Committees are great opportunities to meet others in the lupus community.
Contact LSI to find out more about ongoing committees and how you can help.
Living with Lupus Grant Program
Every month, LSI funds 2 grants for individuals living with lupus to cover medical expenses. The program called the Living With Lupus Grant Program makes an impact in the lives of those it serves.
It appears as if spring has sprung! Now that there is the promise of beautiful weather to come, I hope you all plan to join us for one of our four metro Chicago Illinois Lupus Walks! We have two coming up in May - Lupus Awareness Month - and there's no better way to show your support for the lupus community than at one of our walks.
Lupus Awareness Month is a very exciting time for us and we will have several opportunities for you to get involved and increase lupus awareness. We'll have more information next month but I can tell you we're planning an unselfie campaign that we're really excited about. Stay tuned for more information!
Have you ever wanted to run a marathon? Well, now's your chance! LSI has GUARANTEED spots for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Joining the team is a great opportunity to support the LSI and find inspiration from others on the team! Find out more about LSI's Lupus Charity Runners program here.
We're committed to making an impact in our community and since lupus is a unique disease, we must find unique ways to meet the needs of our lupus family. One way we do this is through our Navigator Program. The Navigator Program provides personal assistance to anyone in the lupus community with a lupus-related concern. We often find that the community doesn't know that this resource is available or the breadth of the assistance available. We have decided to add a section to the eChronicle devoted to this resource to give you - the community we serve - a better understanding of our role.
We are the ONLY organization serving the lupus community in Illinois. Our hope is that the you take advantage of this valuable resource when you need it.
Together we make a difference,
Charles Brummell
Impact: Lupus
Making A Difference
On Saturday February 21st, Charles Brummell attended the Glenview/North Shore Support Group meeting. Charles' purpose in attending was to communicate the LSI's mission and activities and answer members' questions about the LSI.
As Chris Fragassi followed up after the meeting:
"We welcomed Charles Brummel, CEO and President of Lupus Society of Illinois, to our support group meeting on Saturday. It was a real pleasure having him join us. Charles spoke about the history and the mission of LSI and the reasons for the separation from LFA. We also talked about the Lupus walks and the planned benefit dinner. Charles was invited to come back and join us anytime."
Charles is planning to visit LSI Support Groups throughout the year. If you'd like to invite Charles to speak at your gathering, please contact him.
Volunteer Highlight
Sharing your lupus story is not always easy and those who do are brave ambassadors in the fight against lupus.
for the past several months, LSI has worked with a communications company producing videos about lupus to air in physicians offices.
We called on two volunteers to share their personal stories. The stories are finally available and we'd like to share them with you!
A few weeks ago, LSI received an email from the son whose elderly mother has lived with lupus for many years. His request was for a general practitioner (GP) with lupus expertise.
LSI called the gentleman to explain that although some GP's treat lupus there is no GP with an lupus as an expertise.
As we talked, it was revealed that the rheumatologist his mother was seeing was not as attentive as the son felt he should be. LSI provided strategies for talking to the doctor - including writing down specific questions and relevant information about his mother's health before the appointment and making sure the doctor was attentive to all.
If the son still felt as if the doctor was not providing the necessary care his mother required, LSI would help him find another rheumatologist.
We find that often when someone contacts LSI with a concern, a conversation usually leads to a larger or tangential concern we are able to help - either through a program or service LSI provides or by coaching the individual as we were able to do in the scenario above.
LSI promotes lupus awareness and complements the work of health care professionals by providing personalized resources for the lupus community while supporting research.