Our Organization

Our Mission

The foundation is dedicated to sharing a Spirit of Hope by devoting its resources to education and advocacy for Multiple Sclerosis and for accessibility and quality of life issues for the disabled.

We are committed to helping individuals affected by Multiple Sclerosis to maintain independence, physical health, and emotional well-being through resource networking.

History

In 2000, five years after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, Carlo Magno created The Spirit of Hope Foundation to bring hope to others with Multiple Sclerosis and to raise awareness for handicapped accessibility issues. Based in Anacortes, The Spirit of Hope Foundation was incorporated in the State of Washington in 2002. In 2005, our nonprofit foundation received 501(c)3 status from the Internal Revenue Service.

Our Team

Originally operated and solely supported by Founder and President Carlo Magno, The Spirit of Hope Foundation has added a team of talented professionals, board of directors and dozens of volunteers to support its efforts and to assist Carlo in fulfilling his mission.

Our key staff and supporters include:

Vision

We have developed a multi-tiered approach to fulfill our mission. Here are some of the projects the Foundation has in the works:

MS Express: In June 2006, Carlo, Katie, Dan (Townsend), and Emma embarked on a six-month, 4,300-mile journey from Seattle to New York City in antique, electric wheelchair Blu to raise awareness for handicapped accessibility issues and $1 million to help kick Multiple Sclerosis. With Carlo and Katie in Blu, Dan and Emma will follow along in a 36 foot handicapped accessible RV. The team will travel along the northern tier of the United States as they fulfill their mission.

Barrier Busters: The MS Express team will visit cities across the United States during this once-in-a-lifetime trip to learn from ADA* compliant communities. Appointed by Anacortes Mayor Dean Maxwell as the city’s Ambassador for Accessibility Issues, Carlo will gather information, ideas, and design standards to bring back to the City of Anacortes. As the founder and co-chair of the Anacortes Barrier Busters committee, Carlo will return the information collected during the MS Express to Barrier Busters. This committee will compile and review the data, eventually making recommendations to the Anacortes City Council for possible changes to the Washington town’s infrastructure and public facilities.

*Americans with Disabilities Act

Able Neighbor: In addition to sharing the handicapped accessibility information with the Barrier Busters committee, Carlo and The Spirit of Hope Foundation will offer this vital accessibility information to other municipalities, organizations and individuals free of charge. Named the Able Neighbor program, this information will be available at our sister Web site, www.ableneighbor.org.

Resources

At The Spirit of Hope Foundation, one of our goals is to provide additional resources to others who are interested in or affected by Multiple Sclerosis and/or handicapped accessibility issues. Visit our MS & Accessibility Info & Links page to access those resources.

Contact Us

You may contact The Spirit of Hope Foundation by mail, or phone or using our Contact Us form.

The Spirit of Hope Foundation

P. O. Box 1847

Mt. Vernon, WA 98273

360-630-1044 (Carlo Magno)

360-920-1737 (Dana Blozis)