Pandemic Communications and Advocacy

The NLM Foundation made a gift to The Arc of Massachusetts in recognition of their outstanding advocacy, communications, and leadership on behalf of the Massachusetts autism community during the COVID-19 emergency.

Notable achievements include hosting 40 free pandemic-related webinars in 50 days, attended by thousands of individuals, family members and professionals; mobilizing 1,100 residents to send letters advocating for changes needed in the Massachusetts Crisis Standards of Care; and organizing constituents to send more than 6,500 emails to successfully pressure the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to allocate $44 million in special pandemic funding for community providers serving the autism and I/DD communities.

During this crisis The Arc of MA has effectively represented the concerns of thousands of autism and I/DD families to the state agencies tasked with serving them, and several positive policy changes have been made as a result of their work and others.