This program is being hosted by Children's Minnesota Center for Bleeding and Clotting Disorders, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Hemophilia Treatment Center, and Sanford Health - Roger Maris Cancer Center & Sanford Health Center for Bleeding and Clotting Disorders.
This virtual program has been developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that the program is still accessible to the families that are seeking out or needing these kinds of resources and guidance.
To sign up for this course, please complete this REGISTRATION FORM. All submissions will be reviewed and confirmed by your host prior to the start of the program.
If you have any questions prior to registration, please contact your clinic or treatment center -
Minnesota Children's: Betsy Boegeman or Sue Purdie
Mayo: Dawn Rusk or Melinda Otto
Sanford Health: Chelsey Strand (Fargo) or Nathan Anderson (Sioux Falls)
This parenting course will be delivered over 10 weeks. Prior to the start of this course, registered participants will be sent hard-copy materials to their homes. They will also have access to course content via this online educational platform and will be expected to participant in weekly scheduled Zoom classes. Participants should assume that this course will require up to 2-hours of effort each week.
Participants will receive a certificate to recognize their completion of the program.
This program is sponsored by Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
SPECIAL NOTE: EEMpact Parenting is the updated name and brand for the Parents Empowering Parents (PEP) program that was launched and used in the bleeding disorder community since 1996.
Your Instructors
Your Online Instructor
Danna Merritt, LMSW - Danna is a licensed clinical social worker with over four decades of experience working with families that have children with serious medical conditions. She founded the original EEMpact Parenting program over twenty years ago and launched the Energizing and Empowering Minds non-profit in 2016 to continue to ensure that parents have access to the support that they need. Danna retired from Children’s Hospital of Michigan and is in the process of relocating to Westfield, IN. She is a mother of two daughters with six grandchildren. She enjoys spending her spare time with her family creating experiences and memories.
Your Weekly Zoom Facilitators
Chelsey Strand, LMSW - Chelsey is a Licensed Master Social Work at the Roger Maris Cancer Center & Sanford Health Center for Bleeding and Clotting Disorders. She specializes in providing psychosocial care to patients of all ages at the HTC. She is also a board member of BDAND (Bleeding Disorders Alliance of North Dakota). Chelsey enjoys providing support and resources to patients with bleeding disorders and is excited to be co-facilitating the EEMpact Parenting Program at her HTC!
Regina Aguirre - Regina lives with her husband and two children in El Lago, Texas. She is a paraprofessional in a Special Education classroom for 3rd and 5th grades and is a trained specialist in behavior for students with Autism and Specific Learning Disabilities.
Regina is a symptomatic carrier of the Hemophilia gene. Her son has severe hemophilia and her daughter is a carrier of the Hemophilia gene.
She has been involved in the Hemophilia community for over 20 years. She held a position of Vice President on the board of Directors for the Lone Star Chapter of The National Hemophilia Foundation. She and her husband attended their first PEP in 1999 and became a trainer in 2000. Regina has facilitated the program in the US, Panama, Malaysia and Colombia .
PEP/EEMpact Parenting has helped her raise two productive young adults and has given her the tools to use in the classroom with her students. In her spare time, Regina enjoys going to the beach, traveling and spending time with her family.