guysare doing so much. I don't know
(16:45):
how to whittle this down into thirtyseconds. But now look at us,
We've got all the time in theworld. Tell me more. Let's get
in depth. What happens at theParkinson's Resource Fair that's coming up April to
twentieth at Empowerabilities. Is that whatthe play? Yes? That is correct.
Awesome. So we have our Thisis our second annual Parkinson's Resource Fair.
(17:07):
The year prior we had it ata different location, and this year
we're kind of changing things up.We're in a new partnership. We're very
excited for the new location Empowerabilities.We'll be in their community room, very
large, very spacious building, andlike I mentioned before, we'll have community
partners throughout the Ozarks. We're goingto have the Parkinson's Foundation Heartland Chapter,
(17:30):
We're going to have the Body SmithStudio, the Center for Music Therapy and
Wellness. We'll have some ladies theretalking about Parkinson's yoga. I mean,
just a lot of different community membersorganizations that are there to share that Parkinson's
information. The event will go fromten am until twelve and it's just a
kind of a free, come andgo style event. We're going to have
(17:52):
some door prizes though, we'll havesome light snacks and refreshments. So it's
just kind of a laid back upto need you to go and visit with
different people and learn what's out there. Yeah, what is the goal of
doing something like that? Because partof my brain is like, well,
if people are already connected to Parkinson'sgroup of the Ozarks, they probably already
know a lot about the offerings thatyou guys have. And if somebody isn't
(18:17):
aware, I mean maybe they don'thave Parkinson's or don't know anybody with that,
Like, is there a population ofpeople out there who are being or
have been touched with Parkinson's disease andhaven't connected to your organization? Is that
the goal? Yes? So thelast resource fair that we held, we
had actually a lot of people thathad not even heard about our organization.
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They had been diagnosed with Parkinson's andthey just weren't aware. That's where we
mentioned before kind of call ourselves ahidden gym, because you know, once
people find out about us, theyget excited and they realize, oh my
gosh, there's something here for usthat you know, we can do.
It's not going to cost me anythingextra, and it can help me with
my symptoms. So it's you know, that's one of the biggest thing is
(19:00):
that we get our name out alittle bit more, let people know about
our resources. But in addition tothat, people can learn a little bit
more about the classes visiting with themin person. So sometimes people may think,
well, yoga, I'm not sureif I want to be bending into
pretzel shapes and those kinds of things, and they get a little hesitant,
But it's a wonderful opportunity where theycan visit with the instructors and talk to
(19:22):
them a little bit more about whatthe class entails, so it eases some
of those concerns for them. Soit's just really lots of great information.
Yeah, that's great. April twentiethand empower Abilities. Where is Empowerabilities?
Fourteen fifty West Cambridge Street. SoI think it's behind the new seven Brew
(19:44):
if I believe, oh my god, there's been. I feel like there's
been like five seven Brews that havepopped up recently. No One Battlefield by
Ford, okay, but near Battlefieldand Fort right over there, and empower
abilities And then obviously you'll have linksto this on your website. What's the
best place to go to get thisinformation? Though? The best place to
go is going to be our websitefor that information, or our Facebook page
(20:07):
and that's Parkinson'sgroup dot org. Andthen also our Facebook page is Parkinson's Group
awesome Parkinson'sgroup dot org or search Parkinson'sgroup on Facebook for information and clearly I
needed them Directions to the Parkinson's ResourceFair coming up on April the twenty.
If you mentioned other fun events youmentioned a five K. I know we're
(20:30):
probably a ways away from that,but maybe we can put this in the
back of our head somewhere. What'sthat all about? When's that going to
happen? Do you know yet?Even? Should I not ask the question?
Well, before we jump into fiveK, I can mention our trivia
night it's going to be coming upin July we're going to have that at
the Relics Event Center. We hadthat last year as well, and that
(20:52):
sold out so quickly. It wasjust a really great event, learning about
a little bit about the Parkinson's groupand community resources. But it was just
actually a fun night for our familiesto get out and you know, go
in the back of the mind forthe brain for those trivia questions about movies
and music and different things. Sowho hosted that for you guys? Last
(21:12):
year? We hosted it ourselves,did you really? Yeah? Wow,
you didn't even think about asking yourboy here. I mean, I'm a
hoot at parties. I will letour event coordinator know that. Wait,
is it a is it a familyfriendly event? Yes? Oh, then
(21:36):
you don't want me. I'm bad. You don't want you don't want that.
