Moving Georgia Forward: So Everybody Can Move Georgia

In today’s episode, we’re diving into a groundbreaking movement in Georgia that’s transforming access to prosthetic and orthotic care. It’s called So Everybody Can Move GA (SEBCM GA), a major legislative initiative focused on expanding insurance coverage and ensuring people have the freedom and support they need to move, thrive, and live fully. 

To break it all down, Rachael is joined by someone who’s been at the heart of this effort, Jenna Calomeris, Georgia's State Coach for SEBCM GA, and Vice President of Sales and National Accounts for Elevate Movement. She’s played a pivotal role in advancing this initiative.

Tune in for an inspiring and informative conversation about innovation, advocacy, and the future of mobility in Georgia.

Special thank you to all of the Sponsors who helped pass Senate Bill 101:

Representative David Clark (100th District), Representative Marcus Wiedower (121st District), Representative Karen Mathiak (82nd District), Representative Noel Williams (148th District), Representative Kim Schofield (63rd District), Senator Shawn Still, Senator Bo Hatchett, Senator Ricky Williams, Senator Dr. Echols, Senator Marty Harbin, Senator Kay Kirkpatrick, Senator Ben Watson, and Senator Sam Watson. 

To learn more about how you and your state can get involved in SEBCM, visit https://soeverybodycanmove.org/ 

SEBCM GA: 

https://soeverybodycanmove.org/state/georgia/

https://www.instagram.com/soeverybodycanmovega/

Follow Elevate Movement!

https://www.elevatemovement.com/

https://www.instagram.com/elevate__movement/

Follow Alliance Prosthetics and Orthotics below!

Website: https://www.alliancepo.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliance_po/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/alliancepo

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alliancepo

Questions? Email us! Info@alliancepo.com

Guest: Jenna Calomeris, Vice President of Sales and National Accounts at Elevate Movement, and State Coach for GA, AL, NC, and TN 

Host: Rachael Auyer, Co-Owner of Alliance Prosthetics & Orthotics

Producer: Laine Johnson, Alliance Prosthetics & Orthotics, Marketing Assistant

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome back to the Alliance Goldiger Podcast. I'm Rachel Oyer, co-owner of Alliance Prosthetics and Orthotics. I'm so glad to be here with you all today. We are talking about something truly groundbreaking here in Georgia. It's about access, cover, and giving people the freedom to move. This initiative is called So Everybody Can Move. It's a huge step forward in our field and with our patients. It is a legislative effort that's changing how prosthetic and orthotic care is covered and supported across the state. And I couldn't think of a better person to join me in this conversation than someone who has been right in the middle of making it happen all year long. Jenna Calamaris, our Georgia State coach and vice president of sales and national accounts with Elevate Movement, is here to discuss what we did this past session. Thanks, Jenna, for being here.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Thank you, Rachel. Thank you so much for having me. It's a privilege to be here, and I'm just so excited to chat with you and shine a light on this incredible work that talk about being there from the beginning. You and our other state co-lead, uh Crystal Lee Polk, we wouldn't be here without you both. So it's a privilege.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

I appreciate it. I think we were at some conference and you said, tell me more about this. And you jumped in and really led the charge with cultivating great relationships with everyone down at the Capitol. I think you were, I called you the ninja of relationships because you knew what people did. You looked up committees, you understood their roles inside of their offices and helped us navigate the education portion. I know in your previous world, that was one of the things you did. You just went to all of the different vendors and clinics like mine and made relationships and it translated so beautifully into the legislative movement. I didn't know if maybe you could talk about your story, how you got into ONP and what your role is and why you love this profession.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

I'd be happy to thank you for asking. And you have said this phrase that actually answers the question how did I become involved in ONP? You've said this phrase so many times of this field doesn't do happy medicine. That doesn't mean that we don't create incredible outcomes. And that doesn't mean that we don't serve patients and get them into a much better state than when we were first introduced to them. But I found myself actually living that statement. I was a patient before I became a professional in this field. I was doing some nonprofit work in 2010, planning to take the whole year off and volunteer in Guatemala. I was brushing up doing some language immersion in Ecuador in January of that year, and I found myself in a massive catastrophic car wreck. So happy medicine was exactly what I found myself not being in the middle of and introduced to O and P because I ended up compressing five different vertebrae in my back. I actually ended up staying in Ecuador for about three weeks after my car wreck. And the irony that parlays right into this movement is that the first question I was asked by the medical professionals taking care of me was, Do you have insurance?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

