In the early 1980s, a group of brain injury survivors and their families saw a need for a rehabilitation program that would support their needs after they left the hospital setting. The families talked about how leaving the hospital was difficult because there were no services to help them continue to recover and succeed.
This group of families and survivors was supported in their need by Dr. Tom Carlstrom, a neurosurgeon at Iowa Methodist Hospital at the time, and Dr. Marvin Tooman, who would later become On With Life’s founding CEO. Together, they formed a steering committee with local hospitals to begin to establish the need for such a program. As this was happening, the founding families began holding fundraising events to support a new brain injury rehabilitation program and the corporation, On With Life, Inc., was formed. The name “On With Life” was suggested by Doris Konkol, whose son, a brain injury survivor, frequently said, “I just want to get on with my life.”
Charlene and Don Lamberti got involved in 1988 when they provided space within the Casey’s corporate offices that would be the first home base for On With Life. Casey’s had two people at its facility in Kansas City who had head injuries, and the Lambertis were happy to support a program that would focus solely on the unique needs of these individuals. In addition, one of the founding families of On With Life was Eli Wirtz, Casey’s General Counsel, and he asked Don to help raise the support needed to implement a $4.2 million City of Ankeny bond. Together, with several corporate and community donors including Red Brannon, Denny Elwell, Bob Gibb, John R. Grubb, Bruce Kelley, Marv Pomerantz and others, they agreed to support the initiative. In 1991, the dream became a reality when On With Life opened their doors.
Today, it is so inspiring to see what On With Life has become thanks to the founding families, founding donors and the support of the Ankeny community. Thousands of lives have been impacted, and we thank everyone for being a part of On With Life’s journey. With your support, even more miracles will be realized and thousands more individuals will be able to get ‘on with life.’