I like the late now, youknow, like the ones that happened
in bars and stuff. That's alittle bit more my speed. I mean
I might be able to tone itdown. But you said it was your
first one and it sold out likecrazy, So that's great to hear.
Yes, And then when when isthat coming up this year? That is
July thirteenth. Okay, awesome,Well, we got some time in between
now and then for you to convinceme that I can. Yes, I
(22:00):
can in touch with our event coordinator. Sure, I'm sure she would love
to have you, so she'll workher magic on that. Awes a bed.
Yeah. No, trivia is sofun and it's cool that you guys
are able to do that and allowfolks from outside of the organization and maybe
even outside of the disease to comein and say we'd like to help and
we'd like to have a good time, like let's figure this out. So
(22:21):
that's really really cool to hear.And then I mentioned five k I did
we have like I don't know,five or six minutes left, but I
wanted to get personal with you.We've never talked before. I don't think
you'd meet Cassie. And I'm curiousyou mentioned earlier it's you haven't been at
Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks very long, I mean comparatively to this twenty fifth
year anniversary that's going on. AndI find that some of the best stories
(22:45):
for folks who work at nonprofits arethe reason behind them going to work there.
And I'm just curious. You canget as deep as you'd like,
But what was it about Parkinson's Groupof the Ozarks that made you say that's
where I'm going to work on that. It's just it's it's a great family
atmosphere. Everyone on my team is. They're all volunteering their time and they
(23:10):
are all so supportive, you know. It's it's almost like having a second
family. I just have a greatteam that I work with, and I
just I can go on and onabout it for probably five minutes on how
wonderful they are. But no,prior to joining the Parkinson's Group of the
Ozarks, I had worked for actuallySenior Age Area agency on aging for several
(23:33):
years on that and then my familyneeded to make a transition on some of
my work schedule and and my timeaway. So we found a great spot
with the Parkinson's Group of the Ozarksand it's just it's been a perfect fit
since then. So it's been wonderfuljust working with the older adult community.
Yeah, what is it about thatage group that you're so connected to?
(23:56):
I'm not sure. I mean,I really attribute to growing up, I
was very close with my grandparents,both my grandmother and grandpa on my mother's
side and then my grandmother on myfather's side. I was always close to
both of them. I would writethem letters, I would go dancing at
the senior centers, visit with them, you know, I just I always
(24:21):
had that close knitba on and youknow, it's just it felt a little
bit of a comfort being around themand knowing about the past and what they've
been through in their experience, andyou know, it's just that that's something
I wanted to carry forward with.So it's just been a joy. And
certainly somebody who has empathy for thatgroup and someone who's willing to advocate for
(24:44):
that group is much needed. Iknow. You know, there's a lot
of groups that get a ton ofattention age groups, you know. I
mean, there's so many folks,and rightfully so, that advocate for the
kids in our community. But Ithink sometime times the ones that get left
out the most are our elderly population. And it's great to see folks like
(25:07):
you and your amazing team. Itsounds like a who are doing that,
So kudos to you guys. That'sall great, well done. Thank you.
One more time. We're going torecap this really really quickly. Parkinson's
Group of the Ozarks twenty fifth anniversarythis year and the first major event is
the Parkinson's Resource Fair. Give methat in a nutshell. Here Parkinson's Resource
(25:32):
Fair on Saturday, April twentieth,from ten am to twelve pm at empower
Abilities fourteen fifteen fourteen fifty West CambridgeStreet. We'll have companies and businesses organizations
all over the Ozarks. They aresharing information about Parkinson's disease. It's free
and we encourage you to come.Also, Trivia Night coming up in June,
(25:53):
and a lot more to celebrate I'msure this milestone July, sorry in
July, and I'm sure a lotmore to celebrate this big milestone for you
guys this year. Best place forfolks to get information about Parkinson's Group of
the Ozarks is where Parkinson's Group dotorg or Facebook page Parkinson's Group awesome.
(26:14):
And as far as folks who you'dlike to see reach out besides maybe those
themselves who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's, who else do you see reaching out
looking for information, looking to getinvolved. Just anyone in the community that
is interested in learning more about thedisease. Sometimes it may be someone that
has a neighbor that has Parkinson's oryou know they just want to learn a
(26:37):
little bit more about how to helpsomeone, and so we're there to help
answer those questions and get them someresources. Cassie Locke from the Parkinson's Group
of the Ozarks, thank you somuch for joining. This was great and
we did it. I mean itwent by really fast, number one,
right, almost as fast as weset this whole thing up to talk.
