Supporting Champions, a non-profit corporation, has developed a collaborative template to introduce people to the importance of balancing the medical-patient relationship and to help patients be seen and heard by family, friends and health practitioners.
We help people become proactive in their life plans by inserting their personalities into their prognoses. Using the simple "Your Dag Chart", we help you document what activities are important in your life, enabling the Care-Provider to prescribe a treatment plan that will be as supportive as possible to your lifestyle.
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Supporting Champions has a very simple goal. We want our user-friendly booklet to receive as much international exposure as possible, so that we can help shorten the time it is taking to have people respect their quality of life over estimated quantity of life.
Ongoing studies from Johns Hopkins, Stanford and medical groups across the nation are showing that "end of life" patients live longer and better with palliative care than those utilizing conventional medicine.
CHAIRBEDS . . .
Our Mantra is to supply much needed ChairBeds to hospitals across the land.
A Chairbed is a piece of furniture, built to be placed in a hospital room without taking any additional space away from the already cramped visitor space. It is a merely a chair that folds out to a sleeper length.to accommodate family or fiends of the patient.
There are hospitals around the world that do not have enough, if any, chairbeds for a loved one/advocate to be with the patient during a hospital stay. The consideration and hospitality, as well as not being alone, is a tremendous blessing for a patient and family. The proceeds from the books and products will go towards securing chairbeds for hospitals.
Our goal is simple, but not easy. We need your help to get the word out.
The Executive Board:
Dyan Foster, 1960-2016, Past Executive Director
The late, Ms. Foster devoted her career to social justice and youth development. She has improved her community with her development of nationally acclaimed unique peer-based education and violence prevention programs for Sonoma County youth. Her innovative leadership caused her to be: named “Woman of the Year” by the CA. State Legislature in 2008; awarded “Outstanding Achievement Award” from San Quentin Squires, 2001-2009; Graduate of Leadership Santa Rosa; rewarded with Certificate of Recognition from California State Senate, “Minimizing Occurrence of Violence in Everyday Society”; and has been honored by many state and local organizations. Dyan’s incredible people skills and creative talents make her the first “Champion” with Supporting Champions.
Dyan was the first person to utilize Your Dag Chart when in early 2016 she was diagnosed with oral cancer. She shared her chart with her surgeon in depth and he scheduled her for surgery the next Wednesday. Once upon the table, she was anesthetized and he entered her mouth. Within minutes he withdrew from the surgery. The next morning, upon waking up, the surgeon, who was Department Chief, Thyroid & Parathyroid Surgery, Head & Neck Surgical Oncology, told her that he could not surgically remove the carcinoma without destroying the majority of activity preferences she indicated on her Dag Chart. Instead, he advised her to have chemo and radiation therapy.
Adam Goodman, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder
Mr. Goodman’s experience in the fields of advertising, law, human resources, and health combined with his flair for entrepreneurship, has allowed him to create the supporting products and programs for Supporting Champions. His advocacy for people with disabilities led him to work with Congressman Mike Thompson and the Office of Civil Rights to help create a healthy and safer environment for students at the Santa Rosa Junior College.
Adam majored in Business/Marketing, founded the American Council for Firework Safety, and volunteers with the Sonoma County Sheriff Department’s Search and Rescue Team where he served as the Director of Explorer operations and taught emergency medical skills. He combines his analytical and visionary skills into strategic planning for Supporting Champions.
Oral (Buddy) Steele, Director of Education
Master Teacher, Mr. Steele, has a Life Specialist Instruction Credential in Special Education; honored for Clear, Cross-cultural, Language and Academic Development Certification; MA, Administrative Service Credential; Received "Special Education Teacher of the Year" honors in 2000 and "Teacher of the Year" honors in 2005. Buddy heads up the PedestrianSafe program and has authored the curriculum and online education.
