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Welcome to Illinois
Advocacy
For the first time since the first Advocacy Summit 12 years ago, we had advocates from all 50 states equaling nearly 350 advocates visiting nearly 275 Congressional offices! This means there were advocates from every state within the Heartland Region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska).
During the Summit, advocates went through an interactive training, learned about the Arthritis Foundation’s advocacy priorities, and visited with Members of Congress.
For specific information on the priorities, please click on the following link or go to: http://www.arthritis.org/advocacy-priorities.php.
For more information on advocacy initiatives at the Arthritis Foundation, please contact Michele Pfeilschifter at mpfeilschifter@arthritis.org and/or (312) 880-4736.
Illinois was well-represented by four powerful advocates. These individuals traveled over 600 miles to Washington, D.C. in April to share their stories of the struggle of living with arthritis, the nation’s leading cause of disability, and urged their legislators that more needs to be done for people with arthritis – more research, more public health initiatives and better access to arthritis treatments.
Photo caption from left to right: Cindy Copenhaver of Thornton, IL, Amy Oxford of Harrisburg, IL, Nancy Brekke and Rowland Chang, MD, MPH, both from Chicago.
How You Can Help
The Arthritis Foundation promotes government and private sector action to improve the lives of the 50 million Americans living with arthritis and chronic joint symptoms. We need your help, however, to get more government funding for arthritis research, to encourage early diagnosis and comprehensive treatment, and to improve access to quality health care for everyone with arthritis.
Visit our Advocacy Section for tools you need to become informed about the issues and to make your voice heard. You will find issue "backgrounders," Arthritis Foundation position statements, as well as links to other Web sites that may be helpful.
Become An Advocate -- Join the Arthritis Foundation Advocacy Network
Arthritis Advocacy Priorities -- Read about the issues
Contact Congress -- Quickly locate your legislators and send a message
Looking For More Information?
For more information on how to become involved, please contact Michele Pfeilschifter at mpfeilschifter@arthritis.org or (312) 880-4736.
