Hello All,

Shop for bargains while helping to give hope and support to families facing a devastating illness or disability on May 30 and 31 during Hasbrouck Heights’ annual Town-Wide Garage Sale.  Anne Ciavaglia McMahon, founder of Our New Journey, a project of Heightened Independence and Progress (HIP) will open her yard at 180 Oldfield Avenue, Hasbrouck Heights to offer household items, apparel & accessories, books/dvds, holiday items and children’s goods, with all proceeds benefiting Our New Journey. 

Communicating Effectively with Healthcare Professionals
Date: Thursday, November 6 and 13, 2008
Location: Your Phone or Computer
The National Family Caregivers Association is hosting a free national TeleClass for family caregivers.  This two-part series features two 1-hour phone calls.  In Part I, participants will develop a basic understanding of how the U.S. healthcare system operates, understand their roles on their loved one’s healthcare team, be able to describe how good communication can facilitate optimum health care, and know how to prepare for doctor office visits.  In Part II, participants will develop strategies to establish rapport/collaborate with their loved one’s healthcare providers, distinguish between different styles of communicating with healthcare professionals, compose assertive messages for communicating in healthcare situations, and be prepared for and cope with an emergency room visit.  For more information and to register, please call 1-800-896-3650 or visit:

Disabled woman advises caregivers
Thursday, May 3, 2007

By DENISA R. SUPERVILLE
HERALD NEWS

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS -- No one expected Anne Ciavaglia to go quietly into the sunset after retiring as director of senior services for Bergen County.
She did not disappoint.

Less than a month after leaving the job, Ciavaglia, 49, plans to help families wade through the redtape after suddenly becoming caregivers to ill or disabled family members.

Navigating the social services bureaucracy can be daunting enough when you know which strings to pull. For the uninitiated, it can be downright dispiriting.
"If you''ve never been in a crisis, people don''t even know what to do -- from ''how do I talk to the doctor?'' to ''how do I keep on top of the meds?''" said Ciavaglia, who uses a wheelchair because she has muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that gradually weakens the muscles and affects more than 250,000 Americans, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

She has started a fund, A New Journey, which will provide peer counseling, financial assistance and referrals to families affected by debilitating illness. It will be affiliated with Heightened Independence & Progress, a Hackensack-based center for people with disabilities, where Ciavaglia has offered to volunteer and raise money for the program, said Eileen Goff, the executive director.

From hip newsletter 2007/Q3

  Anne Ciavaglia Partners with hip to Help Caregiver 
   
  It is with great pleasure that we report an exciting new program, “A New Journey,” in collaboration with a dedicated member and longtime friend of hip, Anne Ciavaglia. Anne, a lifelong resident of Hasbrouck Heights, embarked on her own “new journey” several months ago upon her retirement as director of Bergen County’s Division of Senior Services. Motivated by her firsthand knowledge of the value of the in-home care that has been so important in the lives of her own family members, Anne has decided to volunteer to raise funds and work actively with hip to help families in crisis as they “wade through the complicated maze of suddenly becoming caregivers to an ill or disabled family member,” as reported in The Record of May 3rd.