A temp job becomes permanent for new PMDC community outreach coordinator

By Jeff Kelley 

Bonnie Mahl first came to the VCU Parkinson’s Movement and Disorders Center at the start of 2023 to fill a temporary administrative role and figured she would be at PMDC for just a couple months.

But that changed after she got a firsthand look at PMDC’s efforts to help people living with movement disorders.

“Along the way, I just found the people at the PMDC to be so kind and so caring,” Mahl says. “They’re working to ensure that people with movement disorders are living their best lives possible.”

Mahl stayed with PMDC, helping organize the monthly educational conference series, working with donors, and taking on other duties. In September, she began a new role as the Center’s senior community engagement and outreach coordinator.

She says PMDC’s work speaks to one of her core values of helping others. 

One of her favorite moments at the center was when she went to the office supply store in advance of a workshop that PMDC held with the Richmond-based Power Over Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, which provided attendees insights on how to address Parkinson’s disease (PD) burnout.

Knowing hand tremors can be a symptom of PD, Mahl got triangular-shaped crayons so they would be easier to grip for attendees writing out questions they had during the workshop. 

“My main goal in this role is to help foster even more of a sense of community within the patient population we reach. Just finding a place of community where they can relate to each other and tell their stories.”

“I gave a crayon to one of the participants, and she loved it because it worked for her. I said ‘take this entire box of crayons home with you,’” Mahl says. “That fills my heart, and that’s how I measure success.”

Mahl came to PMDC with a 20-year background in environmental education. After graduating college, she worked in the Peace Corps for two years in Vanuatu, an archipelago nation located in the South Pacific near Fiji.

“That was my first eye-opening experience in community development,” she says.

And as the pandemic has faded and more in-person events are possible, Mahl sees a chance for more gatherings to promote community building for PMDC patients and caregivers.

“My main goal in  this role is to help foster even more of a sense of community within the patient population we reach,” Mahl says. “Just finding a place of community where they can relate to each other and tell their stories.”

Mahl also wants to help organize more educational workshops for patients and those who care for them. Some possibilities include a workshop about traveling with PD  or a session about the benefits movement disorders patients could experience by getting out into nature.

“By listening and talking with people, there might be something else that comes up as a need,” she says. “And I want to help.”