Bridging the Gap – Blue Ridge Chapter of the National MS Society

People living with multiple sclerosis experience symptoms that range from imbalance and numbness in the feet, legs, and hands, to paralysis and blindness. Extreme fatigue can make even the simple activities of daily living a struggle.

They have medical needs that insurance companies do not cover and most families living with MS can’t afford. As the disease progresses, many people with MS need scooters when walking becomes too difficult, specially designed wheelchairs, modifications to kitchens, doorframes, and bathrooms of their homes, bedside commodes, and other adaptive equipment.

The Bridging the Gap Program provides financial aid for such essential “medically necessary” equipment and services, and these items often become the key factor governing whether a person with progressed MS can continue to live in his or her home, or whether they must move into an assisted living facility.

In the last year the number of requests for financial aid through Bridging the Gap has doubled, in part because of the economy, but primarily as a measure of the need the Chapter has discovered. In 2008, they initiated a new care management program that provides one-on-one needs assessment for every client with an identified need in the Chapter. The types of equipment clients request remain the same – but more than twice as many people now ask for help. In other words, there are real needs that previously weren’t being met; now we have the opportunity to better serve people with MS.

The National MS Society is organized into chapters; the Blue Ridge Chapter is headquartered in Charlottesville and serves 209 people with MS in Albemarle County and the city of Charlottesville. For more information on Bridging the Gap or other outreach programs, please contact Darren Ball, Program Director, or Fay Painter, Chapter President at 434-971-8010, darren.ball@nmss.org or fay.painter@nmss.org.