Brain Injury Is A Journey

What if recovery felt less like appointments and more like belonging? We sit down with Donna Meltzer, CEO of Brain Injury Services in Fairfax, to unpack why “brain injury is a journey” and how a purpose-built clubhouse helps survivors—veterans and civilians alike—reclaim identity, skills, and community. From the first welcome to setting personal goals, the model flips the script: members choose to participate, practice real-life tasks, and build confidence where it matters most—at home, at work, and in relationships.

Walk through the Adapt Clubhouse’s core units that make progress tangible. In the culinary space, members plan menus, build grocery lists, navigate transportation, and cook safely in an accessible kitchen designed for independence. In the kitchen, conversation becomes therapy, restoring memory, sequencing, and social ease. In the technology unit, digital literacy turns into a bridge back to research, writing, and employability, with labeling systems—including braille—that reduce cognitive load and celebrate adaptation. With counseling and case management just steps away, support is coordinated rather than scattered.

We also tackle the hidden layers of TBI: PTS, moral injury, and the emotional fallout of “I’m fine.” Donna explains how wraparound services complement VA care or provide an alternative path for veterans who hesitate to seek help. We widen the lens to stroke and heart health, highlighting practical prevention—know your blood pressure and cholesterol, move daily, sleep well—and why repeat injuries are so common without education and community. The biggest takeaway is simple and urgent: one call can start the right mix of group belonging, mental health care, tech coaching, and home strategies. Share this with someone who’s struggling in silence, and help them find a place to breathe, rebuild, and belong.

If this conversation resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it to a friend or veteran who needs to hear it. Your share could be the nudge that changes a life.

Transcript

Opening And Guest Introduction

Larry Zilliox 0:14

Good morning. I'm your host, Larry Zilliox, Director of Culinary Services here at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run. And this week our guest is Donna Meltzer, and she is the CEO of Brain Injury Services over in Fairfax. And I wanted her to come on this week because March is brain injury awareness month. And this is such an important topic for everyone, um, veterans especially, but anybody who has children playing sports, anybody who has been in an auto accident, all sorts of people. Donna, welcome to the podcast.

Donna Meltzer 0:55

Well, thank you, Larry. It is a pleasure always to be here with you on this podcast.

Brain Injury As A Lifelong Journey

Larry Zilliox 1:00

Well, this uh month, March, is Brain Injury Awareness Month. And the theme for this year is brain injury is a journey. And I don't think our listeners understand that when you have a significant brain injury, that is a lifelong journey. And can you talk a little bit about uh that theme and how how important it is for this year?

Donna Meltzer 1:29

Yeah, absolutely. It I think it's just a beautiful theme because it really does speak to every single person who either has a brain injury or knows a person with brain injury. And I don't mean just, yeah, I know some guy down the street who has brain injury, but the people who are there day in and day out supporting an individual who lives with brain injury. Um, because it is a journey. It is a journey to refinding yourself. It's a journey to uh if you are the person with brain injury to understanding uh who you are now, what your needs are, who you want to be. For some people, it can really feel like a new outlet. Um, it's the new me, and I have to figure out who that new me is and who I want to become. And then finding out the the resources that you have to help you along your journey. I think that people um who are on this journey know it's it's a forever journey. Things can change from day to day, week to week, month to month, but the journey can be exciting, it can be impactful. I hear a lot of different things from clients and friends with brain injury who share these experiences with me. At Brain Injury Services, you know, our role is to support people on their journey.

Larry Zilliox 2:54

One of the ways you do that is my first encounters with brain injury services was an invitation to the ribbon cutting on the adaptive clubhouse that you all have that helps people kind of regain independence and really gives them a kind of real-world experience. And it's an amazing place. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about what purpose it serves, but also what it took to get it operational?