And I did, but I'm being yanked out of a car and I'm really thinking not about how am I going to go pre-sert my car wreck and the medical care that's going to be needed as a result of it. I just said no. And so what translated was medical care that was subpar. I literally was fit with a Philadelphia collar, given some celibrix and discharged from the hospital without any other examinations, no palpations, nothing. And I stayed in a foreign country, trying to language immerse the best that I could, ended up coming home after about two or three weeks, right in for an MRI. And my care provider said, called me as I was exiting the facility and told me that I had fractured all of those vertebrae and that I needed to be immediately seen. And so that's how I ended up finding myself in an O and P office. And frankly, with a new wardrobe, because anyone who wears northotic understands that if you're going to be in a white brace for the next five to six months, which thankfully that's all that I needed, I was a kyphoplastic candidate because I compressed one of those vertebrae so severely, elected not to at the time at 30, shoot my backup with cement. But I found myself in the need of an all-white wardrobe because of my white TLSO that I was now going to wear for the next five to six months. No different than our brace wearers that wear an AFO. They need to find shoes that are going to accommodate that brace or another brace that will fit in their shoes.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Um, so yeah, so unhappy reason to be introduced to the field, but it frankly was the best blessing of my life because it changed my professional trajectory. It changed a friend group and created an even broader friend group. And frankly, it gave us the ability to come together and collaborate with so many people in the state of Georgia for this very, very, very important work.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

No, it's a small world. And so we've seen each other in different seasons. And the way that OP works is that we all know each other. So the state society has offered to allow us our So Everybody Can Move Georgia committee is really underneath that big society. And you've sat on that board, you have know all the people, and we are somewhat friends. I think the thing that we love to say is we're colleagues and we care about each other. And the state really cares about patient outcomes. And so we translated this to an initiative in 2023. And you, I think at one of the mutual conferences said, I'm so interested in this. What drew you to So Everybody Can Move? Why did you want to be a part of this initiative?

SPEAKER_00 5:13

It's just such a sensical initiative. And I think you and I, and the like-minded people nationally and at the state level, we want to affect positive change for the patient population that we serve. We understand that the current and the most predominant insurance practices are really unethical in how they are quote unquote serving the patients that they are supposed to serve. I mean, we know that insurance only covers one brace typically, one prosthetic every three to five years. That's been the way it has been, but we also know that's not the way it should continue to be. So what drew me to the movement was actually understanding that we can come together at the state level and then at the national level to effect change and actually have devices, have prosthetics and orthotics covered for not just quote unquote everyday use. And I know you and I both joke that everyone has more pairs of shoes and more pairs of socks than just one in their closet. But yes, yeah, it's just logical, it's sensical. So why would our patients not have the ability to have that type of coverage by an insurance that they are paying premiums to every month and every year? So we wanted to do something about it. And I'm just so glad that uh you allowed me to raise my hand and said, come on board.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Oh, that's it's an easy yes. Uh, you bring a lot to the table. And one of the things, serving on the national movement, we got to meet, and you probably knew them well before I did, our two state, well, national leads who allow us to operate at the state and have given us a lot of backbone. I didn't know if you wanted to talk about the national movement, what they got accomplished, how it all started. And we can give a good plug to Nicole and Kyle.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Absolutely. So everybody can move at the national level actually started as so kids can move out in the southwest. And they were trying to affect prosthetic and orthotic coverage advancements. And they started in the pediatric population and then quickly realized this shouldn't just be subjected to our PEDs. Let's broaden the scope. And so they started so everybody can move with the support of a lot of the ABC or the Alphabet Soup uh consortiums that support the O and B profession nationally. So AOPA, NAAOP, Academy, Amputee Coalition, so many others that have been so supportive to this. But Kyle and Nicole that really have gotten the movement off the ground, they are lived experience users. They both utilize prostheses every day. And they didn't want to only be regulated to one device. It just one device doesn't fit all. And so they wanted to afford change and affect change. And they realized that if we have a preponderance of states actually adopting this grassroots-driven change to expand access to ethical care for ONP, we can go after federal change. So the goal is 28 states by the year 2028, which is amazing when the Paralympics and the Olympics come back to the United States. The goal is to have at least 28 states adopt this legislative change so that we can pursue federal change at the Medicare Medicaid level. And they've done a great job to inspire. We've had 12 states since this whole initiative kicked off several years ago. 12 states have adopted this legislative change and we're on our way to at least 25 more that have already introduced and are in the process of seeking passage.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

