Illinois Scleroderma Awareness Day 2007 Is a Success!

April 26 was declared "Scleroderma Awareness Day" for the state of Illinois in a resolution passed by the House of Representatives. Board Members from the Greater Chicago Chapter of the Scleroderma Foundation went to Springfield on that day to meet with state senators and representatives as well as members of the Illinois Department of Public Health. We educated our state leadership about scleroderma, lobbied for a proposed tax-checkoff to support autoimmune disease research, and explored ways to increase research funding.

Representative Gary Hannig (who is Deputy Majority Leader) has been personally touched by scleroderma—his wife, Betsy, has been diagnosed with
the disease. Gary and Betsy Hannig were at a breakfast hosted by the Scleroderma Foundation Greater Chicago Chapter, as were House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, Sen. Susan Garrett, Rep. Karen May, and Deputy Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, David Carvalho, among others.

We had a table in the Capitol Rotunda where we distributed literature to the public about scleroderma, and we also had meetings with the comptroller's office and Dr. Shen, Chief Epidemiologist for the State. In the future, we hope to request line-item money to fund research about who has autoimmune diseases in Illinois and where and how they live. In only our second trip to Springfield, we have already accomplished a lot and learned even more!