Designing An Accessible Space

Membership, Goals, And Accountability

Donna Meltzer 3:25

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for bringing that up. And you know, that's the first place that I met you, Larry, was when when you came to that event. And I was brand new at the time, and and um it was really exciting for me as well to cut that ribbon on this clubhouse, which um we'd had previous clubhouse locations in Northern Virginia, particularly in the Alexandria area. Um, but this was the first time that we were cutting a ribbon on a place that is so special for so many reasons. The obvious reason, of course, is the people that we serve in that clubhouse. And I'll get a little bit more into that in a moment. But I'm kind of taking your the second part of your question first, which was how did we get there? And we got there, I I was not part of this at the time. So I can't give you, you know, uh my own personal perspectives on it, but it was a that was a journey for us to let go of an old space that was not serving our clients or our staff team well. It was outdated, it was outmoded, it wasn't in the right location, but to really be able to think strategically as a staff team and with our board of trustees and others, the families and the clients to think about what do we want as a space for people who are on this journey. It needs to be a place where people can step into and breathe. It needs to be a place that is in a space within the community that is accessible, um, accessible to be able to get there with transportation, accessible meaning that it's not too off the beaten path. Um, it's right in the heart of our Fairfax community and others can reach it fairly easily. It needs to be accessible in that it's built with accessibility features that we know about through the Americans with Disabilities Act to make sure that everything is there to make that client experience so perfect for them. The individuals who come to our Adapt Clubhouse, um, we call them members because they're choosing membership in this um esteemed group of brain injury survivors who come together for this really important and impactful program and service that we provide. Um, the clubhouse is actually part of an international model of clubhouses. So around the world, people were establishing this kind of modality, um, a way to serve people. Uh initially, it was established for people with mental health issues, and then brain injury became a part of that model as well. And so there are many clubhouses across Virginia and around the world, but it really is a call it like a buy-in program for the people who choose membership and want to be a client. They have to show up and they have to be willing to say, this is part of my journey. I want to use this opportunity to set my goals for who I want to be, where I want to be, and what I want to be in my future. So while clubhouse members understand that they can be with us kind of forever, people sometimes come and go, um, but they have to have a direction. They're not just there to fill space and fill time. They're there to learn or relearn skills. They're there to explore what they want to do in the future. And that might look like returning to the job that they had before their brain injury. It might mean creating a whole new path for themselves because what they did before just doesn't seem right or appropriate anymore. Um, it might mean that, you know, they're going back to family. Maybe they're a parent who is in need of a really better understanding how they can still be this parent who's raising their child or being a sibling or somebody else's child, whatever it is that they want to do. We are there to support them through this unique program where our members um spend their days working on different skills. We have several different units uh within the clubhouse. We have a culinary unit right up your alley, Larry, um, where cooking is the focus. But it's more than just cooking, right? These are people who are learning the full range of skills that they need to have just to prepare a meal. So that means thinking ahead about preparing maybe menus for a week. How do you go shopping? You need to create a grocery list and then think about how do I get to the grocery store and what am I going to do once I'm there and bring home these ingredients and then learn how to cook safely. And we have a state-of-the-art kitchen, as you know, because you saw it yourself. It's fully accessible. Um, and it's just a joyous place to be, really. We all know, I think, that cooking is more than just um something you have to do every day, right? It is a we connect in the kitchen, right? How many, how many times do you go to somebody's house or people over to your house where everybody gathers in the kitchen?

Larry Zilliox 8:58

Oh, yeah.

Culinary Unit And Life Skills

Donna Meltzer 8:58

Yeah. The heart of the home is something that, right? It's the heart of the home. That's exactly right. Thank you for that. Because it is. Everybody gathers in the kitchen for conversation, to you know, having something to eat and to drink. And it's it's a place of love, really. I I think that many of us feel that when you cook, you're sharing love with people. It's sustenance. And um, for our members in the clubhouse, it is it's really where they all want to be most of the time because conversation happens, new skills are learned. We talk a lot about safety and food prep. And uh we do bring in uh specialists, nutritionists. Um, so it's more than just the skill of cooking, it's about the skills of life and what that means for each of our members and how to connect in that environment to really look at their helpful range of health and well-being. So that's a really special place for us within the clubhouse. We also have a beautiful technology unit where our members are learning or relearning skills on the computer, um, thinking about their future and work and they're learning how to do research and how to write, how to expand their research skills and writing skills and reading skills and communication in general. So that is also a very special place uh within our clubhouse. So lots of events happen there. It's uh it's a happening place.

Larry Zilliox 10:30

Wow, yeah, it's really uh it's really something. And um I I was amazed when I walked in and saw the kitchen and it was great, and uh everything was labeled, uh, which was really handy.

Donna Meltzer 10:44

Yes. And now we're working on all of the braille labeling as well.

