President: Craig DiTommaso, MD

Vice President: Patricia Tully, OTR

Treasuer: Jose Ceja, JD

Secretary: Alicia Ramirez, RN

Grant Writing Committee Captain: Leslie Wiggins, OTR

Patient Liaison Committee Captain: Nicole Buongiorne, PT

Equipment Committee Captain: Tricia Tully, OTR

Event Planning Committee Captain: Katie Beaudoin, PA-C

Informational Technology Captains: Stephen Hampton and Anand Allam, MD

Project Understanding Needs In Our Neighborhoods (Project UNION) is a grass-roots idea

and it was formed by physiatrists, physician assistants, physical and occupational therapists,

and nurses who felt that their patients often possessed so much functional potential, yet lacked

the basic tools to achieve greater independence. This small group of committed individuals

decided to create an organization that would be committed to recovering, restoring,

and refurbishing wheelchairs, hospital beds, bathroom equipment and other durable medical

equipment and then distribute them to individuals in need. In July 2009, Project UNION was

recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as earning an exempt tax status 501 (c) (3).

The first few months were very humbling as the primary goal was to spread the word about the idea

and collect the rare donation.  The first activity for Project UNION was an awareness event on

October 8, 2009. The organization gained momentum after this event and received the first sizable

donation of equipment from a local wheelchair vendor in December 2009. Project UNION then

quickly needed to obtain storage space, make repairs to the equipment, replace broken

parts, create applications, screen applicants, and most importantly,

construct a method of distributing the goods to those in need.  In order to meet these increasing demands,

the first fundraiser activity occurred March 2010. With persistent effort and tireless devotion

from volunteers, Project UNION has slowly transformed the initial successes into a functional

organization capable of assisting individuals in the community. Through much trial and error,

daily problems are tackled with a combination of teamwork and hard work. Project UNION continues

to gain momentum, while more donations and even more applications “roll in” every day.