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-led.
Kim Gamble (Charlotte, NC)
President
Kim's role as a Movement Disorder Center Coordinator spans over 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 of 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 to others 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 lives with PD.
Camille Jones (Winston-Salem, NC)
Past 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.
Mike Brown (Columbia, SC)
Chapter Development Chair
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, Zack, and Mia. He enjoys working on and converting VW buses into mobile bars (Yes, with beer taps on the side of them!)
Michael (Mike) Horak (Asheville, NC)
Fund Development 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.
Travis Gawler (Taylor, SC)
Mission Work/Community Outreach Chair
Travis Gawler is a licensed physical therapist with national board certification in neurologic physical therapy. He has been in the neurology field with an emphasis on 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 a 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, Finley, and Griffin.
Logan Banks (Aiken, SC)
Logan has nearly 40 years of family history in the senior living industry, giving him extensive local business connections. He is the president of the CSRA Parkinson’s Support Group, a 34-year-old nonprofit serving the greater Augusta-Aiken PD community. Within the Chamber of Commerce, he is vice-chair of the Ambassador Committee and Leadership Columbia County Program and will become chair in 2025. Logan also serves on the board of Day-One Fitness, a nonprofit gym for those with movement and memory disorders in Beach Island, SC.
Logan's passion for the Parkinson’s community began at Brandon Wilde, where he learned from a local couple about the challenges faced by those with Parkinson’s and the importance of education, research, early detection, and awareness.
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.”
Lisa Carter Noecker (Wilmington, NC)
Fund Development Committee
Lisa Carter Noecker, an attorney in Wilmington, NC, opened her own firm in 2023 after serving as in-house counsel at PPD until 2022. Her firm focuses on human resources, corporate compliance, and ethics. Lisa and her husband, Jeff, have two children, Carter (26) and Eliza (24), who both live in Raleigh.
Lisa is active in her community as a member, former deacon, and Sunday School teacher at First Presbyterian Church Wilmington, a former coach for Girls on the Run, and a former board member of New Hanover County Smart Start. Introduced to the Parkinson’s Foundation in 2021, Lisa became deeply involved due to her personal connections: her father, Zeb, had Parkinson’s for 17 years, her father-in-law, John, has had it for two years, and her sister-in-law’s mother, JoAnne, has had it for 12 years.
Lisa enjoys traveling, reading, exercising, playing the piano, socializing with friends, and indulging in crime stories and Pinot Noir or IPA. She is passionate about holidays, especially Halloween. Lisa is dedicated to the Parkinson’s community, driven by her personal experiences with the disease.
Jennifer Lane-Lehr (Raleigh, NC)
Fund Development Committee
Jennifer Lane Lehr has over 25 years of experience in healthcare and education. She has led the creation of an oncology care model for rural hospitals, managed a private practice, and coordinated a multimillion-dollar federal grant for underserved populations. Jennifer owns Aspire Therapy LLC in Kansas City, MO/Raleigh, NC.
With an MS in Speech and Hearing Sciences from UNC Chapel Hill and graduate coursework in Therapeutic Sciences from the University of Kansas Medical Center, she has extensive clinical experience across various settings. She is a 2023 graduate of Duke University's Leadership in Health and Well-Being program.
Jennifer has been active in state association committees and public speaking for advocacy. She is the former ASHA Committee Ambassador for Speech-Language Pathology for Missouri. Her clinical and research interests focus on integrative medicine in rehabilitation, particularly for Parkinson’s Disease. She is also a certified group exercise and RYT-200 yoga instructor.
In her free time, Jennifer advocates for cancer treatment innovations at two NCI-designated centers, and enjoys running, yoga, and practical jokes with her family. Well-known to the Carolinas Chapter of the Parkinson’s Foundation, she brings energy, personal commitment (her mother has Parkinson’s Disease), and extensive healthcare experience.
Nicole Cool (Charleston, SC)
Mission Work/Community Outreach Committee
Nicole Cool, BSN, RN, is the Nurse Coordinator at MUSC Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence with the Movement Disorders Program. She joined MUSC in 2010 and has advanced from a Student Tech II to RN II, earning her BSN from the University of Texas at Arlington. Nicole manages the Movement Disorders Interdisciplinary Clinic, handles patient follow-up, educates patients, and provides Parkinson’s Foundation materials. She initiated monthly Lunch and Learns and coordinates the Newly Diagnosed PD Orientation. Active in community events, she assists with various Parkinson’s-related events and supports local PD groups. Nicole is a member of the Moving Day Committee for the Parkinson’s Foundation of the Carolinas and serves on the Berkeley Community Mental Health Board of Directors. Married for 22 years with two college-age children, she is well-known in Charleston and throughout South Carolina for her dedication and enthusiasm in the PD community.
Nick Everetts (Florence, SC)
Mission Work/Community Outreach Committee
Nick Everetts, originally from Medina, Ohio, graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in psychology and earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in Florida, where he met his wife. They chose to settle in Florence, midway between Florida and Ohio. Since February 2020, Nick has worked as a physical therapist at MUSC Florence, primarily in the outpatient division.
His first experience with Parkinson’s was during his second internship in Phoenix, where he worked with an LSVT-certified clinician. After becoming LSVT-certified himself, Nick helped develop the Parkinson’s program at MUSC Florence. He has lectured at a local senior center, delivered a Facebook Live talk on Parkinson’s, and led the development of MUSC’s Parkinson’s support group in Florence.
Nick aims to provide resources and information to those with Parkinson’s Disease, helping them feel more confident in managing their condition. He is excited and humbled to work with the Carolinas Chapter to further support those with Parkinson’s Disease.
Julia Gee (Hilton Head, SC)
Mission Work/Community 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.