Serving NC and SC
Set this as my local chapterParkinson’s Foundation Carolinas makes life better for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) by improving care and advancing research towards a cure. Whether you are newly diagnosed with PD or have been managing it for years, are a care partner, family member or friend of someone with PD, we are here to help you.
We are leaders in ensuring expert Parkinson’s care, educating and empowering the Parkinson’s community and driving the understanding of Parkinson’s through research. As a national organization with local presence and impact, we bring help and hope to the estimated one million people in the U.S., 10 million worldwide, who are living with Parkinson’s.
Your support of the Parkinson’s Foundation Carolinas Chapter makes a big impact on the quality of life for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) right here in your community, as well as across the country and around the world!
Read more about our chapter's impact
Thanks to supporters like you, we are able to provide free resources and advance research toward a cure.
Find Expert Care
Access to care professionals, medications and services
Parkinson’s Foundation Global Care Network creates more opportunities for people with PD to access high-quality care.
Hospital Safety Guide
Advocate for your best care
The Hospital Safety Guide contains useful tools and information to help a person with Parkinson’s during their next planned or unplanned hospital visit.
Helpline
The Helpline answers more than 20,000 calls a year
Call our Helpline at 1-800-4PD-INFO (473-4636) to find your nearest PD specialist or local resources and get answers to your PD and caregiving questions.
PD Library
We are your trusted ally for information at every stage
We offer resources including videos, podcasts, webinars and other opportunities to learn about the many aspects of living well with PD.
Progress towards new medicines, better therapies and eventually a cure relies, almost exclusively, on innovative, high-quality research.
The Parkinson’s Foundation Community Grants program supports programs that further the health, wellness and education of the Parkinson’s community. We help people with Parkinson’s live better lives, today.
In the 2021 grant cycle, we awarded eight local grants to community programs. These Community Grants are made possible through the support of donors.
Learn more about the Parkinson’s Foundation Community Grants program, including application information, deadlines and more.
336-817-4190
Carolinas@Parkinson.org
Parkinson’s Foundation
ATTN: Carolinas
200 SE 1st Street, Suite 800
Miami, FL 33131
Our Chapter Board ensures our impact is community based and community lead.
Camille Jones (Winston-Salem, NC)
President
My dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in the mid 1990’s and from May 2002, when my mother died, until his death in late 2008, my brother and I were his caregivers. In addition, my sister-in-law currently has PD, and a dear friend was diagnosed with early onset at age 40, some 25 years ago. Because my father didn’t have the benefit of support groups, or exercise groups, or any other community services during the time of his illness, it’s important to me to support the Parkinson’s community in any way I can.
Kim Gamble (Charlotte, NC)
Board Vice President, Mission and Outreach Committee
Kim's role as a Movement Disorder Center Coordinator spans across 20 years and three healthcare systems. She serves as the one point of contact for patients, staff, physicians and the PD community. Her purpose is to be a resource and connect individuals with the resources needed on the journey living with PD.
Kim's passion is to spotlight diversity and inclusion in the PD community. Knowing PD is not an exclusive diagnosis she works to educate underserved communities, provide resources and connect them toothers who look like them and share their experience. Her goal is to remove barriers, educate patients and families and empower them to live their BEST life with PD.
Jim Blackorby (Cary, NC)
Fund Development Chair
Diagnosed with PD on 2009; symptoms visible a couple of years earlier. My grandmother lived with Parkinson’s for 30+ years, and a cousin died of Parkinson's a couple years ago. My wife Shirley's sister progressed (or regressed) from Bell's Palsy, to Parkinson's to ALS and passed away seven years ago. So maybe all of the above played a role in my getting involved.
Jim and Shirley were part of our 2022 photo shoot.
Michael (Mike) Horak (Asheville, NC)
Reach Further Chair
Mike is Senior Associate Director of Philanthropy of the The Nature Conservancy where he has worked for 20 years. “I understand fundraising and what motivates people to give to non-profits. As a fundraiser I have a lot of connections to and experience working with people of wealth in the Carolinas. I also live in Western NC, traditionally an underserved area for health care services, including Parkinson’s.” He was diagnosed with early-onset PD in 2013 at age 48 and his 80-year-old father has had PD for 15 years, so Mike has a keen interest in genetics research.
