April 2023 Newsletter

Get Your Early Bird Wellness Week(end) Tickets!

Early bird tickets are now on sale for Wellness Week(end), our signature event taking place October 20-22 in Atlanta! This one-of-a-kind gathering was designed for our community of Black women living with MS — plus their caregivers and loved ones — to rest, relax, and connect over three magical days. Act fast and save 15% — early bird tickets are available until May 31. You don’t want to miss out on this ultimate wellness experience with We Are ILL! 

Our Black MS Doctors Directory Is Live

We are thrilled to announced that our directory of Black doctors is live on our website! We know that Black patients have better health outcomes under the care of Black medical professionals. We’re supporting our community in receiving the best care possible by providing this resource that connects them directly to Black neurologists and MS specialists based in the United States. Click the button below to find a provider.

Note: This directory will continually be updated with new doctors. So if you know of a Black neurologist or MS specialist, please direct them to this form.

Victoria’s Series With Optum

Victoria Reese, our Founder and CEO, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 25. What she experienced was startling and eventually led to her creating We Are ILL. Victoria continues to inspire and uplift our community of Black women living with MS. In this four-week series, she shares candidly about symptoms, diagnosis and inequities — and how to better support the Black MS community.

Meet Amber, Our Ambassador

Amber Cunningham is a Raleigh, NC-based MS warrior, mother of two and exercise enthusiast, who has also taken on the role of being one of We Are ILL’s Ambassadors focusing on content creation. You’ll see her sharing helpful tips for thriving in spite of MS. Here’s a little more about Amber, in her own words:

“I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in April 2019 on my daughter’s birthday! I woke up and couldn’t see out of my right eye (optic neuritis). After being diagnosed I took up working out and eating healthier. Working out at the gym has become one of my favorite hobbies, along with reading, gardening, traveling, dancing, sports and spending time with my family. I currently work in customer service but am finishing up my degree in early childhood education. Kindergarten teacher loading … Although MS is a pain, it has really shown me the amount of strength I possess. Meeting new people with MS, hearing their stories and sharing my story is such a great feeling!”

Stay tuned for her first blog for We Are ILL and keep up with her posts on Instagram. While we’re at it, check out one of her latest posts via the link below.

ICYMI …

Blog: “Parenting With Multiple Sclerosis” by Moyna John-Caraballo

Ashley Ratcliff’s Feature in Multiple Sclerosis Today’s 31 Days of MS

TEAAMS Research Opportunity

Our partners at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have a research opportunity that we’d like to share with you! Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Illinois - Chicago are recruiting Black and African American adults with MS who live in the South (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) to participate in the Targeted Exercise for African Americans with MS (TEAAMS) research study.

The goal of the TEAAMS study is to examine whether a home-based exercise training program for Black and African American adults with MS can provide improvements in walking dysfunction, symptoms, and quality of life.

See the flyer below for more information and click the button to register!

*Thanks to our newsletter sponsors, University of Alabama at Birmingham!

Upcoming Events

April 20

MSAA’s Webinar: Understanding MS Relapses
and MS Progression