Local Outreach Program Services
Bag of Hope
Children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are offered the Bag of Hope, a free backpack filled with a comprehensive collection of educational and support materials including Rufus the teddy bear with diabetes, a blood sugar meter, children’s books and a DVD, a carbohydrate counting book, and more. Children love receiving all the goodies and parents love the resources!
Mentoring Program
Mentors are volunteers who provide one-on-one support to families and individuals who are newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Mentors give comfort, answer non-medical questions, provide resources and share stories. Matches may be parent-to-parent, child-to-child, adult-to-adult or adult-to-child and are carefully made based on location and situation, such as a child’s grade in school, age at diagnosis, specific issues, etc. You are welcome to request a certain type of match that you feel best fits your needs. The relationship may consist of phone calls, emails, or face-to-face meetings - it is up to the Mentor and you to decide
Online Diabetes Support Team (ODST)
The ODST provides online support to families and individuals needing information about type 1 diabetes. The team is made up of JDRF volunteers who each deal with the ever-changing demands of living day to day with diabetes. Contact the team and they will respond to your non-medical questions within 48 hours.
JDRF School Advisory Toolkit
All students with type 1 diabetes (juvenile diabetes) need a strong support network at school to help them properly manage their type 1 diabetes on a daily basis. Cultivating good relationships with school teachers and administrators is critical. JDRF has developed a new resource to support and empower families as they communicate with school staff throughout the year.
Events
Throughout the year we hold free or low-cost educational or social networking events, such as support groups, family day activities, topic-focused meetings and research receptions. Stay on top of these events by subscribing to our monthly newsletter by contacting, Sandi Mehl at smehl@jdrf.org.
Connect with JDRF
Juvenation
Juvenation is a social network created by JDRF especially for people with type 1 diabetes. JDRF recognizes the critical importance of ongoing peer-to-peer support for people with diabetes, so we’ve created various online programs to facilitate such support.
E-newsletter
To receive monthly e-updates from JDRF Rocky Mountain Chapter please contact Sandi Mehl at smehl@jdrf.org.
Resources
Local support resources are offered including diabetes fact sheets, connection to community groups, clinical trial information and more. Don’t ever hesitate to ask questions – if we don’t know an answer immediately we can always find one quickly!
*Coming Soon* Adult Type 1 Toolkit
Being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as an adult can be difficult. There is a lack of understanding about diabetes in the community and people often do not expect an adult to be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Adults already have responsibilities and tasks that need to be performed each day and a diagnosis of diabetes is like starting a journey on a road that is new and unfamiliar. It is not chosen and not wanted. JDRF has created the type 1 adult toolkit to be a resource and support network in the journey with type 1 as an adult.
The toolkit includes:
- “Diagnosis” Practical information section on being diagnosed with type 1 and what that means and how to manage this new disease
- “Day to day life with type 1 diabetes” a resource section that discusses a variety of management areas such as the differences between type 1 in men and women, dealing with diabetes at work, managing sick days, traveling with diabetes and more
- “Looking into the future” management of diabetes and research development section
- “Don’t Let Diabetes Stop You” a motivational section featuring some famous people with type 1
Contact: Jonie McGhee, jmcghee@jdrf.org, ext.10
