Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week 2011 marks the Society’s sixth annual coordinated MS Awareness Week effort.
Several local chapter members were photographed to help promote MS Awareness Week and are part of the national campaign: Eric Caputo, Susan Cohn-Child, and Virginia Morse. We're proud to have them serve as the face of the Greater New England Chapter in this important awareness campaign.
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| Eric Caputo | Susan Cohn-Child | Virginia Morse |
These ads were featured in select movie theaters and in other promotional materials distributed around the Chapter during and in advance of MS Awareness Week.
The questions we’re asking: What is MS? What does MS mean to you? How are you moving your life forward?
The Society asked the previous questions in social media and received 600 responses in a few short days.
For the most part, responses could be categorized in the following ways:
MS=unknown (don’t understand cure, cause, never the same, no one understands).
MS=invisible (people don’t understand the invisible symptoms of MS).
MS=unpredictability of disease/uncertainty of my future/uncertainty day to day.
MS=change (learning to adapt, have had to change how I live my life, how I do things, its changed me, the way I look at the world).
MS=challenges (presents challenges in my life, a path not planned, limitations/new opportunities).
This theme was carried through in creative and other campaign elements.
Tell us what MS means to you at www.Facebook.com/MSnewengland.
Peer Support Volunteer Training
Saturday, May 14, 2011 & Saturday, May 21, 2011
Yarmouth, Maine
What Is Peer Support?
The Greater New England Chapter Peer Support Program offers information, companionship, emotional support and encouragement, via the telephone, to peers living with MS and their families. The Program matches trained volunteers who have MS or who have family members with MS, with individuals looking for support with their own MS experiences.
What makes a good peer supporter?
- Someone who has MS, or who has a family member with MS, for at least two years.
- A caring, compassionate individual who values the importance of support and encouragement between peers with MS.
- Willing to lend an ear to other individuals living with MS.
- Someone with excellent listening, communication, and interpersonal skills.
Join us this May in Yarmouth, Maine, and train to become a Peer Support Volunteer. (Attendance at both training sessions is required for Certification.)
If you are someone who is looking for peer support: The Chapter has already-trained volunteers with whom you can connect. For questions on how to connect with a volunteer, or for more information about the upcoming spring training, please contact: Jamie Berg, Program Coordinator, Direct Services at: 781-693-5144 or jamie.berg@nmss.org.
Northeast Chapters Collaborate on Growing the MS Challenge Walk Cape Cod
Upstate New York, NYC/Southern New York, Long Island, and New Jersey Metro have joined Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Greater New England in actively recruiting walkers for the MS Challenge Walk on Cape Cod. There is great optimism in growing the event and raising funds for people with multiple sclerosis.
Check out our MS Challenge Walk promotional video! On YouTube at www.youtube.com/msnewengland and on Comcast (channel 888, click “health and wellness,” then “Join the Movement”).