Regional News

Northeast Region
MSAA’s Northeast Regional office is busy this season planning public awareness events and informational seminars throughout the region, along with the seasonal “Sweeten the Season” fundraiser. Our regional action plan for this campaign is to concentrate on approaching schools with this fundraiser, with the intention of conveying to students the importance of getting involved with community projects and emphasizing the mission of “giving back.” This idea was very successful in 2002 and we plan to expand our efforts this coming season.

Our informational seminar calendar for fall and winter will focus on providing education to our clients on the following subjects: occupational therapy, fibromyalgia, the importance of continued dental care, incontinence training, nutrition, how to handle speech difficulties with MS, and more. One major event that is in the planning stage for this coming season is to launch our very first adaptive clothing fashion show! We will keep you posted on the progress. The northeast is also planning three awareness conferences this season and planning to attend more wellness fairs to educate the general public on MS.

The Annual Northeast Awareness Conference was held on May 7th at Harbor Pines Country Club in Ocean County, New Jersey. Neurologist Dr. David Lee, was our keynote speaker and discussed pain management as well as acupuncture. Nicole Conzola, DC, spoke on the benefits of chiropractic therapy. Angel French, RN, spoke on the benefit of foot massage, along with Bill Duffy from Shore Memorial Hospital who engaged the audience with armchair yoga.

We would like to welcome our newest support groups to the region. These include Thompson, Pennsylvania and Browns Mills, New Jersey. If you are interested in starting a support group, please contact our regional office.

For those in the South Jersey area, we have replaced our strength training exercise class with a new aquatics class in Toms River (Ocean County), New Jersey. This program will start up in September and will be offered one day per week. The Connecticut office continues to oversee the Stamford, Connecticut acquatics class offered Monday of each week. For further information on the acquatics classes, please call the numbers to follow.

In closing, we would like to pass on our heartfelt thanks to the many volunteers who devote so much time each year which helps define the MSAA mission. Your commitment, dedication, and spirit are felt by all!

MSAA Northeast Regional Office:
Susan Freund, Director
706 Haddonfield Road
Cherry Hill, NJ 08002
(800) 532-7667, ext.106MSAA

Connecticut Field Office
Marva Llewellyn
Client Services Coordinator
72 Spruce Street, Apt 4-E
Stamford, CT 06902(203) 921-2682(800) 532-7667, ext. 151

Midwest Region
The Midwest Regional Office welcomes the state of Michigan to the region. MSAA clients who live in the state of Michigan may now contact Client Service Coordinators Scott McDonald and Trish Numbers or Director Renée Williams about MSAA services or programs. For phone numbers and extensions, please refer to the contact information at the end of this section. The MSAA Midwest Regional Office also serves Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

Good times were had by all who attended MSAA’s “Spring Fling” social events. Spring Flings were held in Morris, Illinois; Proctorville and Wauseon, Ohio; and in the Akron/Cleveland, Ohio area. We welcome all to our social events. Contact our office or your nearest support group to find out when the next MSAA sponsored social event will be held in your area.
Support groups are located in Northfield, Sagamore Hills, Proctorville, and Wauseon, Ohio; Morris, Illinois; Midland, Grosse Pointe, and Ironwood, Michigan. Groups are forming in Chicago and Rolling Meadows, Illinois; Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; as well as Indianapolis and Nobelsville, Indiana. Please call the Midwest Regional Office at ext. 140 for information on one of these groups or to start a support group in your area.

The MSAA Midwest Region participated in the msdialogue™, sponsored by Teva Neuroscience in Chicago, Illinois on June 9th, featuring Jerry S. Wolinsky, MD, director of MS research at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, Texas; Daniel Wynn, MD, director of clinical research for Consultants in Neurology and co-director of Consultants in Neurology MS Center in Northbrook, Illinois; and Clay Walker, RCA country recording artist living with MS.

“MSAA’s 2003 MS Awareness Conference” was held in Independence, Ohio on June 21st. Dr. Jay P. Berke of NeuroCare, Inc. in Canton, Ohio gave updates on MS; Dr. Norton Winer of University Hospitals of Cleveland, Ohio, talked about MRIs and cognition issues with MS; and MS Peer Advocate Cindi Hawrysko, RN, talked about internet safety. This program was supported by Biogen and Serono/Pfizer.

“MSAA Day at the Zoo” will be held on August 9th at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo where Dr. Manoj Malhotra will talk about strategies for treatment and living with MS. This program is affiliated with Berlex.
We are also planning a support group leader teleconference to be held during the month of August. The conference is intended to make your support group more effective.

Through the “Pathways for Independence” program, MSAA has been able to assess more than twenty-five homes within the region. The program concentrates on modifying homes to achieve optimum levels of safety, accessibility, and mobility. Contact Scott McDonald for information on the Pathways program or to volunteer as a Pathways assessor.

