Good News for a Beautiful Sunday

I was just asked to be on the board of a really great and worthy disability organization,Vision Works Foundation Inc, to assist with its formation and the launch of its first initiative MS Friends, which is dedicated to helping and empowering people with multiple sclerosis (MS).  The organization also provides support to friends and family of people living with MS.  MS Friends’ mission is to:

 [I]mprove the quality of life for people with Multiple Sclerosis, for their families and friends. MS effects all ages and races. Over 1.5 million people and their families in the US are affected by MS.  

MS Friends helps people with MS who are isolated become a part of the larger MS community as well as learn how to better manage and deal with their disease.  With MS, it is important to know the symptoms of the disease and medical options and to be aggressive with treating and managing it. 

MS Friends, a partner of the National MS Society, will be going through transitions in the coming months to increase its reach into the MS community as well as to better educate the public.  I am thrilled to be able to be a part of this transformation and growth, both personally and professionally.  I hope to be able to share my background in non-profit, management and disability issues to help move the organization forward.   As a person with a disability and a disability advocate, I am honored. 

Amelia Davis, a person with MS and extremely talented photographer, recently published a book, My Story, that profiles people with MS, their struggles and successes and coming terms with their disease.  Her book is moving and the photographs are beautiful.  Amelia Davis is the president of MS Friends and quite an extraordinary woman and a true inspiration because she has learned how to live with MS and not let MS control her life.  Here are a few facts about MS (from the National MS Society):

• MS is a chronic, unpredictable neurological disease that affects the central nervous system.
• MS is not contagious and is not directly inherited.
• Most people with MS have a normal or near-normal life expectancy.
• The majority of people with MS do not become severely disabled.
• There is no cure for MS yet, but drugs can help slow the course and/or symptoms in some patients.

 To learn more about MS, click here.