- A UNO student volunteers weekly at QLI, working alongside a stroke survivor to rebuild communication through consistent, structured interaction.
- Their collaboration has produced a personalized “black book” and photobooks used to support day-to-day communication.
- The relationship reflects how sustained, hands-on volunteer engagement at QLI connects learning and rehabilitation.
On Tuesdays, Claire Selinger does not rush the silence.
She sits across from Andrea Fossum, a resident of QLI’s Lied Assisted Living Apartments, and waits for words that do not always come easily.
Sometimes Andrea speaks quickly. Other times, she stops mid-thought, searching for what feels just out of reach. Claire does not interrupt. She gives it time.
“I love her,” said Andrea of Claire.
It’s a simple line, but it says a lot about what the two have built together over the last 18 months.
Claire, a Speech-Language Pathology student at UNO, first found QLI because she wanted to give back.
At QLI, relationships like this are made possible through volunteers who show up consistently and stay present in the work.
Understanding Aphasia After Stroke
She was matched with Andrea, who is living with aphasia following a stroke in 2021.
“I get to learn from her every week,” Claire said. “She has so many stories.”
Every Tuesday, Claire shows up with a plan, patience, and a quiet determination to help Andrea do something many people take for granted — communicate.
“My mind is clear, but I can’t get it out,” Andrea said.
Aphasia is a language disorder that affects a person’s ability to express and understand speech, even when their thoughts are clear and fully intact.
For Andrea, that means she often knows exactly what she wants to say, but the words do not come out the way she intends. What feels clear in her mind can become difficult to translate into speech in real time.
Learning to Communicate Again, One Conversation at a Time
The time Andrea and Claire share each week has been crucial in Andrea’s recovery.
“She reminds me to slow down, to take my time, breathe,” Andrea explains. “She waits in silence as I think.”
On a recent visit, the two sit side by side, flipping through a thick photobook they created together.
Inside are photos, notes, and structured pages that map out Andrea’s life, including some of the 49 countries she has visited over the years and the experiences that shaped her.
Before her stroke, Andrea worked in education and holds a doctorate, among other degrees. She was preparing for a new role as a school principal in Shenzhen, China, when she suffered a stroke in her hotel room in 2021. She would not be found for three days.
That context now sits quietly within the work she and Claire continue to do together.
The Book That Helps Tell a Life Story
One of their most meaningful projects is what Andrea calls her “black book.”
It is a small, portable tool they built together over time, part communication aid, part memory system, and part personal record.
It includes QLI team member names, photos, memory prompts, and structured pages that Andrea can carry with her to help navigate daily life.
It also holds pieces of her stroke story in her own words and images, including the sequence of events from that day in 2021 and the path she remembers inside the hotel room as she waited for help to arrive.
“It started with trying to organize things,” Claire said. “But it became something that really reflects Andrea’s life and what she needs to communicate day to day.”
Andrea had several resources she kept with her so she could access them when needed, but Claire said they were not always practical.
“They were all different sizes, which bothered her,” Claire said, “and they just weren’t very efficient for her to get out and use when she needed them.”
What Weekly Connection Can Do in Recovery
At QLI, volunteers like Claire are intentionally woven into programs like this one, giving students real-world exposure to communication through rehabilitation and human-centered care.
For Claire, it has become more than volunteer work.
“Just learning how to communicate in a way that we both understand each other,” Claire said.
For Andrea, the impact is simpler.
“She’s my friend,” she said.
Categories: Brain Injury, Client Story, Stroke