Programs - Epilepsy Services Foundation

Meet & Greet

Designed for parents or caregivers of children, teens or young adults with epilepsy to meet and talk with, support and encourage other parents.

In addition, the children, teens and young adults with epilepsy meet for support, to talk about their age-related issues and challenges in a social setting with fun activities.

Parents meet at one location while their children, teens meet at a nearby location. Young adults and parents sometimes meet together and sometimes separately.

Awareness & Education

Programs for persons affected by epilepsy, families, caregivers, volunteers, schools, school nurses, healthcare professionals and community groups. The length of programs varies from a half hour to six hours. Some topics include:

What is epilepsy?
Causes of epilepsy?
The Brain and its activities
The Epilepsies: Different types
Diagnosis and Treatment Options
Medications
Vagus Nerve Stimulator, Surgery and Ketogenic diet
First Aid
Seizure dogs
Epilepsy Alert devices

H.O.P.E. Mentoring

H.O.P.E. stands for Helping Other People with Epilepsy. Developed by the Epilepsy Foundation, ESF provides an innovative approach to education for individuals, families, caregivers and volunteers to increase their knowledge and understanding of epilepsy. The H.O.P.E. Mentoring Program is offered in January and June of each year. The programs are held on Saturday mornings and last four hours.

For persons wanting to participate in the Grace’s Hope Hospital Visitation Program, this program is a requirement.

To sign up for this program, call 813.374.8907 or use the contact us on our website.

Grace's Hope Hospital Visitation

Enables volunteers who have epilepsy or have a family member with epilepsy to meet with and support families of children newly diagnosed with epilepsy or families returning to a hospital who have had no previous contact with the volunteers. The program takes place at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa, FL.

The St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital Patient Coordinator calls a volunteer and gives them the family information prior to their visit. She also informs the volunteer about the child’s length of stay.

Volunteer requirements:

Volunteer has epilepsy or has a family member with epilepsy
Completes the H.O.P.E. Mentoring Program
Completes a one-hour “Listening Skills” program
Completes a one-hour St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital volunteer training program

Click here to sign up for this program, call 813.374.8907 or use the contact us on our website.

Support Groups

Epilepsy Services Foundation offers support groups for parents of children with epilepsy and young adults living with epilepsy.

These groups are conducted virtually and in person and provide opportunities for connection, education, and friendship.

Guest speakers are often invited to present on relevant topics and provide needed resources for families. Many of our participants state these groups have helped them feel supported and less alone on their epilepsy journey.

Family Retreat

This program allows twenty families of children and teens with epilepsy to participate in one of two Family Retreat Weekends. Families are invited to have a respite experience, meet other families, have fun and make lasting friendships.

The Weekends are held at:

Deliver the Dream
Camp Boggy Creek

Deliver the Dream is a special needs-friendly camp.

Scholarship

To sign up for one of our scholarship programs, call 813.374.8907 or use the contact us tab on our website. Scholarship recipients must reside in West Central FL.

College Scholarship Program

Persons affected by epilepsy who want to pursue a college degree or continue their college studies are encouraged to apply for a college scholarship. To be eligible, a person must have epilepsy or has a family member with epilepsy.

Medical Scholarship Program

This program is for medical students, residents, nurses and healthcare professionals to consider specializing in the area of medicine called neurology. To be eligible, a person must be a medical student, resident, nurse/student nurse or healthcare professional

2022 ESF Scholarship Winners

Camp Boggy Creek

Epilepsy Summer Camp

The Epilepsy Summer Camp at Camp Boggy Creek is for children/teens ages 7-16. ESF raises funds to send up to 25 kids/teens from West Central Florida to Camp Boggy Creek. Each year, it is a joy to see the faces of the children/teens who attend camp. They have such a good time. If you want your son or daughter to participate in camp, here are the easy steps you can follow.

To register and complete the application on-line, please go to Camp Boggy Creek

On the top of the website page you will see a button titled ‘The Campers” …click on it

When that page opens, click on “Camper Application”
You can begin filling out the application.
**If the camper is returning, you should have an account and can log in with your user name and password. If this is your first time, you will need to create an account.
After you completed the application on-line, you will need to have your doctor complete the medical forms and you will need to return them to Camp Boggy Creek. Please get the medical forms to the camp as soon as possible. Without these forms, your child will not be accepted.

For more information, contact ESF at [email protected] or 813.374.8907.