Project Spoonies – A community providing support to those with chronic illness

Chronic diseases or illness are defined broadly as conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both. – CDC. When battling a chronic illness, it can feel extremely isolating.

Chronic illnesses come with a significant amount of additional stress that can make coping feel extremely difficult. Project Spoonies is a community organization dedicated to providing support for individuals with chronic illness and educating the community at large about living with chronic illnesses and disabilities.

What is Project Spoonies?

Many people living with chronic illness identify as a “Spoonie”. The term originates from Christine Miserandino’s “Spoon Theory” where she explains what it is like living with a chronic illness. Spoons are used to represent energy. A person without a chronic illness may only use up two or three of their spoons a day. As a person with a chronic illness, you can start out with many spoons but this can quickly dwindle down to just one or two. This shows the trials of having a chronic illness, and that it is very exhausting.

Founded by Maya Eicher, Project Spoonies is here to highlight that and help those who identify with it. Project Spoonies is housed under Centre County’s Community Diversity Group, a registered non-profit organization that brings together individuals and groups working to cultivate inclusive and engaged communities.

Chronic illness can often isolate people in everyday life, but Project Spoonies has given us a platform to share our stories. Project Spoonies was founded by those who have first-hand experience of living with chronic illnesses and we hope that we can use our experiences to help create community and empower one another.” Maya Eicher 

Maya was personally struggling with the chronic illness diagnosis that shook her whole world and she founded Project Spoonies because she wanted to find other students who might be struggling too. She established this community with the support and guidance from her mentor,  JoAnn Foley-DeFiore who is an associate teaching professor of biobehavioral health. 

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