Rep. Danny Davis help fund NIH to help End Alzheimer's Disease

Hello, neighbors.

I am writing to share the amazing experience I had advocating for the Alzheimer’s Association in Washington, DC, last month.

I was honored to be able to meet my Congressman, Danny Davis, along with several other members of Congress from Northern Illinois.

I spoke to Representative Davis about my family's struggles caring for my father, Ret. Maj. Michael J. Kearns, when he was living with Alzheimer‘s disease. My mother said, “I pulled him out of the nursing home so I could pay for his funeral.” My father was a career military officer, on active duty for WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, but there was no help available to cover his extraordinarily large medical bills.

Back then, Alzheimer’s disease wasn’t covered by any Veterans benefits. But when my father passed away in November of 1992, the White House sent us a letter of condolence, and my father was given a full 21-gun salute by a group of Air Force service members. While those were nice gestures, they didn’t pay the bills.

My siblings and I learned to feed, change, and care for my father while he was ill. This was exhausting work, and being able to share the story with Representative Davis and others in Congress was helpful in my healing journey. It was also helpful in my journey to make sure no other family suffers in this way.

People started speaking about Alzheimer’s disease to members of Congress, and the VA changed how it funded the illness. It is time our stories prompted more changes in how Congress funds this awful disease, which kills more people than breast and prostate cancer combined.

Thanks to broad bipartisan support in Congress over the past decade, we’ve made significant scientific advancements toward better detection, prevention, and treatments for Alzheimer’s. At this pivotal point in our fight, we cannot afford not to fund the research needed to, one day, celebrate the first survivor of this disease. Join me in urging Representative Danny Davis to help us get there by supporting an additional $113.485 million for research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

We need Congress to raise its voice for the over 7 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s and the approximately 19 million caregivers.

Our families, our economy, and our communities are straining under the weight of this disease. But together, we can make a difference.

Now is the time to invest in hope for all those who will be diagnosed in the years ahead.

Thank you.

Catherine Kearns