(26:57):
I think it was like ten minutesbetween like hey you want to do this
to like, hey, let's we'reface to face now. So this is
a I appreciate you. You doit so quickly. You are fantastic and
good luck with everything this year.It sounds like you guys are are you
got a lot of stuff planned.So that's really really cool. Thank you,
and thank you so much for havingme on. You know, it's
just it's a wonderful opportunity. Soif you are maybe just listening and got
(27:22):
here within the last couple of minutesand you're like, oh my gosh,
this sounds like something maybe I wouldlike to get involved with or would like
to at least learn more about acouple of things you heard. Cassie mentioned
Parkinson's Group. Dot org is theirwebsite. If you want to listen to
this episode in its entirety, andmaybe you just caught a couple minutes of
it here. That's great. It'salready up at our podcast, which,
and this might come as a shock, is on the iHeartRadio app. I
(27:45):
know you would think it's crazy withan iHeartRadio station we would have an iHeartRadio
podcast, and yes we do,and it's called iHeart the Ozarks. It's
super duper easy to find. Youcan listen to this episode and its entirety
right now on demand, as wellas any other episode that we've done.
We do these every week with againindividuals, groups, community organizations that are
(28:07):
doing a ton of good for ourcommunity, just like the Parkinson's Group of
the Ozarks is and so yeah,iHeart the Ozarks on iHeartRadio and the app
for all every podcast in the worldpretty much, but also this one,
which is great for myself, ClintGurley and the rest of our team here
at iHeartRadio in Springfield. Thank youso much for listening. Have a great
rest of the day.
Well, hello and welcome to ashow that we call iHeart the Ozarks.
We appreciate you being here today.My name's Clint gurleyh and vice president programming
for iHeart Radio here in Springfield.And whether you're hearing this on one of
our five stations here in town,or of course on our iHeartRadio app for
listening to the podcast. We doappreciate it a lot because each week we
get the opportunity to sit down talkto groups, organizations, sometimes just individuals
(00:25):
who are doing a ton of goodfor our community. We try to find
out exactly what it is they're doingin maybe some ways that we can help.
I'm excited today because Cassie Locke isfrom the Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks.
And not only are we going totalk about what you guys do there,
Cassie, we get to do somecelebrating today, Is that right?
Yes? Well, actually this notjust this day, but this whole year.
(00:48):
Yeah. Well, this is theonly day we're gonna I've got I've
got a whole cake thing, allright, so let me candles and everything.
This year marks our organization's twenty fiveyear anniversary, so we are extremely
excited, not just today but everyday this year. So we're trying to
get the word out about that,let people know that we're out there and
(01:08):
we're happy to be serving those arks. Anything exciting planned, I mean twenty
five years is you know, prettylong time you guys have any like a
big party or something. We're goingto have some special events. Our first
one that we have coming up isgoing to be our Parkinson's Resource Fair.
Yeah. Yeah, I remember thisfrom from last year, and I remember
(01:32):
when we got together on this andjust realizing like how many things you guys
do as far as resources in thiscommunity for folks that are either personally afflicted
or have someone within their family orfriends that are. It's really incredible.
Yes, we're having a resource fairthat's going to line up perfectly with Parkinson's
(01:53):
Awareness Month, which is in April. Our event is going to be on
April twentieth at empower Abilities. We'regoing to have of local businesses, organizations
all over from the Ozarks there andthey're just going to be sharing information with
families about Parkinson's resources. So it'sa wonderful event for people to learn more
about what's available in the community.Sure, how did this all start?
(02:14):
I mean, you know, there'sa lot of and I'm not trying to
make light of any any disease,but there's a lot of diseases, cancers,
afflictions, you know what I mean. And so to have a group
that is solely focused on one ofthem, would I would imagine that that
has to have a reason for startingor somebody it was personal to someone twenty
(02:37):
five years ago, take us back, like what happened. Yes, it's
a little bit before the time Ijoined the organization, But twenty five years
ago there was a gentleman mild ofrise that had Parkinson's and he had pretty
much had a vision that he wantedto have an opportunity that resources were available
(02:57):
for the community, because there wasnot really anything at the time that anyone
could turn to. When you're diagnosedwith the disease, you feel kind of
alone, scared, overwhelmed. There'sjust, you know, a lot of
a lot of weight on your shoulders, and it'd be helpful for those resources.
