How can there be a history of a brand new organization? Well, when Tom House got the news he had Parkinson’s he applied everything in his well-tooled and ever-growing arsenal to combat the symptoms and the effects of the disease. As a player, coach, mentor, author, educator and researcher with a doctorate, he was doing research non-stop and publishing his findings.
As his Parkinson’s progressed and he sought out other treatments and practitioners he began to see how to fill out his approach with different modalities. This helped broaden his thinking. As he started seeing positive results he wanted to share with as many PWP 9people with Parkinson’s) as possible. It started with his USC freshman team that he played on, six men from the 35-man roster were diagnosed with the disease. As well as Hall of Fame legend Tom Seaver.
During this time he was seeing people who would put in the work and other’s who couldn’t find the drive or desire. He stopped just talking about it and decided to get hands on. So he opened Venn Lab in Encinitas. Where he could give people a taste of the positive daily output that could come from doing the work.
Doing the work alongside athletes getting ready for competition has given it a decidedly locker room feel and that has appealed to all - former athletes or not. The energy is electric. One day Tom mentioned to Phil Hicks, his director of development for Tom House Sports, that he wanted to help more people. From there the National Parkinson’s Agency was born.
The backbone is simple: hope comes from the strides being made on the research side of Parkinson’s. Joy comes from the success of playing in the clubhouse with others. Hope + Joy = Ignition. Once you have ignition, anything is possible.
