Please find below the second issue of our new monthly advocacy newsletter, the AAdvocate. Each month we’ll share news about our growing advocacy efforts and ask you to Take Action! on an important issue. We welcome and encourage your feedback-tell us what you like, don’t like, or whatever’s on your mind. Please direct all comments to me, Lisa Butler, at lisa@naaf.org or 415-472-3780. Many thanks for helping to make a difference.

1. Letter to NIAMS to be introduced on the Senate Side on September 10th, 2007. Contact your Senate Offices Today!
   
   As a compliment to our successes with the House of Representatives, Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia has offered to co-sponsor both a Dear Colleague Letter as well as a letter to Dr. Steve Katz, Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), urging the Institute to get more scientists to use the National Alopecia Areata Registry and, as a result, find a cure for the disease. Increasing use of the registry is a top priority of NAAF, and it seems that it has become a priority of Congress as well. Senator Isakson will have the letter circulating and available for all members of the Senate to sign for two weeks beginning on Monday, September 10, 2007. Read the Take Action! section below to find out what immediate steps need to be taken by our AAdvocates. As was true with the House of Representatives letter that was already sent to Dr. Katz, the more signers the letter has, the more weight it carries when it is delivered.
   
   
2. NIAMS Receives Letter from House of Representatives!
   
   On August 1, 2007, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) contacted the NAAF office to let us know that they received the letter from Representative Lynn Woolsey and 38 of her colleagues, and to acquire suggestions on how to better market the National Alopecia Areata Registry. They also noted that the Dear Colleague letter inspired NIAMS to try to develop a plan to advertise all registries under the Institute. This is a huge accomplishment for the 600 individuals who were on the Hill during the NAAF Conference, and we will keep you updated on their progress.
   
   
3. Insurance Coverage Advocacy Initiative Update!
   
   As you know, the Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Team, comprised of NAAF staff and volunteers has determined how they are going to use the resources obtained from the National Health Council’s award. They are currently in the process of fine tuning the details of the hybrid campaign, which will focus on both state and federal issues. On the Federal level, the campaign will involve enacting federal legislation to require some level of Medicaid coverage for hair prostheses. On the state side, the Team will be putting together a template for advocates who wish to make a difference with the insurance companies on a more local level. One thing is certain; the TAG Team will need you, the AAdvocates, to be committed in order for these campaigns to be successful. Please stay tuned to the NAAF website, www.naaf.org, for updates and action items!
4. AAdvocates: Take Action!
   
   A). Get your Senators to Sign onto Senator Isakson’s Letter to NIAMS: Those of you who attended the NAAF Conference are most likely familiar with how to contact your representatives and urge them to act. It’s time to be persistent again! We need to have each of the AAdvocates contact the offices of their two Senators, and ask them to please sign onto the Dear Colleague Letter and the Letter to Dr. Katz from Senator Isakson regarding the National Alopecia Areata Registry. For those who attended the NAAF Conference, this process should be easy; simply contact the Senators Staff Members that you met with, remind them of your June meeting, and let them know how excited you are that a letter is being circulated on the Senate side. Ask them if they have received it, and ask them if they’ll please consider signing it. If they haven’t received it, ask them for their email address and forward them a copy of both.
   
   For those who did not attend the NAAF Conference, the process is the same, except that when you contact the office, ask for the Legislative Aide. Tell them that you are a constituent affected by alopecia areata (either personally or via a family member) and ask them if you could please forward them the letters.
   
   Regardless of whether or not you attended the NAAF Conference, persistence will be key; even if the Staffer indicated that their Member would sign, be sure to follow up, reminding them that the Letter is only going to be open for two weeks.
   
   Please keep your eyes open for emails from NAAF during these crucial two weeks. Also, frequently check the list on the NAAF website to see if YOUR Senators have signed. As you can imagine, Members of Congress are incredibly busy. If they tell you that they would sign, and you don’t see their name, call their Staffer and let them know; they appreciate your persistence.
   
   Don’t forget, we are going to be demanding a lot from our Members of Congress in the coming year with our insurance campaign, so look at this as an opportunity to introduce them or remind them of our cause. Your effort now will pay off in the end!
   
   Let’s make this sweep across the Senate a success! Please feel free to email lisa@naaf.org with any questions.
   
   B). Help us Increase our AAdvocate List:
   Power is in numbers, and NOW is a particularly crucial time to have as many AAdvocates geared up to make a difference for the millions of individuals with alopecia areata. For the crucial support in the next few weeks in the Senate, as well as the continued support we will need throughout all of Congress while get ready to implement our campaign, NAAF need as many grassroots advocates as possible. Please pass this newsletter onto your friends, and encourage them to contact lisa@naaf.org to get on the AAdvocacy Newsletter list.
   
   
5. AAdvocate Inspiration
   
   If anyone is in need of motivation in order to become an effective AAdvocate, they should contact Heidi Bratt of Ipswich, MA immediately! As a member of the NAAF family for over a decade, in the past few months, this super volunteer, who has spent years as a telephone support contact and most recently the NAAF Legislative Liaison for the state of Massachusetts, has single handedly secured that next year during the Alopecia Awareness Month of September, the state of Massachusetts will have a designated Alopecia Areata Awareness Week, which was confirmed after a team of state legislators and an aide gathered at her house one evening to discuss the impact of alopecia areata and ways to lessen the burden for Massachusetts residents! Tireless might be a perfect word to describe her, though I think it’s her passion that is unmatchable. For those of you who have had the opportunity to meet Heidi Bratt, you understand perfectly. For those who have not, don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be hearing about her, and the work that she has done in her home state, in the near future.