Putting Heads Together: Fall Issue

Dear Friends,

Some of you met us recently as participants in a CHF PRIME training, and we're so glad you're here. Many others have been with us as believers in our work, and we're grateful. Since 2009, Carolina Headache Foundation has worked to improve care for people living with headache disorders, and this seasonal letter is how we keep our whole community up to date.

CHF PRIME is back in the classroom

On October 9, residents at Southern Regional AHEC in Fayetteville spent four hours learning to diagnose and treat migraine, then used it right away in real-time patient cases. It was our first CHF PRIME training in a year and a half. It was also our first time teaching in person and online at the same time, so we can learn which format works best.

See the photos and story from Fayetteville →

How we got here

In our summer issue, we told you we had submitted a major grant proposal. Here's what happened next, and how each step set up the one after it.

• The grant. Pfizer awarded CHF PRIME a two-year, $200,000 Independent Medical Education grant to expand across North Carolina. Read about the grant →

• The hire. We welcomed Dion Chavis as Program Coordinator, the first staff member dedicated to programs in our history. Meet Dion →

• The training. With a coordinator in place, Fayetteville came together: faculty, evaluation, a video crew, and two classrooms at once.

Behind the curtain: proving it works

Teaching CHF PRIME is half the job. The other half is showing that it works. Program Chair Kevin Kahn and Advisor Marcy Boynton have built an evaluation, including an application for IRB review, so we can measure what residents learn in each format. We were joined by Melden Tech, a CHF partner that supports our hybrid trainings by running the technology that connects both classrooms and by recording each session. That footage will be edited into video we can reuse to teach more residents.

Not everything went smoothly. Running two formats at once brought technical glitches, so we debriefed with the whole team that same evening. We would rather learn each lesson once, and those lessons go with us to Campbell.

What's next

• November 2026: Campbell

• February 2027: UNC

• May 2027: Charlotte

What the grant covers, and what it doesn't

The Pfizer grant is a vote of confidence, and it is restricted. It pays for delivering CHF PRIME trainings: faculty, the technology for hybrid teaching, travel, and core evaluation. It doesn't pay for much of what it takes to build a program that lasts:

• Staff time. CHF runs lean and nimble, with just two part-time contract staff working alongside a dedicated volunteer Board of Directors and Advisors. The grant covers only a third of one of the staff positions, and none of the other.

• Proving results. Small incentives that encourage residents to complete follow-up surveys, so we can show what they learned.

• Staying connected. A continuing education chapter of the curriculum that follows residents into practice.

• Growing our faculty. Recruiting new faculty and building a train-the-trainer curriculum so CHF PRIME can reach more programs.

The grant is a fraction of what it takes to build CHF PRIME for the long term. We'll share more in December about what comes next and where support matters most.

Thank you

To the residents who trained with us this fall: thank you for your time, your questions, and the care you'll bring to your patients.

To those of you who believed in us through donations over the past year and before: grant makers are often wary of funding small nonprofits, and before Pfizer said yes, you did. Your early gifts showed that people already believed in CHF PRIME, and that helped make this grant possible.

Thank you all for helping us get here.

With gratitude,

Holly Harding Executive Director

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