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Stories and Faces of MS Talking to Inspire People MS Support Group Vero Beach Fla. For some time Jannette Scott had a vision for a local support group that would encourage and inspire the Vero Beach MS community. Jannette was finally able to realize that vision this year with the help of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. She decided to call her group Talking toInspirePeopleassherecognizedtheimportance of in her words just having someone to talk to. While meetings are most certainly designed to impart knowledge and information Jannette works to ensure that each meeting allows mem- bers to meet others that understand what they are going through. This means carving out enough time for each member to speak during the meeting creating space for socialization be- fore and after meetings and forging a general sense of community among those who attend. However Jannette wanted to do more. She wanted to think of a way to bring together all people with MS as well as people without MS in Vero Beach. Jannette and her group had a brainstorming session and came up with an MS art and awareness project called Faces of MS. The Faces project consists of a publicly placed collection of photos of people with MS accom- panied by their MS stories to raise awareness amongst the general public. As we all know there are many invisible and often debilitating symptoms that come along with having MS. These kinds of symptoms can make it difficult for others to understand how much we may be suffering as evidenced by that often heard refrain But you look so good Things are complicated further by the fact that MS doesnt affect any two people the same way and judging someones MS based on its appearance does not even begin to tell the full story. There are in fact many faces of MS and this is the point Jannette and her group members wanted to express to their community. She explains We are the faces of MS and MS isnt what it looks like. Whether youre a member of a support group or an individual with MS you too can implement a Faces of MS project in your community. Heres how Assemble the necessary supplies. Youll need a display board glue a pair of scissors access to a printer to print photos and text general information about MS and any other craft items to help make your board eye-catching and fun. Start with yourself. Take a picture of yourself and write a few sentences about your experience with MS. Think about what you would want other people to know about you and your story before they judge you based on your appearance or the fact that you have MS. 4