We have the momentum, but we need your help – Alzheimer’s movement
Thanks to the Alzheimer’s Association and its dedicated advocates nationwide, congressional leaders recently announced the largest-ever increase for Alzheimer’s research funding — $350 million. This is an unprecedented victory and a historic moment for the Alzheimer’s movement. Be part of the next step, and help us advance the cause at the 2016 Alzheimer’s Association Advocacy Forum.
Where you need to be in 2016.
The Alzheimer’s Association Advocacy Forum is the nation’s premier Alzheimer’s advocacy event. It’s where you need to be to continue playing a crucial role in the fight against the disease.
Registration is now open for the 2016 Advocacy Forum.
Greetings, Fellow Advocates:
You represent the very best of who we are through your collective voice, passion and commitment to speak out on behalf of friends, family and neighbors affected by the devastation of Alzheimer’s disease. As chair of the 28th Alzheimer’s Association Advocacy Forum, I invite you to join us in Washington, D.C., this year.
This will be my 15th Forum. Like many of you, I was spurred by the loss of dear family members. In July 2000, I began volunteering at my local chapter after my mom’s passing from Alzheimer’s a few months earlier. My dad would also succumb 10 years later. Witnessing not only their journeys but those of too many parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and spouses of close friends and other family compelled me to return each year, through some of the most tumultuous times our nation has faced in recent memory.
Many of you have also come back and brought others, who in turn went home to tell their stories and recruit advocates to make the trip the following year. Because of that — because of you — we’ve witnessed some remarkable milestones together, from passage of the National Family Caregiver Support Program and expedited access to Social Security Disability Insurance for younger-onset individuals to the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) and launch of the inaugural national Alzheimer’s plan in 2012. During that same challenging period, your advocacy achieved hard-fought, additional National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding in multiple years, culminating with the inclusion of the Alzheimer’s Accountability Act in 2014’s Omnibus Appropriations Bill and the FY2016 budget’s unprecedented $350 million increase for Alzheimer’s research, bringing the total to $936 million. This is double the amount from when we all worked with Congress to unanimously pass NAPA five years ago.
In his wonderful book “The Great Work of Your Life,” author Stephen Cope speaks to several universal teachings found in some of our most ancient texts. One that vividly came to mind while writing this letter was: “Listen for the call of the times.”
This is what you’ll be doing by attending the Advocacy Forum: answering one of the great calls of our time — that of a world without Alzheimer’s disease.
Very Best Success!
Bob Marino
Chair, 2016 Alzheimer’s Association Advocacy Forum
Highlights from the 2015 Advocacy Forum
Advocates see Hill Day as an opportunity for meaningful action
Nearly 1,000 Alzheimer’s advocates clad in purple sashes headed to Capitol Hill on March 25 for Hill Day — the culmination of the 27th Alzheimer’s Association Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C.
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Advocacy successes celebrated at National Alzheimer’s Dinner
At the National Alzheimer’s Dinner on March 24, part of the Alzheimer’s Association Advocacy Forum, leaders working to end Alzheimer’s were honored for their efforts and attendees celebrated advances made in the fight against the disease. A highlight of the festivities was emcee Wolf Blitzer, CNN’s lead political anchor and host of “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”
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Keynote speaker details importance of leadership in Alzheimer’s fight
Nearly 1,000 Alzheimer’s advocates — a record number — gathered at the Alzheimer’s Association Advocacy Forum the morning of March 24 for the event’s keynote address and general session.
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