That's awesome. I know uh we used the national movement to support us and to help us navigate here in Georgia what it would look like. I didn't know if we could transition now to figure out how we can educate our audience about what did we do, what got done, how do we do it, and what can patients expect moving forward. To start off, I wanted to talk to you about who does this apply to, who gets coverage and what does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Great question and great thing to demystify because I think there's a lot of misinformation, unfortunately, that's out there because people thought we passed a bill. Everybody gets as many devices as they want. Um, I wish that was the case and not today, but we can put that out there for the future. So what we got done in Georgia was absolutely unbelievable. I mean, through the work of the team and through passionate policymakers that I know we'll talk about in a little bit, we actually moved from insurance change just one device every three to five years. But for the state-regulated private insurances, they will now afford coverage for three devices every three years per affected limb. And then, of course, medical necessity has to be documented by the physician treating the patient and the orthodist prostodus working with the patient. But there's minimal criteria, obviously, that patients have to meet to qualify, physiological change in the person, irreparable damage to the devices or its components, or repair costs that's going to be more than 60% of the device's cost. Um, socket replacements are typically medically necessary with the proper documentation, and those would also be involved here. But the biggest thing is that we now can afford device coverage, not just for an everyday device. We can actually have patients receive coverage for devices that contribute to their job-related activities that they can use for personal hygiene and just things like bathing and showering. I mean, that should be a covered item, but it hasn't been. Uh, and then specifically for physical activities, things like running or biking, not limited to that. But we did a great job to get care expanded, and I'm so, so happy.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

I know it was a big deal to get it moved. And the definition in the state of Georgia now is to uh include activities of daily living mean showering. It's actually in the definition, which is so huge because before it really was a very vague definition. What is an activity of daily living? It was vague but explicit, explicitly denied. If in fact a clinician would put in that a patient needed this device to swim, to strength train, to very specific activities with the hygiene, it would be denied. And now that's not the case if they have private insurance that is regulated by the state. And Jenna, I was wondering if you could talk about now that this has all been enacted, and we kind of went over how patients are going to experience change with their coverage. We explained what's covered, when it's covered, but who's covered?

SPEAKER_00 10:51

How will they know? Great question and something really to highlight. I highly encourage patients, number one, call their insurance companies and understand what coverage do you currently have, what coverage now could you have as a result of this bill passing? And then number two, absolutely go back and see your orthotic and prosthetic care provider. Go back in for an evaluation. Talk to them about your needs, and perhaps this legislation can, with its passage, afford coverage for devices that you never thought you would have coverage for, but you absolutely need.

SPEAKER_01 11:21

I definitely think that's an important piece for patients to really understand their benefits. Nobody's gonna fight for you except yourself. You are gonna be your number one advocate with your insurance company, and the squeaky wheel does get the oil. So go see your providers, is what I'm hearing, is the top thing, and find out what's possible and then go hustle with your insurance company and make sure that they're gonna cover it.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

100%.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

I know it was incredible to work with you and our team and the collaboration of many. I didn't know if you wanted to thank anybody or to shout out some of the people that were the major movers and shakers and what we learned. I think that would be a big one is if you are a state wanting to move, everybody can move, so everybody can move in your state. Would you talk to them about some things that we learned working alongside these amazing uh legislators and senators?

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Yeah, absolutely. I would love to shine a light on the policymakers that really made this possible, as well as the Georgia team that contributed to this. One of my biggest takeaways is that policymakers are people too, and they are in their positions to actually serve their constituents. They want to hear from you. They want to understand what are your problems and can they come alongside you and provide a solution? That's why they're in the office. And they're accessible. I they don't sit in a turret in a castle and they are not untouchable or uncontactable. Um, but like you said, we didn't know anyone. I think that was our number one obstacle to overcome when we said, yes, we want to take this initiative on. Now who knows a House of Representatives member or a senator? And no one did. So we just literally email blasted. We did an email blasting campaign, as you said, to anyone that we thought sat on a house subcommittee that would care and want to get involved. And so I really want to highlight several people that raised their hand and said yes. Uh, first and foremost, House rep David Clark. He's from the 100th district, mainly in the Suwannee area. He was our bill champion in the house. And this man is a man of courage, a man of integrity, a man of ethics. And he really championed the initiative, stating that he saw kids living using processes and thought, that could be one of my three children. And what am I going to do if their insurance or our insurance denies their coverage of the ability to play? Because their insurance, our insurance says play is not medically necessary and therefore coverage is denied. So he wanted to jump in and he did with two feet, no pun intended, to get this legislation across a finish line. But there are several other people in the house that were absolutely amazing. Marcus Whitterer, 121st District, Karen Matthiak, 82nd District, Noel Williams, 148th District, and Kim Schofield, 63rd District in the Hapeville area. I want to specifically say to Kim, thank you because she was a policymaker that made it her personal policy to take a meeting with anyone that contacted her because she's a patient and she has an invisible disease. And that's actually what foraged her path into policy making. She herself proverbially went to Capitol Hill and tried to meet with the policymakers that she now sits around to afford better access to care for people, people like herself. And so she made a vow that when she got into office that she would always take a meeting. And so I'm just so grateful that she said yes to us. And and through that open door, so many other doors opened. Um and then on the Senate side, huge thanks to Senator Randy Robertson. There were some definite challenges in the Senate to get this bill across. And Randy, another man of bravery, ethics, integrity, courage, scooped up the bill and said, This is coming with me and we're gonna get this done. And he did. And Senator Sean Still and Senator Bo Hatchet. I mean, truly, these are people that we could not have been so successful without their their voice and their encouragement.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

Yep, I I totally agree. And reading these names off and looking at them, it makes me think about the amount of emails and calls you and I did to these uh men and women and asking for their help and educating them, but they were very open to listen to our stories. And that's one of the beautiful tenets of So Everybody Can Move National is that we affect change through storytelling. And we had so many incredible patient advocates that were willing to tell their stories. I didn't know if you wanted to highlight some of their stories or thank them again because I don't think we can thank all of them enough because they came down to the Capitol multiple times. I consistently say at our big Capitol Day, all of the senators and representatives were asking us how much is it gonna cost? And they all patient advocates wanted to know where's the elevator. So it was a very big lift to educate both sides of the tensions both parties manage wherever they go. And so our representatives and senators have to know how this is gonna be afforded here in the state. And we were able to educate them on the minimal cost that this all is. And then we had the privilege of educating them about our patient stories.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Yeah. I mean, really, when I look at the Georgia team outside of the policymakers, it it really is the patient advocate and their story. And it is the Georgia team that volunteered. This is not our paid full-time job by any means. It's a full-time job, but it is not our paid one.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

It can be.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Um, but the Georgia team itself, um, it's a mix of practitioners here, practitioners in the state of Georgia, uh, manufacturers, reps like myself and other colleagues. And we really all rallied around the patients that we serve. So specifically, two people, two families come to mind. One is Suzine Elliott, and Elliot is a six-year-old, seven-year-old that lives with limb loss, and his parents are pilots, and they definitely had a type of insurance coverage that wasn't the same as everyone else's, but they were afraid that when Elliot ages out, that he's now not going to be afforded the same access to care because his insurance policy with the change not being his parents' policy. So she wanted to get involved. And Elliot and his twin and his older brother were probably the biggest focal points of our Capitol Hill Day. I think Elliot met more people that um that have a placard on their desk than any of us that day. Yes. And he stole the show. And as he should. I mean, again, uh David Clark looking at Elliot and going, that could be my child. Um, so I'm super appreciative for Elliot and for his mother. And I I think about the patient that that I believe is a patient of of yours who is the traveling salesperson. Yep. He utilizes a prosthesis. He typically travels with a shower chair, but on this one trip, he forgot the chair, didn't bring the chair, so to shower safely, instead of trying to just stand on one leg, he went to Home Depot and bought a bucket and sat on the bucket and showered safely. I mean, those that story when it was told to so many different policymakers, they just got it immediately. Just thinking about how unethical and how dehumanizing and why. Why for 11 cents per member per month of an increase? Very nominal, we can actually reestablish dignity to such a patient population that is so deserving. Um, and then I also think about other patients that rallied alongside of us, Jared Wallace, Mohammed Massaquai. I mean, these are giants in their athletic endeavors, and they also represent the limb loss community. And they said, wow, we really want to come alongside and give a voice to this. And frankly, through their channels and their reach, we just shine such a light on this. I'd be remiss though to not call out our patients with limb difference. It's not just our limb loss patients, oh, it's our limb difference patients. So patients that are that have been wearing AFOs, anglophotorthoses, because they survived a stroke or because they live with MS. They now have access to expanded points of care.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

