EDC Hopes for 2015
Eating Disorders Coalition’s Hopes for 2015
By Kathleen MacDonald
To share our hopes for 2015, I’d like first to reflect a bit on the last six months of 2014, as they have been an incredible whirlwind of advocacy, the likes of which I hope remains in our hearts and minds for many years to come.
My official role as Policy & Communications Director for the EDC
began on June 1, 2014, though I had been transitioning into the role
since EDC Spring National Lobby Day in April 2014. From day one,
standing alongside our countless EDC Advocates and Member Organizations,
I have felt evermore certain that our collective dream of passing the
FREED Act and other legislative initiatives pertinent to all those
impacted by eating disorders, IS possible. The current pulsing through
the eating disorder advocacy world is nothing short of amazing, and so
very humbling.A few of the most remarkable and humbling experiences from 2014 included when over 200 of the most heroic people on our planet came together on Capitol Hill at the first M.O.M. March, demanding, “NO MORE GREEN SHIRTS!” (Green was the color t-shirt people wore if someone they loved had died from an eating disorder). The following day at the EDC Fall National Lobby Day, we charged forth, with our largest group of advocates ever, into House and Senate offices to tell Members of Congress that we are on a mission to: eliminate eating disorders, increase research funding, gain access to appropriate and efficacious treatment, and develop effective prevention, intervention and training programs for all those impacted by eating disorders. During Lobby Day, Congress and their staff could not deny the tender, horrific and unacceptable stories that mothers, fathers, sufferers, treatment providers, business owners, siblings, and loved ones shared with them – urging them to know that “The Time Is Now” to pass legislation to address eating disorders.
On January 2, 2015, the 114th Congress convenes, and we will be there – all of us – to advocate, whether via EDC National Lobby Day, tweeting about legislation, or phoning our members of Congress. We will be there to remind Congress that “The Time Is Now” to address eating disorders as the epidemic they are. We will be there to remind Congress that the complexity of eating disorders necessitates an increase in research funding. We will be there to remind Congress that medical professionals need training on eating disorders, lest people will continue to needlessly suffer. We will be there to remind Congress that eating disorders are not a partisan issue. We will be there to remind Congress that military members deserve better access to treatment. We will be there to remind Congress that ALL persons deserve access to treatment. We will be there to remind Congress that at least one person every 62 minutes dies from an eating disorder. We will be there to remind Congress that too many lives have been prematurely ripped away from this earth. People’s loved ones have died senselessly from a treatable disease…a disease that Congress can, and must, make a difference on in 2015. And we will be there to remind Congress that they must ensure legislation passes in 2015, such that not one more life is lost to these vicious and insidious disorders and to make certain, “NO MORE GREEN SHIRTS!”.
We have great hope that in 2015, advocates will continue to collaborate like we all did for the M.O.M. March and the EDC Fall National Lobby Day. We have great hope for 2015 that every single person impacted by eating disorders will KNOW that their voice MATTERS, that they are necessary to effect change, and that together we CAN, and WILL, make a difference. Please join us to advocate against eating disorders in 2015. Your voice truly does make all the difference.
To see pictures from 2014′s advocacy, please visit ourFB page: https://www.facebook.com/EatingDisordersCoalition/photos_stream
...Our work continues, ~Kathleen
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