So he started the Parkinson's Group ofthe Ozarks. It started off very
(03:19):
small, just a small handful ofvolunteer board members. They start off a
little bit with the support group,but worked diligently with other community members to
just grow the organization over the years. So it was just seeing a need
that this was something that wasn't reallyaddressed here in southwest Missouri and wanted to
have that resource available so that wouldn'thave a similar struggle. Gotcha, I
(03:42):
see. So let's do a stateof the union right now. Right it's
twenty five years later, how isParkinson's Group of the Ozarks going? And
where do you see it going inthe next twenty five I mean, it's
just it's jaw dropping. That's that'sall I can say. From the short
time that I've been with the organization, it has grown so much over the
(04:03):
past couple decades. Like mentioned,it started off there was no wellness classes
and we are now offering up totwelve thirteen free wellness classes for Parkinson's families.
So these are locations where families cango and they can do dance,
they can do boxing, they cando pilates, yoga, all these classes
(04:25):
that can help with their symptoms andit's offered to them for free. So
we have that wonderful opportunity that's justgrown over the years. Some of our
other events are five k we hadat the very beginning, many many years
ago, maybe twenty people participating inthe run, maybe thirty, and it
has grown to over about three hundredand fifty participants. So it's just it's
(04:47):
definitely getting the word out. Wehave a newsletter that has grown tremendously.
We send that out to over onethousand families in the Ozarks. I mean,
just the growth over the past decadehas just been fantastic. We have
seven support groups all throughout southwest Missourithat's available. Just seeing it grow over
the years, it's just amazing.You're so thankful for the support from the
(05:10):
community, from our board, fromvolunteers, from just everyone. Yeah,
that is really cool to hear,and congratulations to you all. I know
that it is needed, clearly twentyfive years later to be building and building
that signifies certainly a need in theOzarks. And so I think we as
a community are grateful for you alland what you do, which is really
(05:31):
really neat. So thank you fortaking some time today. I want to
go to like a very rudimentary questionand you can hang this on my ignorance
if you want to. I'm fineflying that flag. When we talk about
Parkinson's sometimes I feel like, oh, we know what that is, but
(05:51):
we don't know what it is.You know, it's a well known Parkinson's
disease, but what exactly is thatwhen you get that diagnosis? What does
that mean? Oh gosh, yeah, well it's a question. But like
it's the best way I could thinkof other than being like, so,
what is Parkinson's? You know?Well, no, that is a wonderful
(06:15):
question. That's actually, you know, something that a lot of people are
afraid to ask. You know,sometimes we have this idea in our head
of what the disease is, butactual and actuality is completely different. We
may not have all of the piecesor all the information. Parkinson's disease,
and I'll try to lay this outas simple as possible, is a nervous
system disorder where the brain stops producinga chemical called dopamine, and dopamine oversees
(06:42):
a lot of muscle control movement,but it also plays a factor and a
lot of other smaller things, somenon motor symptoms that we don't think of
as well. So usually when wethink about Parkinson's, the first thing that
people come to mind with the diseaseis the tremors. Are the shaking.
However, there are a lot ofother symptoms that are just not well known.
So sometimes a person may have alittle bit of a stiffness or rigidness,
(07:09):
a slow movement. Sometimes they havea trouble walking. Sometimes we'll have
non motor symptoms that will be alittle bit more prevalent than the other symptoms.
So sometimes they may have, youknow, constipation or stomach issues.
Sometimes they'll have where they start toknow as changes in their voice where their
voice is a lot more softer.They might start noticing their words are a
(07:30):
little bit more slurred. It couldbe memory problems, even cognitive changes.
So you know, sometimes kind ofconfused with or overlaps a little bit with
Alzheimer's or dementia, but they sharesome of those similar symptoms and a lot
of people are not aware about that. So Parkinson's isn't a cookie cutter disease.
You know, everyone experiences different symptomswith it. So a lot of
(07:54):
people identify with the tremors or theshaking, but some people may not experience
that at all, or sometimes thatmay be everyone. It's in a while,
everyone experiences a little bit differently withthe disease. How prevalent is the
issue in our community. In thecommunity here, we estimate maybely about two
to three thousand people are in theOzarks living with parkinson that's so much,
(08:18):
I know, it's hard to believethat. The Parkinson's Foundation estimates about one
hundred and fifty four thousand Missourians areliving with the disease here, So when
we think about the Ozarks, it'skind of hard to find that geography.