I know. One of my favorite moments was when Brad, he was such an amazing advocate for our team. He discussed how Crystal Lee actually treats Brad, and we're allowed to talk about Brad because he signed all the forms, but uh Brad wanted to box. It was a really big deal for him to have an AFO that was super durable, and Crystal Lee and all of her knowledge was able to figure out a device that worked. But, you know, Brad actually he only could have one. And so this was a major difference for him. He's self-employed, he actually would qualify. So in 2026, when this is enacted, I'm hoping Brad is gonna get a second AFO and he is going to enjoy the fact that he doesn't have to wear his super robust one all the time. He can wear different uh varieties because the insurance coverage is now there, which is a perfect segue to what you do now. I would love for you to talk about elevate movement. This is your passion. This is a project and a company that obviously, as an orthotic user once, you care deeply about patients who almost have an invisible issue because really, unless someone saw the brace, they wouldn't know. And I wanted to give you an opportunity to share and shed light on what Elevate is doing and how they are embracing so everybody can move nationally, sometimes internationally, to make sure patients have the devices they need.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Yeah, thank you for asking. At Elevate Movement, we want to help our patients move further, which is in such perfect alignment with so everybody can move. I mean, we definitely believe that movement is medicine. And we actually come from a long history of innovating for people with limb loss. We come from a very large manufacturer of innovative devices, things that require microprocessors and have to be plugged in and power patients' mobility and truly their ability to walk. We quickly understood, though, after years working in that side of the profession, that innovation and technology for our patients that have limb difference is just severely lacking. But there's tremendously, significantly more people, again, like I cited, that are stroke survivors that live with neurological disease, ALS, MS, peripheral nerve involvement, just neurotrauma, brain trauma, uh, AVMs. These are initials that most people, again, back to the whole people don't know about our profession until they have the unfortunate reason to know. These are the invisible survivors, so to speak, that now have a limb that is still attached, but doesn't work properly. It's impaired. So we wanted to bring the innovation that we knew we had brought to the limb difference or the limb loss community to the limb difference community. So we specialize on patients living with ankle and foot abnormality. If people physically can't keep their toes up, I actually had a patient tell me she was diagnosed with floppy foot disorder. That's not the diagnosis. Um, but to bring a little humor to it. But yeah, we we help people walk literally at the end of the day. And we wanted to rally around so everybody can move to just really highlight the fact that the limb difference community has all the rights and should deserve to have all the access to care, just like the limb loss community.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Oh, Elevate is on the cutting edge and there is a secondary device for swimming. We just talked about it beforehand that a lot of people don't know this amazing sock. Why don't you tell everybody about this sock that uh we get stopped when we put it out for people to see that this exists now and how amazing it is.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

Thank you. Honestly, it's one of my most proud products that we brought to market of our carbon fiber custom fit and custom fab AFO offerings, the step sock, the drop foot sock. Is literally the example of innovation that doesn't have to require a microprocessor or bells and whistles. It can be as simple as a soft textile that feels maybe like a Lululemon pant or a scrub pant with some very well-placed cables and a dial that controls the cables, and it will function like an AFO. And we have white paper attestation, clinical trials of patients showing that they were walking further, faster with more stability in their sock compared to obviously no device, but even their custom plastic, custom carbon, or custom fit carbon AFOs. So we are thrilled to positively disrupt the marketplace with this secondary solution that is typically a self-pay item. Uh, but now through So Everybody Can Move legislation can absolutely be a secondary device that is covered. There is an L code that we can associate for that application. And we would love to benefit patients and their care providers through discussing that further.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Oh, that's awesome. I know uh we have a handful of patients who are using it, and I'm looking forward to being able to introduce it to other patients with this state-regulated private insurance if it makes sense for them that they can have this secondary device. I love the sand component. So a lot of our patients love the beach because we do live in Georgia and 30A is everybody's favorite place to go.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

