Our Mission Statement
Our mission is to provide services and financial assistance to families of children who are receiving medical treatment and care for non-traumatic brain injuries.
About Andee
For teenager Andee Poulos, she has learned that even a non-traumatic brain injury can’t break a fighting spirit. It’s been over two years since Andee was just returning from holiday break when a severe headache proved to be something far worse than normal. While Andee never showed symptoms, she was born with an extremely rare condition called a brain Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) which went undetected until it caused sudden bleeding within the brain. Those first weeks in January became months of stays in neurointensive care units at Emory University, and journeys around the country for intensive rehabilitation and long stays at specialty hospitals as far as Houston and Boston.
Although Andee was trapped in a body that couldn’t walk, talk, eat, or barely see, she began a slow journey of recovery with a determination that kept loved ones, friends and a supportive community in a year-round vigil of prayers, support and help for her family. Now at 16, Andee has recently turned a remarkable corner, and has emerged both transformed and enlightened on a mission to return to school, walk unassisted and to help kids and families that are on her same journey of recovery. As for Andee, she is still passionate for the Georgia Bulldogs and fast pitch softball, and she is working with fellow Junior Board members to plan and host the first annual Andee’s Army Softball tournament at NYO in 2013.
With the same steadfast resolve that Andee has shown during her recovery, a wide circle of friends and family formed Andee’s Army Foundation, a 501 c3 non profit organization, in 2011 to identify and help families in most need of a safety net for transportation, lodging, day care, meals, and incidental expenses associated with long commutes and lengthy hospital stays. Andee’s Army just recently granted their first five gifts to families who are on the same journey of recovery. As for Andee, she continues to inspire everyone that crosses paths with her.