But we estimate about maybe two thousandand three thousand people. Some people like
mentioned may have some of the symptomsand already diagnosed yet, so then we're
(08:41):
not sure on all of those numbersbecause of that reason, because they may
not visited a doctor or a neurologistto get an official diagnosis. Okay,
so let me resent quickly. CansieLocked from the Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks.
I don't even think I said yourofficial title. What's your official type,
Cassie, I'm the executive assistant.Okay, that's awesome, thanks for
joining us here. We're talking aboutthe Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks. Obviously
(09:03):
the twenty fifth anniversary year on somereally exciting and fun stuff coming up here
over the next few months. Now, though, just trying to get an
idea of I mean thousands of peoplehere in the Ozarks, which blows my
mind still that number. How areyou getting connected to those people being diagnosed?
At what point during the process doesthe Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks come
(09:28):
in to help and how are youfinding out about it? Well, we
are very fortunate that we have alot of wonderful community partners, so we
work closely with Cox with Mercy,with Charlotte Health and Neurology and a few
other clinics here in the Ozarks tohelp get the word out about our organization
(09:48):
and what we do. So we'reable to provide a little bit more information
on that. Our biggest factor andthe biggest thing that we have to promote
our organization is actually word of now. So usually someone will kind of mention
the word to someone else in thatold fashioned way of getting the news out
has been our best route on gettingpeople to be aware about our organization.
(10:11):
But we're liking to have great communitypartners that are helping to spread the word
and letting people know about what wedo. So what is that experience like?
Start me from the beginning, somebodygets the diagnosis they hear either through
word of mouth or having already somepre existing knowledge that you guys are around
in the os arens and helping someonecomes to you and how like what happens
(10:37):
then you know. So usually whensomeone becomes diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, like
mentioned before, it's a little bitoverwhelming a lot of information. They like
to do their research, so they'reeither reading their books, looking things up
on the internet, trying to findout as much information about it that they
can, and by the time theycontact us, they just sometimes are overwhelmed
(11:00):
and don't know where to start.So we make sure that when they call
on everything, we answer any questionsthat they have. But usually the first
thing that we want to kind ofguide them to is a support group.
We have several in the area,so port group is just a great opportunity
for them to meet others and toask those questions and to get actual personal
(11:20):
insight from other families that are experiencingmaybally similar things, walking in those same
footsteps. So it's just a wonderfulopportunity to get out and meet others that
are having the same journey. Andlet me briefly interrupt, you are these
I don't have any experience with supportgroups. My wife, who is a
therapist, you know, runs themall the time. Me personally, the
(11:41):
only experience that I've had is seeingthem on TV shows or whatever. So
it's everyone sitting in a circle anddoing the talking thing. Is that kind
of what we're talking about here?Do they look different? What does it
feel like in those? I meanI would imagine at first probably a little
nerve wracking, right. Well,each support group is a little bit different,
(12:01):
so each one has a little bitdifferent style format. A lot of
the support groups do what they callis share and Care sessions, and then
they also do educational educational sessions.It's almost a tongue twister. The share
and Care sessions is where everyone kindof gets together and they'll have a topic
that they like to discuss. Sosometimes it may be medication and maybe home
(12:22):
health care, maybe about cognitive changesand just that kind of Q and a
time where everyone can kind of visitand discuss the topic. Other times,
the support group is kind of arounda guest speaker, so we'll have local
healthcare professionals that may come in andmaybe someone that comes and talk about eye
care or someone that talks about falseprevention or planning for your future, and
(12:46):
they'll come in and talk about thosecertain topics. So it's a little bit
of a learning experience as well forthem and kind of get some the brain
turning on things that you know,maybe they weren't thinking about before. So
those are it's just great formative sessionswhere they can ask those additional questions that
sometimes arise along the way. Sure, the very very brief Google search I
(13:07):
did before we talked, because againI've got no problem showing off how ignorant
I am, was eye opening becausewith a lot of famous diseases or afflictions,
there is a shorter life expectancy.And from what I understand, and
(13:28):
you correct me if I'm wrong,but folks who are diagnosed with Parkinson's don't
really see a shorter life span asregular. It goes near normal life expectancy,
right, So it kind of reinforcedto me the Parkinson's group of the
(13:48):
ozarks being that this isn't a shortterm thing. This is a many many,
many, many many years thing thatfolks have to deal with. Yes,
the biggest factor with all of thatis how proactive someone is once diagnosed
with the disease there. Staying active, you know, and when we say
(14:11):
active, not just physically but alsomentally socially. Staying inactive and all those
realms is going to make a hugeimpact on the future with the disease and
how the symptoms are managed throughout thethroughout the course. Yeah, so I
interrupted you. We were talking aboutthe support groups as being one of the
first steps you'll you'll point someone who'scome to your organization for help towards what
(14:35):
what other things are you guys offeringthere at Parkinson's Group at the OZECS well.
