Over the last 20 years following a serious car crash, Sara Orleanski’s brain has continued healing. Every morning, she does word puzzles and practices her speech.

“Talking and communicating and elongate my sentences," Sara said.

Once a week, you’ll find Sara at the neuro services program at the College of Saint Rose. It’s a program that helps people who have suffered from traumatic brain injury, stroke or other neurologic events. Graduate students work with survivors at almost a one-to-one ratio so people like Sara can continue to improve, even decades after their initial injury.

“The person may still have trouble talking. They still have trouble moving. They still have trouble thinking. And so what this provides is a … long-term solution," said Julie Hart, director of the TBI waiver and neurological services program.

Since Saint Rose announced its closure, this program is ending with it.

“I’ve been here on and off since 1994. So 30 years of being here. This, to me, is my home," Hart said.

Without the program, Hart worries most about the people who need it most.

“I see 60 people each week in 22 different groups. The thought of those folks all of a sudden now being home, where no one's there to really have that conversation with them, no one's there to really work on talking with them or push them to the limit of being able to talk as much as they can, that’s the impact," Hart said.

Hart wants to start her own nonprofit to fill the hole that will be left in the community once the program ends. She also hopes to include graduate students from colleges across New York.