inMotion Magazine

Freedom 3 At the time I am writing this, the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been a challenging time for our community here in the United States as we adapt to the ever-changing prevention and treatment guidance from state and federal authorities. Please let us know what we can do to support you during this time. We encourage all of you to follow public health guidance regarding school closures, travel and recreation, avoiding crowds, and other social/ physical distancing measures. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and your physician’s office are your best sources of information for COVID-19 diagnosis, prevention, and management questions. The theme for this issue is FREEDOM. Within our community we often think about freedom to live the life we choose. Freedom that includes mobility, function, employment, and independence. To get there, we focus on information, supports and advocacy that allows us and each other to navigate recovery, needed care, and access to assistive technolgies. Right now, honestly, it feels like we have very little freedom in terms of moving around, being with friends and family, eating at our favorite restaurants, going to kids’ soccer games, and all the other things we are so used to doing. It’s making me think about freedom in a whole new light. I hope the pieces in this issue of inMotion help you think about freedom in new ways, too … whether it’s freedom of thought, opinion, or in how we express ourselves and tell our stories. Right now, Amputee Coalition staff are working remotely and continue to run our programs and services. We have encouraged Support Group Leaders and Certified Peer Visitors to rely on social distance and other guidance from the CDC and use their their best judgment about moving meetings to online or phone platforms, rather than meeting in person. We’ve asked volunteer leadership to be mindful of state and federal guidance about even very small gatherings or one- on-one in-person conversations. As you know, people who are sick should stay home and not attend support group meetings or other get-togethers. I am happy to let you know that the National Limb Loss Resource Center (1-888-267-5669) is fully operational. Our Resource Center staff are receiving and handling calls and email inquiries from their remote work locations. I am thankful for our Resource Center team as they continue to provide service to our community. We have not experienced any hiccups in our service operations during this time. We want to continue to ensure we can provide materials to our community safely and efficiently, so we are working with third-party fulfillment experts who are on top of new protocols. April was a big month for our community – Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month – and we adjusted many of our initiatives and activities to be done online via social media and email or on the phone, rather than in person. We also converted our Advocacy Forum from an in-person event in Washington, D.C. to being held online. During April, the nation’s capital was under a stay-home mandate and congressional offices were conducting meetings only by phone, email, and videoconference. So, we adapted our Forum to go totally online and our advocates did a great job educating their Representatives and Senators and their staff about issues important to our community. Thank you for supporting our mission and our community during this time. We hope you and yours are doing okay and feeling well. Warmly, Mary Richards President and CEO Amputee Coalition By Mary Richards, President and CEO MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO