After 34 years serving as Founder and President of Parkinson’s Resource Organization (PRO), Jo Rosen passes on the baton of leadership taking the title of President Emerita. To celebrate the occasion PRO is honoring its legendary founder and former president by hosting a Retirement party to be held on March 10 at the Classic Club in Palm Desert.
With still evolving plans, Rosen’s focus is shifting from PRO’s “Resources” to “Research,” working with independent scientists in San Diego who developed a promising science targeted to destroy the plaques in neurodegenerative diseases that cause the symptoms, thereby reversing them. This is the first science to permeate the blood-brain barrier, which, until now, has been the antagonist to finding a cure for neurodegenerative diseases.
States Rosen, “I am leaving Parkinson’s Resource Organization in exceptional condition with a stellar reputation of ‘working so no one is isolated because of Parkinson’s.’ PRO will go forward with incredible programs in place, a new working Board of Directors, money in the bank, a capable Executive Director in Eileen Lynch, new office space, a refreshed/new website, and enhanced measures to communicate with the world more easily and more effectively.”
Rosen continues, “When I started PRO 34 years ago, it was only going to be a 7-year job because doctors told Alan and me there would be a cure within five years. I knew nothing about Parkinson’s – First, my mother had it, and my then fiancé got it, but it was difficult to get information from doctors and scientists; after all, I was “just a caregiver.” I made a deal with God that if she would teach me everything I needed to know about ‘Quality of Life’ for Mom and Alan, I would share it with the world. She started teaching me, and my vehicle for sharing was the creation of the PRO organization, I gave myself the title – President – and VOILA, doctors, scientists, and other professionals in-the-know started giving me the time of day. It worked!”
At times the journey broke Rosen’s heart. She lost her mother to Parkinson’s in 1992 and her husband Alan in 2007. “I am humbled to be honored for my work,” Rosen concludes. “And I hope people will join me to carry on the legacy I started over 34 years ago and cheer me on to, perhaps, my last major humanitarian efforts.
Learn more at parkinsonsresource.org.
