Whereas, According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1.4 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year, and 500,000 of those individuals die as a result of these injuries; the CDC also indicated that approximately 5.3 million Americans live with disabilities resulting from brain injury, including 200,000 Michigan residents; and,

Whereas, With TBI occurring every 23 seconds, this public health concern ranks as the leading cause of death and disability is children and young adults; and,

Whereas, Since its founding in 1981 by family members of loved ones who had sustained a brain injury, persons with a brain injury, and staff who worked in the field of brain injury, the Brain Injury Association of Michigan  has been the only state-wide nonprofit organization that has been dedicated to “creating a better future” through its mission “to enhance the lives of those affected by brain injury through education, advocacy, research, and local support groups, and to reduce the incidence of brain injury through prevention”; and,

Whereas, The Association created one of the first educational brain injury conferences 25 years ago, which now is recognized nationally as the largest and one of the most preeminent brain injury conferences in the United States; and,

Whereas, Public awareness is critical to the prevention of brain injury and to enhancing the recovery process of all individuals affected by TBI; and now therefore be it,

Resolved, That I, Jennifer M. Granholm, Governor of the State of Michigan, do hereby proclaim March 2006, as Brain Injury Awareness Month in Michigan.