Larry Zilliox 10:48

Nice. Yeah, we I when I saw that it, you know, we had just finished the um or we're we're going to uh start actually the uh Grand Lodge, and I thought about we've labeled all of our drawers. Now it's not on the outside like yours, but when you open a drawer, it's got a number and what a name of what goes in there. But um because we have 23 drawers in that kitchen.

Donna Meltzer 11:12

I've seen that kitchen, it's beautiful, and yes, it's huge.

Technology Unit And Communication

Labels, Accessibility, And Inclusion

Larry Zilliox 11:15

Yeah. You know, listeners, if you want to really kind of understand what it might be like to have a brain injury and to you know have to deal with it throughout your day, think of the simple things that you do and how hard they would be if you had memory issues. So, you know, you go to the grocery store, and we all tend to go to the same grocery store over time. And as you do that, you become familiar with things where they are. So you can move through your shopping experience rather rapidly. But you know, just imagine what it'd be like if every time you went to the same grocery store you couldn't remember where anything was, and how much more time it takes out of your life. When your memory isn't great, you spend a lot of time fixing the th the problems that c arise from the fact that you can't remember. This is one of the things we see with our veterans is the TBI, and it exasperates some of the other issues. You know, we typically say it's very rare that you have a veteran who experiences one particular issue. So if you've got TBI, you're most likely going to have post-traumatic stress and moral injury and and all sorts of things. You could have all sorts of internal injuries as well. So I'm sure when you're dealing with your members that have um a traumatic brain injury due to an accident, something that came on rapidly, there has to be some PTS involved in that, in addition to all the other issues that you face from mobility and memory and all sorts of things. What what how do you tackle that? Do you bring a kind of multidisciplinary process to this to help them with everything in their life? Or because we we know that with veterans and the services that they re receive, when you're talking about um TBI, especially severe TBI, and they're in like a VA hospital, there's a whole process that they go through that that involves the polytrauma unit where everything is centralized and ever all the doctors communicate. But what does that look like for your members? Do they get outside treatment with counseling that you coordinate with, or is everything done in-house?

Daily Challenges Of Memory Loss

TBI With PTSD And Integrated Supports

Donna Meltzer 13:41

So, really great questions. So um a lot of things to unpack in that. So we so things can happen in a variety of different ways. So, first, I always like to make sure that people understand we are not medical, right? We are there to support the individual's journey beyond the medical. Now, that may mean that they've already been through medical, or it may mean that they are still receiving medical treatment wherever that may be, with their private doctors, maybe it's through the VA, depending on their unique situation, they may be getting medical someplace else. Our clubhouse, our place is that place to come to belong. Really, that that that's my favorite word to use fat our clubhouse. Yes, many other things are happening, but belonging is one of the most important because what we do know is when you have a brain injury, your whole life turns upside down in a moment. And when you're trying to restart and get back to, you know, as I said, our our our folks have to design their goals, right? Where do I want to be? What do I want to do? In order to get there, you need that grounding. And so the grounding place is that physical location, being at the clubhouse with the same group of individuals, day in and day out, the same staff, day in, day out. It builds that sense of belonging and permanence. And this is my place. So we always look at that as kind of that's the grounding, that's where you begin. And then you start to figure out what else you need from there. Now, because our clubhouse was built very purposefully to be connected to our Fairfax offices. We call it our Fairfax Hub, if you will. Um, and you know, shout out and thanks to Fairfax County that really helped us financially and to be able to get into this space that we have. It does mean that our clients, excuse me, the members are able to access other services that we provide if they choose to do so. So, like you mentioned, mental health counseling. So we do have mental health counselors who have offices on the other side of our suite in Fairfax County. So if a member wanted to set up an appointment on that one of those days while they're already at the clubhouse, they can, you know, step out for that half hour or so to go do that. Or if they want to see their case manager or our veterans case manager or whatever other service they are engaging in through BIS, we can make that all kind of happen in one location. We also have some of our support staff go into the clubhouse and provide some group opportunities as well. So having our offices and the clubhouse under one roof has been really impactful for us and a big change from the way it was before we had this uh clubhouse location at Oldley Highway in Fairfax because uh at that point people had to travel around and get to different services or do some of them virtually, but now everything's under one roof.

