Sarah Kilch Gaffney is a writer, brain injury advocate, community writing workshop facilitator, and bereavement volunteer from Maine. Sarah’s introduction to brain injury came through numerous concussions as a high school and college soccer player. She then became a brain injury caregiver in 2009 when her first husband Steve was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor at age 27. In the aftermath of Steve’s death in 2014, Sarah began to navigate a path forward for herself and their young daughter while shifting her focus to helping others through brain injury advocacy and grief support efforts.

As the Program Coordinator for the Brain Injury Association of America’s Maine Chapter, Sarah has devoted the last 10+ years to supporting the Maine and New Hampshire brain injury communities through advocacy, education, and community building. She is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist, has served on the Maine Acquired Brain Injury Advisory Council for nearly a decade, was named a Brain Injury Hope Network “Brain Injury Hope Hero,” is a founding member of the Maine Brain Injury Trust Fund, and is a recipient of the Lewis & Clara Lamont Award for Brain Injury Advocacy.

Sarah regularly facilitates community writing workshops designed to support participants through grief, brain injury, caregiving, chronic illness, stressful life events, and more. As an essayist, she has written extensively on the topics of brain injury, caregiving, and grief. Sarah has a particular passion for peer and caregiver support, she loves facilitating brain injury, caregiver, and grief support groups, and she is grateful every day to be able to provide support and care to others on their journeys.