BETH FLANAGAN

Warwick native Beth Flanagan was recently named the new executive director of the Rhode Island ALS Chapter.

Flanagan, who previously worked as the senior education manager at Junior Achievement of Rhode Island and has a Master’s Degree in public administration, was excited for the new opportunity and to continue her work in non-profit organizations.

“I knew that I wanted to stay in the non-profit sector, I wanted to be in a leadership role. This opportunity arose and I couldn't think of a better place to spend my time and energy than a non-profit that is working with a seriously vulnerable population. ALS is a devastating disease, so any help that we can provide to those patients and their families, I couldn't think of a better use of my time,” said Flanagan. “This is a wonderful team that I joined and Rhode Island is such a resilient community that is so brave.”

Flanagan and her team’s focus is primarily on ALS advocacy and research. The RI group is one of 39 national branches and provides numerous services for those suffering from the disease as well as victims’ families.

“Our role in Rhode Island is mainly focused on the care services portion. We provide a variety of care for ALS patients and their families in Rhode Island. For example, respite care, it is a full-time job taking care of someone with ALS especially once the disease has progressed. Our respite program enables caregivers to bring in outside help into the home to give them a bit of a reprieve. We also provide support groups for patients suffering from the disease and their caregivers. We do home visits for new patients, provide education and the materials needed to begin the long and arduous journey. We also have clinic days at Brown Neurology in Rhode Island Hospital where they can benefit from an array of services,” said Flanagan.

Flanagan began her new position shortly before the COVID-19 outbreak. Since then, she and the chapter have been working hard to come up with new ways to continue their services while keeping their patients safe.

“In light of COVID-19, we have had to drastically shift what our caregiving services look like. ALS victims are already an extremely vulnerable population given the nature of the disease, then when you add the severe respiratory risk of COVID-19 and introduce that, it’s really scary,” Flanagan said. “We have moved to virtual platforms for our home visits and support groups. We are still providing clinic days so we have had some success in certain areas. We’re trying to maintain services and keep our work that we do for patients at the forefront of the decisions we have made.”

Despite the current crisis, Flanagan hopes that the community will continue to share its support for those suffering from ALS and become involved in the different upcoming fundraisers being held. May is ALS Awareness Month, and the RI chapter is set to begin different fundraising initiatives.

“We are putting a lot of energy into May since it is ALS Awareness Month. There have been a lot of social media blasts being put out there, the whole role of ALS Awareness Month is to raise awareness of this disease in the community. We are adding some fundraising opportunities to it this month, one of those being that May marks the chapter’s 30th year of being in Rhode Island. We have started an initiative where we are asking the community if they could donate $30 dollars for 30 years of service. We have gotten the ball rolling on some of these events,” said Flanagan. “We had to postpone our Evening of Hope dinner to October, we also have our Walk to Defeat ALS coming up in September at McCoy Stadium. There is a significant possibility that we move those to virtual platforms as well. We are working very hard to continue to help our patients and caregivers.”