Diabetes Association

CONTACT:

170 Pleasant St., Suite 203
Fall River, MA 02721-3015
508-672-5671
www.diabetesma.org

Julianne Kelly, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

The DAI was founded in 1975 by parents of children diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and has since expanded to serve persons with Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. Located in Bristol County, which has the highest rate of diabetes in the Commonwealth, the DAI is the only agency addressing the needs of local children with diabetes. Providing a camp, a youth sports and support group, and a program that trains school personnel, the DAI helps children learn to live with this chronic, incurable disease. Because culture, language, economics, and education profoundly affect access to health care, the DAI (a private group unaffiliated with national organizations) promotes increased understanding, early diagnosis, and effective treatment of diabetes -- especially among the Portuguese-speaking population, elders, the uninsured and underinsured, and those with learning differences. Your support brings education, preventive health care, and self-management skills to those at greatest risk, and fills a real gap in services in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Won't you lend a hand?

(2002: HUMAN SERVICES: Health and Aging: General)