Updated on Dec. 2, 2024
The 2024 Dancing for Our Stars “Imagine” Gala lit up the night with dazzling performances, heartfelt stories, and an incredible outpouring of generosity. The annual event, designed to raise funds for patient care at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center and MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach, was a resounding success, raising more than $573,000 for critical programs that support the Long Beach community.
Throughout the night, five dancers with personal connections to our Long Beach hospitals took the stage to showcase their best moves. Among them was Josephine Molina, who was crowned the 2024 Dancing for Our Stars Gala winner after captivating the audience with her exceptional dance moves.
Dancing for a Worthy Cause
Josephine’s participation in the night was more than just a competition to her. The Neuro Rehabilitation Center at Long Beach Medical Center holds a deep significance in Josephine’s heart, as it became a beacon of hope for her and her wife, Heather, during one of the most challenging times of their lives.
For nine long months, Heather underwent intensive outpatient rehabilitation following a traumatic brain injury she sustained in a car accident caused by black ice on her way back from a college ski trip. During her recovery, she had to re-learn many essential daily living skills, including reading and even retaking science courses she had completed before the injury. Working closely with speech and cognitive therapists, Heather focused on rebuilding her comprehension and vocabulary. Her injury had caused her reading level to drop from college level to a fourth-grade level, and the rehab team helped her regain the cognitive abilities she had before the injury. Thanks to the dedication and expertise of the rehabilitation staff, Heather slowly regained the quality of life she had known before the accident.
“Long Beach Medical Center has played a tremendous role in my life and continues to be a significant part of our journey,” said Josephine, reflecting on her journey as the 2024 Dancing for Our Stars Champion. “Being able to give back and help raise money to continue their mission is an honor. It gives me an opportunity to give back to the community that has given so much to my family.”
The Importance of Neurorehabilitation
Neurorehabilitation is a vital process that assists individuals in recovering from the physical, psychological, and cognitive impacts of neurological conditions. With the right rehabilitation program, patients can experience significant improvements in their independence and safely assist individuals in returning to an active lifestyle.
The Neurorehabilitation Center offers a variety of treatments to help those who have sustained an injury return back to their daily lives. Each treatment is personalized to fit what is right for each specific patient. Some of the therapy options include:
- Aquatic therapy: Focuses on strengthening, range of motion, and improving functional movements through a personalized exercise plan in shallow and deep water.
- Body-weight support treadmill training: A rehabilitation technique that uses a harness to reduce the body weight of someone while they walk on the treadmill to improve walking speed, endurance, and gross motor skills.
- Constraint-induced therapy: A rehabilitation technique that helps people regain use of an affected arm or hand after a stroke, brain injury, or other neurological condition.
- Neuromuscular retraining: A physical therapy technique that helps retrain the brain and spinal cord to perform motor activities. It can be used to treat a variety of conditions, including muscle paresis, paralysis, and facial paralysis.
- Dysphagia (swallowing) therapy: Therapy guided by a speech-language pathologist that helps improve swallowing and reduce the risk of choking.
- Speech, language, and cognitive therapy: Can help improve communication and cognitive skills using both cognitive therapy and speech-language pathology.
- LVST Big and Loud for Parkinson’s: Evidence-based therapy programs that can help people with Parkinson's disease (PD) improve their speech, movement, and quality of life.
Serving 2,500 patients annually, offering critical services for those recovering from various conditions, including: strokes, trauma to the spinal cord, and other neurological disorders. With the aid of neurorehabilitation, however, meaningful changes can occur, allowing patients to reach their goals and fully participate in everyday activities, at home, school, or work.
The center’s highly skilled team is experienced in working with various neurological disorders. The multidisciplinary team includes physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists who are committed to enhancing patient’s quality of life by improving their functional abilities.
The center focusses on treating a variety of conditions that affect movement and neurological functions. Key conditions include:
- Movement Disorders: such as Parkinson’s disease, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), and dystonia, which impact the body’s ability to control muscle movements.
- Traumatic Injuries: like brain injuries and spinal cord injuries that alter brain and nerve function.
- Other conditions treated include: stroke, neuropathy, and multiple sclerosis.
With a focus on personalized care, the team at the Neuro Rehabilitation Center uses cutting-edge therapies and technologies to ensure patients receive the best possible outcomes.
Thanks to the expertise and dedication of the Neuro Rehabilitation team at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center, Heather was able to make a full recovery. She now enjoys the life she loved, filled with the activities and experiences that were once uncertain. This is the kind of transformative care that the Neuro Rehabilitation Center delivers every day, changing lives through its compassionate and multidisciplinary approach to healing.
Giving Back to the Community
At the heart of the Dancing for Our Stars Gala is the community’s support for these vital programs. Attendees joined in on the fun by voting for their favorite dancers and immersed themselves in the excitement of the night. Through their generosity, they’ve made a lasting impact on the lives of those in need of specialized care.
“I feel so honored to have won and to be given the opportunity to dance in support of a cause I so strongly believe in,” exclaimed Josephine. “This has given me a chance to give back to MemorialCare after everything they have given me!”
The Long Beach Medical Center Foundation’s Dancing for Our Stars event is a shining example of how a community can come together to support a shared mission. By blending entertainment with philanthropy, this event not only celebrates the talent and dedication of participants but also ensures vital funds are raised to enhance patient care, drive medical advancements, and strengthen healthcare programs. It’s a powerful reminder of the collective impact we can make when we come together for a cause that touches so many lives.
“I am immensely proud of the Dancing for Our Stars event and the overwhelming support from our community,” said Rob Gunsalus, President of the Long Beach Medical Center Foundation. “This celebration is more than just a night of fun, it’s a testament to the power of coming together for a shared cause. The generosity and enthusiasm shown here directly impacts the quality of care we provide, allowing us to continue advancing healthcare and serving our community.”
Want to learn more about The Dancing for Our Stars Gala? Visit our Dancing With Our Stars page.