MSAA Midwest Regional Office:
Renée Williams, Director
13938A Cedar Road, #243
University Heights, OH 44118 (216) 320-1838
(800) 532-7667, ext. 140

MSAA Chicago Area Field Office
Scott McDonald
Client Services Coordinator
3013 S. Wolf Road #215
Westchester, IL 60154-5639(708) 223-0734(800) 532-7667, ext. 150

Mid-South Region
As of July 1st, the MSAA Mid-South Regional Office has undergone several changes, all designed to help serve more clients throughout the area. To start, the Regional Office has split, with the main office relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area. Headed by Regional Director Adam Roberts, the new office location will allow MSAA to better serve its large client base across Texas. As part of this new expansion, MSAA is proud to announce the addition of Alabama to the Mid-South Region. Plans are underway to develop new support groups, therapeutic classes, conferences, and other MSAA services throughout Alabama. Your thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Please call with your specific needs or ideas for support. With this restructuring of the office and the addition of Alabama to the Region, we’re extremely excited to be in such a strong growth pattern, which will allow us to assist more people in more places than ever before.

In other news, the Mid-South Region has been busy planning and holding various exciting events. Two of the upcoming events are listed below, and both are free of charge. For more information on these and any other activities in our region, please contact our office at the numbers listed at the end of our section.

We would like to welcome our newest support groups to the region: Branson and Springfield, Missouri; along with Jackson/Clinton, Mississippi. Please contact us if you are interested in starting a support group in the Mid-South Region.
Your Mid-South Regional Office would like to once again thank the many volunteers throughout the region who helped make our part in the multicenter NASA MS cooling study a great success. Our work has been recognized by the publication of this important study in the medical journal, Neurology, on June 24th. This is a significant step forward in the recognition of neurohypothermia as an effective adjunct to current MS therapies. We hope to bring you details of this study in a future edition of The Motivator. MSAA continues to provide both active and passive cooling equipment at no cost to people with MS. Please call MSAA at (800) 532-7667, ext. 102, for information on cooling equipment.

MSAA Mid-South Regional Office: Adam Roberts, Regional Director
1515 N Town E Boulevard
Suite 138, Box 320
Mesquite, Texas 75150-4142
(817) 480-2125
(800) 532-7667, ext. 153

MSAA Arkansas Field Office
Judith Bennie, Client Services Coordinator
107 Avonshire Terrace
Hot Springs, AR 71913
(501) 262-9380
(800) 532-7667, ext. 137

Northwest Region
The annual Northwest Region Celebration Picnic in the Park is scheduled for September 21st in Great Falls, Montana. This family day is always a big hit with both children and their parents. With a band, clowns, prizes, and bar-b-cue, this is a great kick-off for our fall program schedule.

Most support groups will begin to re-convene in September after disbanding for the hot summer months. If you would like to join a group, or if you are interested in starting a group in your area, please call our office for information.
A happy Claudia Paulsen of Billings, Montana was the winner of the 1997 handicapped-equipped Dodge mini-van, which was very generously donated to our region by Carol and Bruce Jodar of Bozeman, Montana. Accompanied by her husband Weldon, grandson Robert Rackstraw and her attendant Brenda Carson, Claudia came to Great Falls to take possession of her new “wheels.” Congratulations, Claudia!

Our second annual Support Group Leader Conference held at the Ramada Copper King in Butte, Montana brought together group facilitators from throughout the region for a weekend of sharing and learning. This annual event is a terrific way to help bridge the gap between groups in our large geographic area. The weekend began with a welcome dinner on Friday evening for group leaders and their partners. On Saturday, our keynote speaker, Teri Tupper, ARNP from the Rockwood Clinic in Spokane, Washington addressed the unique issues women face when living with MS. Val Vissia, patient ambassador from Serono/Pfizer, shared her experience and expertise gained from organizing and facilitating a large, successful MS support group.

Beth Dagastine, support group leader in Post Falls, Idaho, and her husband Gary, continue to win top awards with their “Stomp Out MS” float. Continuously improving it, they are creating a great amount of awareness about multiple sclerosis in their area. Many thanks for their hard work.

The Kalispell, Montana support group recently sponsored a very successful educational program titled “Managing Multiple Sclerosis.” With speakers from various professions, the evening focused on tips for managing the symptoms of MS while maintaining an active lifestyle. We look forward to other support groups sponsoring programs of this type.
To volunteer for any of our events, please call the office. We need you!

MSAA Northwest Regional Office:
Sue Pencoske, Director
600 Central Plaza, Suite #13
Great Falls, Montana, 59401
(406) 454-2758
(800) 532-7667, ext. 131