Help HAPS

Why Give to HAPS?

Since 1974, Houston Area Parkinson Society has been serving the needs of families living with Parkinson’s. Established as the first-known independent support group in the U.S. specifically for Parkinson’s

Four full-time staff members and nineteen contract therapists in multiple disciplines provide 140 water, exercise and speech therapy sessions a month under the supervision of licensed physical, occupational and speech therapists in addition to providing groups in tai chi, dance and meditation. And under the supervision of licensed master’s level social workers, HAPS provides 8 support groups, including 5 monthly Caregiver groups, a monthly Young Onset group, monthly Newly Diagnosed group, bi-monthly post Deep Brain Stimulation surgery group along with a quarterly Newly Diagnosed education program for recently diagnosed individuals totaling 1,900 sessions offered free of charge to participants in a wide geographic area in 18 locations throughout metropolitan Houston.

In 2008, the HAPS intake and referral lines received between 200 and 250 calls per month. Most of those are were requests for information but, at any given time, the HAPS social workers handles 25 – 30 ongoing individual cases needing multiple calls and/or home visits for multiple services. Through collaboration with the Greater Houston Red Cross we provided an average of 130 van rides per month to an average of 20 riders a month. Last year 9 clients received services through our subsidized respite care program providing, on average, over 170 hours of respite care per month.

HAPS provides a combination of services to individuals with Parkinson's disease and their families. The services include- information and referral, subsidized respite care, and transportation. Your gift helps HAPS succeed in its mission: to improve the quality of life for those affected by Parkinson’s disease through services, education and advocacy.