Local Support Group Rebuilds After COVID, Aids Brain Injury Survivors

Pamela Tolliver founded the Wayne and Holmes County Traumatic Brain Injury Support Group around the turn of the century, and after years of growth she said COVID forced her to nearly start over. Attendance has returned only slowly, and Tolliver now holds monthly meetings on the second Tuesday at the community room in Buehler’s Milltown to welcome anyone who needs a place to talk and find understanding. “We have had Amish come down and Mennonites from Holmes County,” Tolliver said. “Before COVID we had a large group come down to the counseling center. I’m trying to get people back together again.”

Tolliver’s own history illustrates the stakes. Once an aspiring neuropsychologist, she said a car crash three decades ago ended her academic career despite earning two master’s degrees. “I am the neuropsychologist, but I have to work with people on this side and not in a laboratory,” she said. “I’ve taken myself and made a totally different life. I could have stayed and pouted about it and stayed in a trance. I’ve opened doors, new doors to life, and I’ve opened these doors with help.”

Traumatic brain injury is a widespread public health issue. Nearly 3 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury in the United States each year, and more than 5 million live with disabilities resulting from those injuries. Many survivors struggle with depression, memory loss, and invisible cognitive impairments that complicate work, family life, and access to services. “It’s called the silent epidemic,” Tolliver said. “All this damage is inside my brain, and people can’t see it. I want to lead them where they need to go so they won’t be lost in the shuffle.”

Personal stories from local members underscore the need for community awareness and better pathways to care. Mac Hawkins of Wooster described a fall that left him with persistent memory gaps and severe depression, and he credits the group for easing isolation. “What happened was I fell and never got my hands in front, and I just faceplanted,” Hawkins said. “I remember walking into the door of my daughter’s house, and my wife said, ‘What happened to you?’ I was bleeding copious amounts, and I said I fell, and that’s all I remembered about it.” Hawkins added that being among others with similar problems helped him feel less alone. “It just relieves the pressure to listen to what’s going on with me is not unusual,” he said. “I know I’m not crazy.”

Orrville resident Kathy Gerber, who was injured in a crash nine years ago, described suicidal thoughts in the aftermath and said the support group helped restore a sense of normalcy. “Initially, when I went, it made me feel more normal,” she said. “It made me feel like somebody, like I wasn’t making it all up. I just want to help people that have gone through this.”

For Holmes County residents, the group highlights gaps in local mental health and rehabilitative services for invisible disabilities, and it points to the need for outreach that crosses cultural boundaries. Tolliver welcomes anyone who needs empathy, practical advice, or a place to be heard. The rebuilding of this small but vital network is a reminder that community based support can reduce isolation, improve safety, and connect survivors to the care they need.