So true.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

And so they can go down to the beach, walk on the beach, and I know there's so much more innovation now. And because reimbursement is shifting, because this is now going to be law, we're gonna see more innovation. We're going to see access to technology that really hasn't even been tapped. And I'm so excited for this next season of OP. What about the next season? Legislatively, we are moving into 2026. It is happening very fast. And I know we've been quietly working behind the scenes on what we are aiming for. David Clark and our wonderful lobbyist Juliana McConnell are working on state health benefit plan as well as including those that work with the Board of Regents for coverage, because we did not get that in 2025-2026 session for Senate Bill 101. Talk about why we want state health benefit plan, why it even matters that we're even keep moving this forward.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Right, because we're not done.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

We're not done.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

And not everyone in the state of Georgia has access to this ethical approach to care. And we want to eradicate that. We want everyone, again, to benefit from mobility being medicine. And I think something that you and I've seen in our practices is that the mental health component to mobility is not talked about enough, but it should be. A light should be shined on it. Because when you can move, when you can physically get up and feel like yourself and engage in activities, the benefit to mental health is just paramount. But we don't talk about it. And that's one of our patients actually talking about going to the beach and wearing his sock. He said he would never have been in the water, he would never have been on the sand, he would have watched his family sitting, he would be on the boardwalk, sitting, watching them do all of the beach activities. But because of this innovation, and you're right, more innovation is to come, but because of this innovation, he was included.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

And we don't talk about mental health and inclusion, but that is honestly at the soft underbelly of this movement is if people are mentally healthy, it's gonna contribute so much to their physical health. And if we have a more mobile society, we have a less dependent society. And our insurance premiums will actually go down, not go up. So I think what's so eye-opening is that yes, we asked for policymakers, we asked the insurance commission to say, you might spend a finite amount more, but look at what you're gonna save in the long term. And so that's why we're pushing this legislative movement forward because we're not done. Not everyone has this access. And people that pass the legislation the way it stands now, they wouldn't afford. They wouldn't be afforded access to care because it wasn't their insurances that were in involved. So now we're gonna go back and honestly thank them in a very different way by getting this legislation passed for state health benefit and regents. And then we want to expand that care obviously to an even more, uh, a larger patient population than that.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

Absolutely. I I think one of the parts that was so eye-opening to me because we live and breathe O and P. That's just what we've done. I'm newer to the field, and you were my uh special liaison to teach me some of the acronyms and all the things.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

We study.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

I try to be, but we know these people. We know these stories, we know why it matters. The privilege that it is to help uh someone outside our field to engage with our patients, our products, our philosophy from this experience, has there been anything that really stands out to you that you took away of, oh man, that was definitely worth the amount of aka full-time hours, no full-time pay effort?

SPEAKER_00 26:37

Really, the biggest takeaway for me is it's the right thing to do. Yeah. I mean, if it were one of us, if something happened to you and you didn't have access to this care, if something happened to my mom and she didn't have access to this care, I would want someone to care and would want someone to raise their hand and say, I'm gonna try to do something about it. So it's the right thing to do. And what I took away was just the deep level of appreciation. We didn't get into this for the out of boys and the thank yous.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

No.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

But to understand to walk away and to put your head on a pillow at night and go, we really fought a good fight today and we changed some lives today. I mean, we joke at our company that we're changing lives uh one step at a time, one drop foot patient at a time, but we are, and this movement is literally changing lives because again, if we can make a healthier population, a healthier society, what can be achieved? I mean, the sky's the limit. So my takeaway is that you start before you're ready and then you're amazed at what happens when you hit your first accomplishment.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

And Jenna, you know how important it was that we built a team. It took our entire state to get this kind of effort off the ground. I didn't know if you could shed light on what we all did, who was a part, and obviously we have so many thank yous to say.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

So many thank yous. And I know that we're gonna drop a list of all of the contributing sponsors into a link underneath uh the podcast itself. But I would be so remiss to not thank everyone from the state of Georgia who served on the Georgia team and the GSOP. So specifically yourself and Krista Lee as the co-state leads, incredible vision, incredible leadership. You assembled a great team because I can't imagine you all trying to shoulder all of this work by yourselves. So kudos to you for attracting a team and delegating to that team and holding that team accountable to get this work done. I mean, you did a great job to create so many different subsets underneath your state leadership, the fundraising team. That's Kim Dell, Matt Nelson, Teresa Emling, our patient advocacy team, incredible outreach, not just to the adult population, but also to the pediatric population, specifically Colin Coulter and Kelly Burke. We could not have communicated to these patients so efficiently and effectively without them. And we couldn't have gotten the word out without the amazing genius social media work of Malone Otwell. I was so grateful when she joined the team because that is not my superpower. It is hers. She is gifted with that and she did an amazing job to portray really the problem solution of So Everybody Can Move Georgia. And Jason Awyer, your incredibly gifted and visionary husband, leading the Georgia, the GSOP. This would not have been so successful and so um collaborative without him bringing these two organizations together and to work side by side. So very, very, very grateful for all of these incredible contributors.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

