MEET THE PRO TEAM: Susan Bartel

It’s the people behind the scenes at PRO that makes us the special resource organization that we are. Each month we will take our readers behind the scenes and introduce one person from the PRO team.

Meet Susan Bartel, PRO Volunteer 

Describe your role with PRO.

“I am a volunteer. I assist with clerical tasks and phone calls.” 

What inspired you to come work with PRO?

“My husband Carl was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2013. I was volunteering at Martha’s Village at the time, and a fellow volunteer told me about PRO and suggested we check it out. We started coming to PRO in November of that year. 

I had volunteered at Martha’s Village for 6-½ years, then covid came along, and I stopped volunteering there. I started volunteering with PRO in 2021. I helped the office move physical locations and offered to continue volunteering. PRO needed the help. 

I wanted to do something meaningful for Parkinson’s. It has been a valuable resource to us going through the Parkinson’s journey, and I know it’s a valuable resource to the community.”

What is a fun fact about you?

“I am a fourth generation Californian. I was born in the same small town of Grass Valley  as my father and grandfather. Our kids are fifth generation Californians, and our grandkids are sixth generation Californians. We get our natural blonde curly hair from my great grandfather, who moved from Cornwall, England to California to work in the gold mines.”