Since being diagnosed with ALS in 2015, right before her 28th birthday, Sunny Erasmus has become a warrior for others with the devastating disease. “There are many things that ALS has taken away from me”, she says, “but my voice is loud and persistent in the fight to end this disease”.

In May of 2018 she was one of 570 ALS advocates who made their way to Washington DC for the National ALS Advocacy Conference. There, people with ALS, their friends, and their families were able to make their voices heard and speak up for those who no longer can.

At the conference advocates like Sunny learned about the latest ALS research, care service programs, and advocacy efforts to prepare them for meetings with Texas congressional staff and representatives. During those meetings advocates fought for public policy initiatives that would improve the lives of people with ALS, including:

• Ensure at least $10 million in appropriations for the ALS Registry at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
• Ensure at least $10 million in funding for the Department of Defense’s (DOD) ALS Research Program.
• Support increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in FY2019, especially in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
• Pass the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act (S.379/H.R.1171) to waive the five-month waiting period for patients with ALS before receiving benefits under Social Security Disability Insurance.
• Educate and influence Congress and Administrative officials to remove complex barriers to Medicare home health benefits for people living with ALS.

Sunny called the conference one of the most impactful experiences of her life, where she learned about what it means to be an advocate, what to advocate for, and the progress that’s being made by other ALS advocates along the way. “Keeping up energy and focus is hard”, she says, “but advocating for my fellow ALS soldiers has sparked a fire in me that will never go out”.

It’s advocates like Sunny that spark energy to create change in public policy and beyond. Interested in becoming an advocate? Sign up today!