And I know we would be remiss if we didn't talk about the amazing university system that we have and Adrian Hill and Beth and how they were able to help us at Kennesaw. I know we have experienced how much the student population made a difference in our movement. And honestly, they have more energy than the rest of us. But I didn't know if we could say a special thank you to them and kind of talk about the work that they did hosting our annual meeting and really the kickoff.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

Yes, big thank you to Kennesaw State University. I I have hope for the ONP field all the more because of the generation of student leaders and future practitioners that really are in our backyard. So thank you for KSU Kennesaw State for raising awareness, for motivating your students to get involved, not just the ONP students, but really a collegiate, a college-wide effort and um just involvement for this. Thank you to that campus and that university system for just being such a strong partner to GSOP and so everybody can move Georgia.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

Yes, absolutely. So many to thank. And we would be remiss if we didn't thank the national movement. So Kyle and Nicole and Jenna, those are our ride or dies, is what I would say. When we were in the trenches, we would send out SOS to them and Cheryl Sachs and her team at Maryland, who really helped us so much. We have an army of people that have helped us to create access to patients in the state of Georgia. And Jenna, I didn't know if we could give a special shout out to all of our national uh members that have helped us along the way and just tell them thank you for the support that they gave us this past year, as well as what they're giving to us this current year.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

Oh, completely. I mean, we've already mentioned the incredible work and vision that Nicole and Kyle had to get this initiative off the ground. And they've assembled themselves an amazing team around them, just like you and Krista Lee did. I mean, we literally would be in the dark legally were it not for these incredible legal advisors, uh, Peter Thomas and Maggie Bomber. They are just the backbone of having accurate verbiage in these laws. Um, also want to thank Cheryl Sachs and just her additional advocacy work that she's done in the state of Maryland. She serves on the national team alongside Maggie and Peter and Kyle and Nicole. And again, all of the associations that have really rallied around so everybody can move nationally. Just could not have effected this change without them.

SPEAKER_01 31:29

Thank you so much for reminding me that no one gets anything done in a vacuum. It requires everyone. And so thank you so much for being a connector. Really, that is how we started the conversation, how we're going to end it. The ninja that you are, making sure people know each other and that they connect and that networking is so important when you are moving an initiative across a finish line. So if people are listening, which we know they are, where can they find you? Where can they follow along this so everybody can move journey? Do you have any tips and tricks for people to be able to know next steps?

SPEAKER_00 32:02

Yes. If you just type in so everybody can move into your search engine of choice, you will definitely see the national page at the so everybody can move national page. You can drop down to the work section and you will find all the Georgia updates. We're also on Instagram, so everybody can move G A. You can follow us there. And then ElevateMovement or dropfoot.com is where you can keep an eye on the latest innovations from our company.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Well, thank you so much, Jenna, for joining us. We appreciate all the time, effort, and we are looking forward to seeing this next session and getting another prevailing yes, this matters to Georgia to make sure that patients can move and have access to coverage that is ethical. And when we close, I just wondered if you could encourage somebody from a different state that needs to be reminded that it is doable. What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_00 32:50

Just that. You can get far more accomplished with a team. You can pass this, even in the reddest of red or the bluest of blue, or the purple of purplest states. This is not a partisan. This is not a party matter. This is an ethical matter. And all you need to do is literally raise your hand and say, I want to get involved. That national team will rally around and support you. And any of the other states that are in progress would be happy to rally around. So please reach out. Please raise your hand. We'll be right there for you.

SPEAKER_01 33:17

Thank you, Jenna. I appreciate your time today.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Thank you for having me, Rachel.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

Were you inspired or challenged today? If so, connect with us. Follow the links in the description box below. We want to hear from you. Until next time, thanks for listening to the Alliance Goldigger podcast.