I AM ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease with a staggering 100% fatality rate. To say that the movement to end ALS is life or death is not an exaggeration. At the helm of the movement is I AM ALS (IAA) founded in 2019 by husband and wife political organizing team Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya after Brian’s diagnosis at age 37 to address a visible gap of patient power and policy change. I AM ALS is a patient-led community that provides critical support and resources to those living with ALS, caregivers and loved ones. We empower advocates to raise mainstream awareness and lead the revolution against ALS in driving the development of cures.

Unprecedented Impact

Among many successes, we have achieved the following over the five years since I AM ALS was founded: 

• Helped secure more than $1 billion in federal funding dedicated to ALS.
• Quadrupled funding for ALS through the Department of Defense research program (CDMRP).
• Partnered with Congress to draft and pass a law (Act for ALS) that provides $100 million annually for patients to access promising therapies.
• Leveraged the collective power of thousands of committed advocates through topic-based community teams.
• Hosted hundreds of events with 21,000+ participants.
• Supported more than 4,000 individuals living with/impacted by ALS via direct, peer, and group support programs as well our resource center.
• Increased public awareness of ALS with millions of views of the award-winning feature film called For Love and Life: No Ordinary Campaign.

Our Mission

I AM ALS accelerates progress through three pillars: 

1. Mobilize and empower advocates to act & raise awareness 
2. Lead the revolution against ALS in driving treatments and cures 
3. Provide individual, group, and peer support to those living with ALS, caregivers, and loved ones

The Future

We’re on a moonshot to end ALS and we will continue to scale our proven model until we get there. Our future focus is: 

• Growing public awareness & knowledge of ALS and neurological disease
• Improving attention to ALS among policymakers
• Speeding drug development, approval, and access
• Increasing federal dollars for research and treatments
• Getting promising therapies to people who need them