"Dear Ms. Banks,

We would like to take the opportunity to thank you again for your participation in our 2005 Annual Meeting & Clinical Care Conference held in Kansas City, MO, January 13-14, 2005.

Your presentation, “Chronic Illness & The Dialysis Patient: An African-American Perspective,” during our session, “Recognizing the Value of Cultural Differences” was a true success.  Your individual evaluation results were very high. In addition, the comments our attendees prove that your presentation style was valuable, your content and anecdotes were very well received, and your knowledge and experience as a social worker in the dialysis community was effectively communicated.

On a professional level, you were one of the most pleasant and personable speakers I had the pleasure of working with this year.  Our communication was very fluid and your ability to meet all of our requested deadlines was more than appreciated.  We were pleased that your schedule allowed you to present at our conference and we would be delighted to be a reference for your potential speaking engagements.

Finally, we will contact you when another opportunity presents itself with our organization or partners.  We wish you continued success in all of your endeavors."

All the best,

Katrina M. Dinkel, MA

"This letter is to acknowledge and congratulate Miss. Denedria Banks on a spectacular job in hosting our 9^th Annual Fashion Show here at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center.  Our fashion show, which was held on Thursday, June 16^th, 2005, showcases patients from our Adult Brain Injury and Neurology Services.  This event addresses each patient’s physical, cognitive, and psychological needs to increase their independence and quality of life.  With her being a former patient here at Rancho, Miss. Banks played a pivotal role in inspiring, motivating, and most importantly, providing hope and strength to our patients in the rehabilitation program.

This program would not have been a success without her extraordinary personality, stage presence, and genuine belief in the purpose of this program.  We hope to continue to bridge a partnership with Denedria for future programs." 

Sincerely,

"Ms. Banks has been a guest speaker for the evidence-based practice course at USC for the past three consecutive years.  I met Ms. Banks when she was an inpatient at Rancho Los Amigos and invited her to participate in our class discussions at USC regarding patient perspective.  Ms. Banks’ sessions have been excellent and often the highlight of the students’ interactions with guest speakers with disabilities. She speaks directly from her personal experience of living with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and her interactions with numerous health care providers over the years.

Ms. Banks is highly engaging, articulate, and very humorous. She is quite reflective and able to voice insights from a patient perspective that are invaluable to students. She is flexible and capable of handling various class discussion formats. I highly recommend Ms. Banks as a guest speaker.  She would be an effective presenter for a physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, physician, or social work program." 

Sincerely,

Betsy King

Doctor of Physical Therapy