Belonging As The Foundation

Larry Zilliox 17:05

Listeners, I want to direct your attention to the webpage. It's braininjurysvcs.org. So braininjurysvcs.org. Uh take a look at the webpage. There are plenty of resources on there. Uh donate to the organization. They're a nonprofit, and like every other nonprofit, need all the help they can get. And I'm sure you you know somebody who has had a brain injury of some sort, maybe a stroke, or they were in an accident and required uh help. And you know, if if you do know somebody, especially our veteran listeners, you know, we have uh a number of veterans that um will say shy away from the VA, especially our female veterans. Um about sixty-five percent of the uh women veterans population does not seek services from the VA. And so as an alternative, if you suffered a brain injury or you just have issues related to combat, you want to reach out to brain injury services in the Northern Virginia area. Please, you know, talk to them about how they can help or what resources they're aware of that could help you. Um, you don't have to go through the VA, but if you don't go through the VA, we don't want you to not get help. Um, and they are there to help. They have amazing case managers. Please go to the webpage and check them out. Donna, let's talk a little bit about uh the the kind of demographic of your members. Is it mostly folks that come who have been in accidents, whether it's work-related, you know, something fell on them, hit them on the head, they were in an auto accident, or what's what's the demographic of your your members look like?

Co-Located Services And Coordination

Website Resources And Veteran Outreach

Who They Serve And Common Causes

Donna Meltzer 19:01

Yeah, I would say, you know, first of all, uh I want your audience to know that we do serve from children through adults. So within our case management services, we do provide uh the the terminology is pediatric case management. Um, and our case managers all come under one department under very strong leadership from our our senior manager there. So they they crosswalk. So if you if you are a client who is maybe 17, 18 years old, you will just very smoothly transfer into being an adult client and not miss a beat in terms of your case manager and uh what you are able to um get from the support and the services that you have there. I would say um primarily, I mean, we we do have obviously a large core of um veterans, enough that we specifically have a veterans case manager. But I think the the primary um demographic would be brain traumatic brain injury caused by concussion, by car accidents, something falling on the head, you know, typically that that blow to the head. We are really trying to get word out there though, especially during this brain injury awareness month, that brain injury does occur in other ways through medical ways. I love that you mentioned the word stroke a few moments ago when you were talking. We do have clients who um have a stroke and that leads to brain injury, and there are many other medical conditions of the heart. We have a beautiful podcast that uh is out also for brain injury awareness month that we did with folks from the American Heart Association. We have been building a lovely partnership with the American Heart Association. Um, so at the national level, but also at the Virginia state level, um, to really help more people understand um that heart health is critical. And in that podcast that I did, along with uh Dr. Mitch Alkin from American Heart Association, Dr. Gregory O'Shannick, who is known to many of us in Virginia. He's a leading physician in brain injury in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Um, but we also had one of our clients from the clubhouse who uh talked about her personal experience of having a stroke and how she wished she had known more about her health care and uh the way she was living her life, um, because she did end up having a stroke, and that's how she ended up finding us. And um, I encourage all of you listeners, especially because if you're listening to this podcast, you probably really enjoy listening to podcasts in general. And so um this one, which will be on our website, um, I think will have a great impact and teach everybody. I know I learned a lot from um reading this podcast to learn about the medical science end of. Heart disease and stroke and what you need to know. Our physicians on that podcast talk about how you need to take control of your own health care and see your medical people regularly to know your stats. You know, am I heart healthy? Am I eating right? Am I getting the right um amount of exercise? Am I taking good care of myself? Am I getting sleep? All of these things that we know um can lead to heart disease, which can connect with brain injury. So I think having these relationships uh with the uh heart association and stroke association and others has been really beneficial for us at brain injury services because we're getting that kind of knowledge and information out to our clients who I think then will benefit from knowing more about how to care for themselves and to either prevent brain injury from happening in the first place or preventing further brain injury, because we do know that for many of our clients, um, particularly particularly for those who have a fall, a concussion, if it happens once, it's going to happen multiple times.

Larry Zilliox 23:31

Well, listeners, again, the uh webpage is brain injury services. It's brain injury, then the letters svcs.org. Please uh check it out. There's plenty of resources there for you. They uh they're there to help, and uh the case managers can answer questions about resources, what's available. I have a veteran case manager, it's amazing. Um, so don't hesitate to reach out and you know, say, look, this is the even if you say this is the treatment I'm getting from the VA and I'm not comfortable with it, or I don't know if it's right for me, you know, they can find some resources for you to essentially get a second opinion. Um, you know, don't settle for th treatment that you are not comfortable with and don't not get treatment because you can't afford it, or you you don't have the time, you know, as you get older, these injuries that didn't bother you when you were younger are guaranteed to bother you when you're older. I I trust me. So um really uh if you had concussions and uh maybe uh blast impact issues from your service, please reach out to them. They're there to help. Donna, uh, as we kind of wrap up, what's the most important thing that veterans need to know about getting help from brain injury services?

