Greetings
to all in the field of rehabilitation and especially to members of the National Rehabilitation Association and North Carolina
Rehabilitation Association.
I am very honored and proud
to serve as your North Carolina Rehabilitation Association President for 2008. My focus for 2008 will of course be on increasing
our membership in the association but more importantly in retaining our present members. As with all other associations, membership
is declining and one of the reasons for this is the decline in those renewing their memberships due to various reasons. My
hope this year is to work with membership in finding out those reasons and to get a better understanding, as well as to develop
some ideas to keep those members in NCRA.
Another focus for the association
in 2008 is to talk with students in our universities and colleges who are in rehabilitation or counseling studies. My view
is that students are the future of this organization and we need to be doing all we can to mentor and encourage our students
to be a part of the NRA/NCRA and to get involved. In 2008, the board will have a student representative and we will hopefully
be able to find out what students are involved in regarding rehabilitation and what they would like see the associations become
involved in. My goal is to see some of these students attend conferences locally as well as nationally.
In 2008 I would like to
see not only more students, but those who also work in other fields of rehabilitation such as community rehabilitation programs,
social workers who work in rehabilitation hospitals and nursing homes, vendors who work with rehabilitation consumers and
those in private rehabilitation and encourage them to attend the 2008 NCRA conference at the University Hilton in Charlotte
and to become part of the association and get involved.
Finally, I would like to
see the NCRA have more of a presence in the community that we work and live in. NCRA is a wonderful association but it not
very well known outside of the field of rehabilitation. My goal this year is to encourage the three chapters in the NCRA to
have at least one hands-on project for the year in their respective areas, wherein our members are involved in some type of
community service project related to rehabilitation or serving persons with disabilities.
Again, I am extremely honored
to serve as president of the NCRA and I am open to any suggestions, ideas and comments regarding the association and what
we may be able to do to improve in any area. Please feel free to contact me at 704-568-8804 or email me at donna.lovill@ncmail.net or lovill@carolina.rr.com any time.
Donna Lovill
