Our mission is to mobilize people and resources to drive research for a cure and to address the challenges of everyone affected by MS.
The National MS Society, Greater Washington Chapter educates, inspires and empowers those affected by multiple sclerosis. We break down barriers – both physical and emotional – in the home, in the workplace and in the community. We build confidence that people with MS can live the best possible lives as individuals, as family members, as employees and as members of the larger community. No other local MS organization provides the breadth and depth of services or involves more people in the movement to bring about a world free of MS.
Headquartered in Seattle, the Chapter serves over 9,000 people living with MS and more than 50,000 others including friends, caregivers and health care professionals in 23 counties in Western and Central Washington.
Where the money goes
As efficient, effective stewards of our donors’ contributions, we make sure that only 17 cents of every dollar raised is used for fundraising and administrative costs, outperforming the nonprofit average by far. The generous contributions of our community go toward:
- Supporting research and training projects. Our support and services are local, but our vision is global. By raising funds for research, we help ensure a better world today and tomorrow for people who live with MS. By supporting and encouraging local research, we advance the momentum here at home that can lead to better treatments and a cure for the disease
- Providing direct support and financial assistance. Just as MS affects each person uniquely, we respond to individual needs. From the young adult newly diagnosed, to the man or woman who has lived with the disease for decades, to the family member caring for a loved one, we are a one-stop source of support, service and advice.
- Informing and educating people with MS about ways to live better with their disease through newsletters, publications, educational seminars and conferences, and at-home teleconferences.
- Supporting emotional health and physical well-being through a network of self-help groups, a peer support telephone program, six-week wellness programs, wellness grants, exercise classes, a women's wellness retreat, and more.
- Reconnecting families affected by MS by coordinating family and social programs, a couples retreat, a kids camp and other family support programs.
- Advocating for changes in public policy by coordinating a statewide Government Relations Committee and providing training and support to our constituents about issues impacting people with MS.
Join the Movement
Every hour in the United States someone is newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men diagnosed with the disease. There is no cure, and MS affects more than 400,000 people in the US and 2.5 million worldwide.
The National MS Society is a collective of passionate individuals who want to do something about MS ... NOW. Together, we are the MS movement.
- We are a driving force of MS research, relentlessly pursuing prevention, treatment and a cure.
- We address the challenges of each person whose life is affected by MS.
- We are activists.
- We mobilize the talents and resources of millions of people who want to do something about MS.
- We will raise a total of $1.25 billion by the end of 2010.
- We are a movement by and for people with MS, moving toward a world free of multiple sclerosis.