Cynthia (Cindy) Karr (Charleston, SC)
Mission Outreach Chair
Although I was born and attended school in western New York, I’ve lived in Charleston, SC since 1974. I met my husband, Leonard, in Charleston and raised our family. Leonard was diagnosed with PD in 2008. For over 38 years, I worked at the Medical University of South Carolina as a Clinical Laboratory Sciences faculty member and then in the Office of Research Integrity as an administrator. Since 2013, I’ve applied my teaching and research skills in retirement endeavors.
Mike Brown (Columbia, SC)
Chater Development Committee
Mike currently is Vice President of Operations for Right at Home in Columbia, SC. Although he does not have a direct connection to Parkinson’s as a family member or care partner, he has a strong connection to the community and has worked extensively with local organizations as a volunteer and in the capacity of a board member. He served for six years as a board member of the Columbia Parkinson’s support group and worked on the steering committee for the local PD symposium and annual gala.
Mike likes to spend his free time with his wife, Emilie, and three children, ElIaree-13, Zack-5, and Mia-3.And he enjoys working on and converting VW buses into mobile bars (Yes, with beer taps on the side of them!)
Jenny Boone (Charlotte, NC)
Fund Development Committee
Jenny has had an extensive career in finance and banking. She was the Executive Director, Healthcare and Insurance for JP MORGAN CHASE, Chicago, IL and Charlotte. In the fall of 2021, Jenny’s mother passed away from complications due to PD and her father, her mom’s primary caregiver, a short time later. She has said, “Parkinson’s takes and takes. I want to help develop ways to support those suffering from Parkinson’s and the primary caregivers, be that through educational programs, fundraisers, and general support, I want to do all that I can.”
Travis Gawler (Taylor, SC)
Mission and Outeach Committee
Travis Gawler, a licensed physical therapist with national board certification in neurologic physical therapy. He has been in the neurology field with emphasis in movement disorders for 11 years. Travis has participated, and continues to participate, in local, regional, and national presentations on exercise and/or physical therapy for individuals living with PD. He served on the science advisory board for Davis Phinney Foundation for five years, 2016-2021.
Travis is employed at Bon Secours Hospital in Greenville, SC, and previously was employed at Prisma Health Physical Therapy Specialists in Columbia, SC, and, earlier, the Greenville Health System’s Roger C. Peace Rehab Hospital. Over the past 10 years he has served in multiple roles within his church, including on the financial committee, as deacon, on the security team, and in the children’s ministry. Travis lives in Taylor, SC, with his wife, Austin, and their three boys: Hudson- 7, Finley-5, and Griffin-6 months.
Julia Gee (Hilton Head, SC)
Mission and Outreach Committee
Julia Gee is a retired research technician who lives with her husband of 41 years in Hilton Head, SC. Phil was diagnosed with Parkinson’s eight years ago and Julia is his care partner. They have two grown daughters of whom they are very proud. Julia’s work in research ranged from work in chemotherapy port research, premature labor drug research, degenerative eye disease, and Alzheimer’s’ drug R&D to cigarette brand production.
As a volunteer, she has participated in community outreach areas that address the needs of the most vulnerable, disenfranchised or underrepresented as: the chair/ co-chair of a community food pantry, the activities director/fitness facilitator for seniors at church, instructor of middle school children for extended learning during summers, and an advisor to the board of directors of a Meals on Wheels program. She is co-founder/co-chair of a year-old support group for people with Parkinson's and their care partners/givers.
Emanuel "Manny" Simmons (Jacksonville, NC)
Mission and Outreach Committee
Originally from New York and raised in Harlem, Manny Simmons enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 22 and served for 27 years. At age 13 he found his passion for boxing. At age 19, he became a professional boxer, fighting at Madison Square Garden three times and winning two of the three matches. “I had 46 amateur fights and became a professional boxer with the goal to fight in the same places that my favorite boxer, Muhammad Ali did,” he says.
Manny has a BS in Human Services Management and has been working on a Master’s in Management & Leadership. He recently has been very focused on his boxing gym, 10 Rounds of Fitness, an affiliated gym for the Rock Steady Boxing Program. He has 20members who “have been working hard to slow the progression of Parkinson's.” He lives in Jacksonville, NC, with his wife Margarita Simmons and son David Ramirez.