In addition to support groups, wealso have free wellness classes, so
we have a variety of different classesjust about almost anything to suit anybody's needs.
It can range from non contact boxingto plates to dance to yoga.
(14:56):
We've had ping pong. We havealso a our social activities like game nights.
We'll have a trivia night event comingup, so we have a lot
of opportunities for families to come outand a lot of our classes the care
partner is welcome to attend. They'reall offered for free for our Parkinson's family,
so it's a wonderful opportunity. Iwas going to ask a lot of
(15:18):
the time with this show, andit's one of my favorite things because I
like to nerd out and find outwhat goes on behind the scenes. So,
but you know, you guys havefundraisers throughout the year, and you
obviously raise money because of what you'retrying to support. What are you guys
primarily spending the majority of your fundson. I'd say with that, you
(15:41):
know, our biggest focus right nowis our wellness classes and getting those opportunities
out directly towards for our family.So we are exploring to looking at new
locations right now. A lot ofour classes are in the Sprinkfeld area,
so we're always expanding, always lookingat options, and we're actually having a
new class that's starting in March that'sgoing to be a Nixa that's a yoga
(16:03):
class for Parkinson. So that's ourtaking those small steps to reach outside of
the Springfield area and more of southwestMissouri. So that's one of our main
goals. Cassie Locke joining us hereon iHeart the ozarnch She's from Parkinson's group
of the Ozarks, celebrating their twentyfifth anniversary this year and some cool events
(16:23):
coming up. We briefly touched onthe Parkinson's Resource Fair, but I know
I remember when we were doing publicservice announcements last year and you guys sent
me here's what's going on, andit was just, I mean, the
longest list of things. It wasa Cassie, this is a thirty second
thing we're doing here. You guysare doing so much. I don't know
(16:45):
how to whittle this down into thirtyseconds. But now look at us,
We've got all the time in theworld. Tell me more. Let's get
in depth. What happens at theParkinson's Resource Fair that's coming up April to
twentieth at Empowerabilities. Is that whatthe play? Yes? That is correct.
Awesome. So we have our Thisis our second annual Parkinson's Resource Fair.
(17:07):
The year prior we had it ata different location, and this year
we're kind of changing things up.We're in a new partnership. We're very
excited for the new location Empowerabilities.We'll be in their community room, very
large, very spacious building, andlike I mentioned before, we'll have community
partners throughout the Ozarks. We're goingto have the Parkinson's Foundation Heartland Chapter,
(17:30):
We're going to have the Body SmithStudio, the Center for Music Therapy and
Wellness. We'll have some ladies theretalking about Parkinson's yoga. I mean,
just a lot of different community membersorganizations that are there to share that Parkinson's
information. The event will go fromten am until twelve and it's just a
kind of a free, come andgo style event. We're going to have
(17:52):
some door prizes though, we'll havesome light snacks and refreshments. So it's
just kind of a laid back upto need you to go and visit with
different people and learn what's out there. Yeah, what is the goal of
doing something like that? Because partof my brain is like, well,
if people are already connected to Parkinson'sgroup of the Ozarks, they probably already
know a lot about the offerings thatyou guys have. And if somebody isn't
(18:17):
aware, I mean maybe they don'thave Parkinson's or don't know anybody with that,
Like, is there a population ofpeople out there who are being or
have been touched with Parkinson's disease andhaven't connected to your organization? Is that
the goal? Yes? So thelast resource fair that we held, we
had actually a lot of people thathad not even heard about our organization.
