Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 642 msfocusmagazine.org So, Where Do We Go From Here? Milestones, along with all the accolades and celebrations, simply come and go with the passage of time. Now that MS Focus’ 30th anniversary (and a very successful gala to mark the event) is behind us, our attention is directed toward reaching newmilestones.Athorough assessment of who we are, where we have been, and where we envision our- selves is very much in order as we look forward to our 31st year and beyond. Unlike the for-profit universe, our focus is not on competition for market share or maximizing profits for stockholders. Instead, we focus on the number of constituents we have served during the course of fulfilling our mission and the quality of the service we provide. Year afteryear, our efforts to help and support those affected by MS have grown. In fact, over the course of 2016, MS Focus was able to help more people than we have during any other one-year period. But, we won’t be stopping there. MS Focus is committed to increasing its capacity to serve those with MS byattractingmorefundingandtakingmeasures to broaden ouroutreach. Ourmajorrebranding initiative represented the beginning of this process. The following are just a few of the priorities we have identified for the coming years: • Expansion of our national independent support group network. There are currently 175 support groups that are affiliated with MS Focus across the country. We plan to reach out and help form newgroups in many underserved areas. Those new groups, as well as already established ones, will benefit from the resources we provide. • Identification of unmet needs. We offer 22 programs and services that were developed to fulfill various critical needs. Changing circumstances will likely create new needs for people affected by MS. It is incumbent upon us to be prepared to rapidly develop additional programs and services to meet those challenges. A noted authority in our field wrote, “Thinking faster isn’t about being reckless. Instead, it’s about being intentional about how you respond to change.” We agree. • Growth and improvement of advocacy and communications. Their importance to the cause can never be understated. MS Focus will continue to collaborate with our fellow MS organizations on issues that affect our constituents. Internally, additional resources will be allocated to these functions. This will increase our ability to quickly react to important issues, and to communicate the necessary information to you in order to make sure that your voice is heard. It appears ourwork is cut out for us and we are eager to step up to the task. In the end, the beneficiaryof these increased effortswill be the many thousands we serve. All of us here at MS Focus look forward to finding better days ahead. Jules Kuperberg Co-Executive Director Alan R. Segaloff Co-Executive Director