Local students living with epilepsy raise funds for improved epilepsy care
In 2023, Izabella Deise graduated from Project SEARCH, located in the Isabel M. Stewart Building at HSC Winnipeg, after fundraising with her classmates to support the development of Unit B5B.
Izabella Deise’s time in Project SEARCH Winnipeg may have given her the skills she needed to find employment, but she already had what it took to lead her classmates in raising funds for epilepsy care at Health Sciences Centre.
Deise graduated in 2023 from Project SEARCH—a program for high school students with intellectual disabilities or autism whose main goals are career exploration and employment.
Deise participated in Project SEARCH at the HSC Winnipeg campus. For her work rotations, Deise worked with moms and babies at HSC Women’s Hospital, assisted with patient needs across the hospital, and worked in one of the hospital’s kitchens, which helped her land the role of Dietary Aide at the Beausejour Health Centre.
On top of gaining valuable experience on the HSC campus, she was also inspired to fundraise.
During Epilepsy Awareness Month in March 2023, Deise had an idea to raise money for epilepsy care with the help of her classmates.
Deise lives with an intellectual disability in addition to epilepsy, which made the decision to fundraise for improved epilepsy care easy. The class decided to donate to help create Unit B5B, a cluster of four private rooms that will support epilepsy and neurosurgery patients at HSC.
Deise and her classmates left no stone unturned with their fundraising. They fundraised by creating posters with Deise’s story that were displayed in their workplaces across HSC; they asked for donations from their colleagues; they placed donation jars and handed out bracelets, pins, and mugs donated by the Epilepsy and Seizure Association of Manitoba.
Throughout the month, the class of 12 students managed to raise a few hundred dollars, all of which was eagerly donated to the HSC Foundation.
“I just think it’s nice to give back,” says Deise.
Izabella Deise, standing outside of the newly renovated, four private rooms that comprise Unit B5B.
“Being able to give back felt so good to all of us, even the staff. The students were so proud of themselves when they were counting all the money they had raised,” says Donna Peterson, a Skills Trainer at Project SEARCH.
Donors like Izabella Deise and her classmates are elevating care for epilepsy and neurosurgery patients across Manitoba by funding Unit B5B. For more information on B5B and how it will impact patient care at HSC Winnipeg, please click here. To donate, please visit our donation page and select The Epilepsy Surgery and Brain Technology Fund from the designation list, or call 204-515-5612 or 1-800-679-8493 (toll-free).
By Andrew Lysack