(18:37):
They had been diagnosed with Parkinson's andthey just weren't aware. That's where we
mentioned before kind of call ourselves ahidden gym, because you know, once
people find out about us, theyget excited and they realize, oh my
gosh, there's something here for usthat you know, we can do.
It's not going to cost me anythingextra, and it can help me with
my symptoms. So it's you know, that's one of the biggest thing is
(19:00):
that we get our name out alittle bit more, let people know about
our resources. But in addition tothat, people can learn a little bit
more about the classes visiting with themin person. So sometimes people may think,
well, yoga, I'm not sureif I want to be bending into
pretzel shapes and those kinds of things, and they get a little hesitant,
But it's a wonderful opportunity where theycan visit with the instructors and talk to
(19:22):
them a little bit more about whatthe class entails, so it eases some
of those concerns for them. Soit's just really lots of great information.
Yeah, that's great. April twentiethand empower Abilities. Where is Empowerabilities?
Fourteen fifty West Cambridge Street. SoI think it's behind the new seven Brew
(19:44):
if I believe, oh my god, there's been. I feel like there's
been like five seven Brews that havepopped up recently. No One Battlefield by
Ford, okay, but near Battlefieldand Fort right over there, and empower
abilities And then obviously you'll have linksto this on your website. What's the
best place to go to get thisinformation? Though? The best place to
go is going to be our websitefor that information, or our Facebook page
(20:07):
and that's Parkinson'sgroup dot org. Andthen also our Facebook page is Parkinson's Group
awesome Parkinson'sgroup dot org or search Parkinson'sgroup on Facebook for information and clearly I
needed them Directions to the Parkinson's ResourceFair coming up on April the twenty.
If you mentioned other fun events youmentioned a five K. I know we're
(20:30):
probably a ways away from that,but maybe we can put this in the
back of our head somewhere. What'sthat all about? When's that going to
happen? Do you know yet?Even? Should I not ask the question?
Well, before we jump into fiveK, I can mention our trivia
night it's going to be coming upin July we're going to have that at
the Relics Event Center. We hadthat last year as well, and that
(20:52):
sold out so quickly. It wasjust a really great event, learning about
a little bit about the Parkinson's groupand community resources. But it was just
actually a fun night for our familiesto get out and you know, go
in the back of the mind forthe brain for those trivia questions about movies
and music and different things. Sowho hosted that for you guys? Last
(21:12):
year? We hosted it ourselves,did you really? Yeah? Wow,
you didn't even think about asking yourboy here. I mean, I'm a
hoot at parties. I will letour event coordinator know that. Wait,
is it a is it a familyfriendly event? Yes? Oh, then
(21:36):
you don't want me. I'm bad. You don't want you don't want that.
I like the late now, youknow, like the ones that happened
in bars and stuff. That's alittle bit more my speed. I mean
I might be able to tone itdown. But you said it was your
first one and it sold out likecrazy, So that's great to hear.
Yes, And then when when isthat coming up this year? That is
July thirteenth. Okay, awesome,Well, we got some time in between
now and then for you to convinceme that I can. Yes, I
(22:00):
can in touch with our event coordinator. Sure, I'm sure she would love
to have you, so she'll workher magic on that. Awes a bed.
Yeah. No, trivia is sofun and it's cool that you guys
are able to do that and allowfolks from outside of the organization and maybe
even outside of the disease to comein and say we'd like to help and
we'd like to have a good time, like let's figure this out. So
(22:21):
that's really really cool to hear.And then I mentioned five k I did
we have like I don't know,five or six minutes left, but I
wanted to get personal with you.We've never talked before. I don't think
you'd meet Cassie. And I'm curiousyou mentioned earlier it's you haven't been at
Parkinson's Group of the Ozarks very long, I mean comparatively to this twenty fifth
year anniversary that's going on. AndI find that some of the best stories
(22:45):
for folks who work at nonprofits arethe reason behind them going to work there.
And I'm just curious. You canget as deep as you'd like,
But what was it about Parkinson's Groupof the Ozarks that made you say that's
where I'm going to work on that. It's just it's it's a great family
atmosphere. Everyone on my team is. They're all volunteering their time and they
(23:10):
are all so supportive, you know. It's it's almost like having a second
family. I just have a greatteam that I work with, and I
just I can go on and onabout it for probably five minutes on how
wonderful they are. But no,prior to joining the Parkinson's Group of the
Ozarks, I had worked for actuallySenior Age Area agency on aging for several
(23:33):
years on that and then my familyneeded to make a transition on some of
my work schedule and and my timeaway. So we found a great spot
with the Parkinson's Group of the Ozarksand it's just it's been a perfect fit
since then. So it's been wonderfuljust working with the older adult community.
