Chad Brignac understands firsthand how futures can be altered following a stroke. Six years ago, when his wife Jdele Brignac suffered a stroke, it changed their lives forever, forcing them to forge their own path within the confusion and uncertainty of the aftermath.

The couple realized during recovery that there was a serious gap in the healthcare field for resources to support rebuilding one’s life after a stroke. And so, Pathways to Triumph was born, with the Brignac couple at the forefront, declaring that no family should walk that road alone.

Celebrating one year as an official nonprofit this month, Chad remembers the exact moment that sparked the idea to begin the organization, while Jdele was recovering in the hospital.

“I was wheeling Jdele to go to inpatient at Ochsner, and she looked over her shoulder at me and said, ‘People can’t do this alone,’” Chad recalls. “Once we spoke to others who had strokes and were rebuilding their lives, they all had one common theme: that they didn’t know what to expect when going home.”

Chad likens recovery after a stroke to that of a house fire—you have the first responders and clean up, but you still have a burned house once the fire is put out. “We feel that much of stroke recovery stops before the rebuilding begins,” he explains. “People go back and try to live in that burnt house, but you have to rebuild.”

Strokes impact everyone in one’s life, from family members becoming caregivers to friends not understanding how to move forward. “People don’t always know how to interact with someone who has had a stroke,” Chad says. “They don’t know how to communicate, and they don’t understand the lack of filter. Everyone we have spoken to faces the same challenge, and that is that they didn’t have enough education on what post-recovery looked like. When you get home, that’s when the real work begins.”

The big vision for Pathways to Triumph is to build post-acute home recovery centers across the nation, beginning here in Baton Rouge. “Those centers are going to be built for 3,500 to 5,000 stroke survivors and their families,” Chad says. “Once they are discharged from the hospital, they will go there for a six-month rebuilding program to help reintroduce them to their life.”

Another component of their big vision is what they call Triumph Troops, in which they plan to activate the stroke community—which is over 7 million strong in the United States—through a membership program. “Our hope is to engage this community by notifying them when someone in their area has had a stroke, so they can respond by meeting people in waiting rooms, sending prayers and being there for the people who have just stepped into the unknown,” Chad says.

Currently, Pathways to Triumph is providing in-home device support units that are not covered by insurance. “Yesterday, we gave away an electrostimulation unit to a new stroke survivor in the area,” Chad says. “As we grow the foundation, I am personally providing ride services locally to help survivors with getting to and from therapy, doctor appointments and more.” In addition, Jdele hosts a monthly support group for stroke survivors, offering a safe space where they can feel seen and heard by people who have also experienced it firsthand.

Understanding that every path looks different, but that help is necessary to rebuild, the couple hopes to be there for others facing the same circumstances.

“We feel like we have found triumph in Jdele’s journey after stroke, in my journey as a care partner, but also in our marriage and in our family—stroke impacts the entire family,” Chad explains. “Because there are over 795,000 strokes a year in the United States, that means there are 795,000 different pathways to triumph.”

Pathways to Triumph will host its first annual gala, An Evening of Triumph, on May 16 to raise awareness for the stroke community and funds to support efforts to assist stroke survivors in recovery.

Learn more about the organization and purchase a ticket to the event at pathwaystotriumph.life.