The ALS Association fights for people with ALS every day, leading cutting-edge research to discover treatments and a cure for ALS, and serving, advocating for, and empowering people with the disease to live their lives to the fullest.

In honor of Throwback Thursday, let’s look back at the advances in our mission areas of Advocacy, Care Services, and Research during 2017.

Care Services

 The ALS Association provides people fighting ALS and their families and friends with the critical information, support, and resources necessary to better meet daily challenges and live full lives.

Our chapters assist people living with ALS and their families in our community through our equipment loan closets, support groups, augmentative communication and assistive technology program, caregiver support, and education and outreach.

We also collaborate with the best ALS physicians and clinics in our service area to help ensure people living with ALS have access to specialized care, based on best practices.

Here are a few ways we provided critical assistance to those living with ALS and their families in 2017:

• 19,114 people with ALS served through our chapter network
• 7,526 people served through our Certified Treatment Centers of Excellence and Recognized Treatment Centers
• More than $3.3 million in grants provided through our Certified Center Program

Advocacy

We bring the ALS community together to increase awareness of ALS, advocate for research funding, and educate legislators – impacting thousands of people with ALS and their families. Our more than 16,000 ALS Advocates across the country had much to be proud of last year.

Here are a few public policy highlights from 2017:

• Ensured people with ALS have access to wheelchairs and complex rehab technology
• Secured millions of dollars in funding for ALS research at National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Accomplished more than 770 meetings with members of Congress during our annual Advocacy Fly-In and National ALS Advocacy Conference

Research

The ALS Association currently funds over 113 projects in nine countries, furthering the best ALS research in the world. In 2017, many new research discoveries and collaborations accelerated the momentum toward finding treatments and a cure for ALS.

Here are a few of the biggest advances in ALS research during 2017 that give us hope. All projects were funded by The ALS Association.

• Nuedexta trial showed significant palliative effects on speech, swallowing, and salvation
• A new urinary biomarker now helps researchers monitor ALS disease progression
• The ALS Assistive Technology Challenge winners made key advances in wearable sensor and brain computer interface technology

Check out our 2017 mission infographic online.