Yeah, what is it about thatage group that you're so connected to?
(23:56):
I'm not sure. I mean,I really attribute to growing up, I
was very close with my grandparents,both my grandmother and grandpa on my mother's
side and then my grandmother on myfather's side. I was always close to
both of them. I would writethem letters, I would go dancing at
the senior centers, visit with them, you know, I just I always
(24:21):
had that close knitba on and youknow, it's just it felt a little
bit of a comfort being around themand knowing about the past and what they've
been through in their experience, andyou know, it's just that that's something
I wanted to carry forward with.So it's just been a joy. And
certainly somebody who has empathy for thatgroup and someone who's willing to advocate for
(24:44):
that group is much needed. Iknow. You know, there's a lot
of groups that get a ton ofattention age groups, you know. I
mean, there's so many folks,and rightfully so, that advocate for the
kids in our community. But Ithink sometime times the ones that get left
out the most are our elderly population. And it's great to see folks like
(25:07):
you and your amazing team. Itsounds like a who are doing that,
So kudos to you guys. That'sall great, well done. Thank you.
One more time. We're going torecap this really really quickly. Parkinson's
Group of the Ozarks twenty fifth anniversarythis year and the first major event is
the Parkinson's Resource Fair. Give methat in a nutshell. Here Parkinson's Resource
(25:32):
Fair on Saturday, April twentieth,from ten am to twelve pm at empower
Abilities fourteen fifteen fourteen fifty West CambridgeStreet. We'll have companies and businesses organizations
all over the Ozarks. They aresharing information about Parkinson's disease. It's free
and we encourage you to come.Also, Trivia Night coming up in June,
(25:53):
and a lot more to celebrate I'msure this milestone July, sorry in
July, and I'm sure a lotmore to celebrate this big milestone for you
guys this year. Best place forfolks to get information about Parkinson's Group of
the Ozarks is where Parkinson's Group dotorg or Facebook page Parkinson's Group awesome.
(26:14):
And as far as folks who you'dlike to see reach out besides maybe those
themselves who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's, who else do you see reaching out
looking for information, looking to getinvolved. Just anyone in the community that
is interested in learning more about thedisease. Sometimes it may be someone that
has a neighbor that has Parkinson's oryou know they just want to learn a
(26:37):
little bit more about how to helpsomeone, and so we're there to help
answer those questions and get them someresources. Cassie Locke from the Parkinson's Group
of the Ozarks, thank you somuch for joining. This was great and
we did it. I mean itwent by really fast, number one,
right, almost as fast as weset this whole thing up to talk.
(26:57):
I think it was like ten minutesbetween like hey you want to do this
to like, hey, let's we'reface to face now. So this is
a I appreciate you. You doit so quickly. You are fantastic and
good luck with everything this year.It sounds like you guys are are you
got a lot of stuff planned.So that's really really cool. Thank you,
and thank you so much for havingme on. You know, it's
just it's a wonderful opportunity. Soif you are maybe just listening and got
(27:22):
here within the last couple of minutesand you're like, oh my gosh,
this sounds like something maybe I wouldlike to get involved with or would like
to at least learn more about acouple of things you heard. Cassie mentioned
Parkinson's Group. Dot org is theirwebsite. If you want to listen to
this episode in its entirety, andmaybe you just caught a couple minutes of
it here. That's great. It'salready up at our podcast, which,
and this might come as a shock, is on the iHeartRadio app. I
(27:45):
know you would think it's crazy withan iHeartRadio station we would have an iHeartRadio
podcast, and yes we do,and it's called iHeart the Ozarks. It's
super duper easy to find. Youcan listen to this episode and its entirety
right now on demand, as wellas any other episode that we've done.
We do these every week with againindividuals, groups, community organizations that are
(28:07):
doing a ton of good for ourcommunity, just like the Parkinson's Group of
the Ozarks is and so yeah,iHeart the Ozarks on iHeartRadio and the app
for all every podcast in the worldpretty much, but also this one,
which is great for myself, ClintGurley and the rest of our team here
at iHeartRadio in Springfield. Thank youso much for listening. Have a great
rest of the day.
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