Stroke, Heart Health, And Prevention

Donna Meltzer 25:04

Yeah, thanks for asking that question, Larry. And I think that you what you said just now is so very important. There, there's, I think what veterans need to know is if you need support, just call us. We'll sort out the rest, right? We uh you talked about duplication of services. It's not necessarily duplication. We can layer on for uh a veteran, maybe what they're they're getting certain services through the VA, but we may layer on additional supports and services. Um, we may be able to fill in those gaps of what they're not getting, or we're just delivering in a different way, in a different format. So the main message is just call us. Let us talk with you about what we might be able to do to support you better as a wraparound, as an addition, or as your primary. We have so many different programs. Um, as Larry said, um, listeners, everything is on our website for you to know the full breadth and scope of what we offer. And it's not just case management, but you know, we have programs that can help you navigate your home space better, help you use technology better to help you feel like you have a place to belong in a group setting. Maybe you only want some group offerings. We do that as well. Not everything has to be one-on-one. We have mental health counseling. So we have so many different ways that you can engage with us, and that I think might be very impactful, whether it's instead of what you've gotten from the VA because you're not satisfied, or in addition to Larry. I always say that there are five words I never want to hear somebody with brain injury say those five words are I never knew you existed.

Larry Zilliox 27:06

Yeah.

Donna Meltzer 27:07

Well, hopefully we are here. We're here to serve. Yeah, yeah. And it can be virtual, it can be virtual, it can be in person, it can be a combination. So all you have to do is reach out and start the conversation.

Know Your Numbers And Self-Care

Preventing Repeat Injuries

Larry Zilliox 27:20

Well, hopefully uh our listeners will um reach out. Or listen, if you know a battle buddy or somebody you served with, a friend, a relative who, you know, ha was in an auto accident, and they tell you they're fine, but you s you can see the difference. You say, you know, their memory isn't quite as clear. They're a little bit more forgetful, or they have headaches, or you just know when you talk to them and when you're around them. They're they're just a little bit different. They need to call. You need to recommend that they call and and get some get some help, get an evaluation. The the brain injury services is there to direct you to the right medical people and the right protocols for you to and and your loved ones to get the help that you need. Because, you know, there's a whole class of veterans out there that with just a little bit more treatment, their quality of life would be tremendously better. So we do pour a lot of resources in to veterans who are seriously injured. There's no doubt about it. But there's a whole segment of veteran population out there that, you know, if they just had a little bit more treatment or addressed some of the issues that they had, then maybe at work they would have received more promotions that would have brought in more money, that would have benefited their family. And so if you're not sure that you can get help from them, call them. If you have a friend, relative, or battle buddy that you think needs help, encourage them to call. Send them the link to the webpage and do everything you can to find help and support for them because we know as veterans that traumatic brain injury, PTS, can lead to isolation, can lead to desperation, and can lead to the a very high number of veteran suicides. And we don't want that. We want people to get the help that they need. And one of the places that they can get it here in the Northern Virginia area and through other agencies across the country, is amazing organizations like Brain Injury Services. So, Donna, um I'm I'm really happy you're able to join us during Brain Injury Awareness Month. And thanks so much for coming on.

Donna Meltzer 29:44

Well, thank you for having me, Larry. It's always an honor and a privilege to um be able to chat with you and get this information out to your listeners, who I hope are also our listeners at Brain Injury Services. Um, we're happy to talk with you anytime. And um, happy brain injury awareness month.

Don’t Settle: Seek The Right Help

Larry Zilliox 30:04

There you go. All right.

Donna Meltzer 30:06

There you go. All right. Thank you so much, Larry.

Larry Zilliox 30:09

Yep. Well, listeners, we'll have another episode next Monday morning at 0500. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can reach us at podcast at willingwarriors.org. We're on all the major podcast platforms, YouTube and Reese Across America Radio. So until then, thanks for listening.