The ALS Association, Oregon and SW WA Chapter

Programs: Outreach & advocacy: as one of 44 chapters affiliated with the national als association, the oregon and southwest washington chapter provides ongoing financial support for the national als association to support federal public policy initiatives to improve the lives of families living with als, outreach efforts to raise public awareness about als, as well as cutting edge global research working toward an effective treatment and ultimately a cure for als. The organization contributed to a national effort that tripled annual spending on research and launched major new research efforts such as project mine, the neuro-collaborative, act for accelerated treatments, the new york genome center along with twenty plus investigator initiated research grants. Public policy accomplishments during the year ended january 31, 2018 include sending a successful delegation of people with als to washington dc to advocate for the national als registry, the als research program at the department of defense, ensuring access to medicare funded speech generating devices and promoting federal support for als research. The organization provided over $294,000 to support these national public policy and research efforts. Awareness events sponsored by the organization include the walk to defeat als, ski to defeat als, ride to defeat als, give hope for als luncheons, drive fore als golf tournament, may als awareness month, creation of public service announcements, mission connected social media, and creation of videos that illustrate what als is and how chapter services can help. November national family caregiver month activities served as opportunities to bring hope and community to people with als and their families. By coming together at awareness events, people with als and their families as well as those who have lost a loved one to als find strength and support with one another. The large number of people who participate in these efforts raise the profile of als across the chapter and engage community awareness of the services and resources available from the oregon and southwest washington chapter. Research is a critical part of the chapter mission. As part of the effort to increase the knowledge of als and those affected, the organization promotes defeat als events that promote the national als registry. This effort is vital in order to understand the full incidence and prevalence of als across oregon and southwest washington so that we can identify and strategically plan to serve as many families living with als in our chapter territory as possible.

independence programs: to support and empower people living with als to live independently and as fully as possible, the organization provides services that help people with equipment and tools to assist in their daily lives. The medical equipment loan program provides equipment such as manual wheelchairs, power wheel chairs, bathroom equipment, patient lifts to families for short and long term loan. Partnering with medical equipment companies across the chapter, the organization served 204 families with medical equipment loan requests during the year ended january 31, 2018. The organization also has a unique program to assist families living with als in accessing augmentative and alternative communication (aac) equipment as well as adaptive technology for computer access and environmental controls for people with als. This program provided support, training, technical assistance and home based support to over 180 families during the year ended january 31, 2018 and loaned over 200 pieces of technology to families living with als. The chapter grant program is designed to provide financial assistance for families living with als to help with the high cost of living with als. People with als were provided over $77,000 in grants to 122 families that assisted with well-being and family supports, communication support, transportation assistance, home modifications, and medical expenses.

education & support programs: strategically based in and near patients home communities, care services coordinators work directly with people with als and their families to help them navigate management of als as well as access community resources. During the year ended january 31, 2018, care service coordinators made 382 home visits with people living with als. In these home visits, coordinators are often the crucial support people need with guidance on finance, employment issues, insurance questions, social security disability, medicare, medicaid and long term care questions. Coordinators assisted 144 support groups across 12 locations with 2,040 engagements. Care services staff also provided professional education for community partners such as hospice, home health and home care agencies to increase their knowledge of als.