Mark Spongberg, Vice-President
Mr. Spongberg has led a successful career as a business entrepreneur for over 29 years. He started his own company in the national mail order and retail channels, which quickly grew into a multi-location chain, ultimately selling to the Staples Corporation where it continues to thrive. His success has been due to his skill in helping others and sharing his knowledge, creativity, and innovations as well as surrounding himself with extremely skilled staff and enjoys working through the complexities of government regulations, social interactions, mores and economic drives.
Susan Pasdera, Secretary
Ms. Pasdera is not only a patron of the arts, she has enjoyed a successful life as a jewelry designer and in order to more personally know her clients, she created a retail jewelry store and operated
this for thirty years. Her passion for life has led her to a strong advocacy for living with dignity and she brings this passion to Supporting Champions.
Jan Simonin, Treasurer
Ms. Simonin has enjoyed a celebrated life in the arts, designing jewelry in gold and platinum for over 30 years. Her “Cinnamon Designs” product line has been distributed and enjoyed around the world. Her education background in finance and her love of the arts combined with her interest in developing quality of life understanding for all, Jan adds a grounding voice to the development of Supporting Champions.
Bob Goodman, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder
Mr. Goodman has experienced much success in the fields of education, dentistry, real estate and advertising. He served three elected four-year terms on the Sonoma County Board of Education, retiring as President. He advocated for high risk kids as one of the founders of the Sonoma County Gang Task Force. As an advocate for people with special needs, he served as Chair of the Community Advisory Committee on Special Education. Mr Goodman is also the Founder of 1-800-Dentist. His multiple travels around the world have afforded him a broad sociological understanding of the human animal. Bob brings a passion for addressing complex issues with creative entrepreneurial strategies and strong fiscal management skills to Supporting Champions.
Randy Huling: Chief Illustrator
A native to Sonoma County, Mr. Huling is a graduate of The Art Institute of CA-San Francisco with a BS in Media Arts & Animation and a Adobe Certification in In Design from Santa Rosa Junior College. Since 1999, Randy has flourished as a freelance animator, illustrator, and designer. His illustrations and designs have been used on album covers, tee-shirts and theater and video production sets. Randy has been an independent musician and DJ and has incorporated his illustrations and designs into his music. Most recently, he has chosen to challenge himself by completing a minimum of one drawing a day, His sketchbooks are filled with illustrations documenting everything from births, deaths, sicknesses and icons of his memorable moments.
Cyndi Chamberlain, RN, MS, Director of Comfort-Care Technology
Ms. Chamberlain spent over 30 years working in healthcare. She is a retired home health and hospice nurse. Her professional career took her to hospitals, nursing homes and assisted livings. As an Admissions Nurse for Vitas Innovative Hospice she visited the homes of families throughout Los Angeles County. Her work involved educating patients and families dealing with a terminal diagnosis about the spectrum of care available and empowered them to make decisions that supported quality of life. She has also spent much of her personal life advocating for family members impacted by Autism and Alzheimer's Disease. Prior to her professional nursing career, Cyndi worked as a molecular biologist at Amgen developing a process to regrow colon cells after chemo therapy.
The Advisory Board:
L. J, Williamson, MD.
Jay R. Hodes, MD.
Doug Wilson, MD.
Elizabeth Heflin
Mike Grummell, Ret. Paramedic/Firefighter
Dyan Barkan, LCSW
Steve Nielsen, M. ED
Richard Seversen, Certified in Geriatric Pharmacy
Rob Kirby, CPA
Etienne Chamberlain, Gaming Consultant
Teri Sloat, Guest Artist, Extraordinaire
Dinorah Gallegos, Spanish Translation Master
Philippe Fouquet, French Translation Master
The Pearl
Everyone is so afraid of death,
but the real Sufis just laugh:
nothing tyrannizes their hearts.
What strikes the oyster shell
doesn't damage the pearl.
Rumi
For all Inquiries, please contact:
Info@SupportingChampions.com