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Hope Happens
Our Mission: To find a cure for ALS by funding progressive research and in the process create a new methodology for funding, researching and developing treatments for ALS and other neurological disorders.

Our Mission
To improve the lives of people with neurodegenerative disorders by funding collaborative, translational research that has the potential to fast-track new treatments and cures.

The Need for Cures -- Tremendous!

Disorders of the nervous system are the most common causes of disability for people of all ages. More than fifty million Americans have a permanent neurological disability that limits their daily activities; many are progressive or even fatal. And the numbers keep growing.

Every day 7,650 Americans are diagnosed with a nerve-killing disorder—2½ the number as those who are diagnosed with cancer. Of these, more than 3,100 are children--more children than the number of people that perished in the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001. 

  • 1 person is diagnosed with a prion disease.
  • 4 people are diagnosed with Huntington's disease.
  • 14 adults receive a death sentence when diagnosed with ALS.
  • 22 babies are born with Cerebral Palsy.
  • 27 people learn they have Multiple Sclerosis.
  • 36 suffer a spinal cord injury, including 6 who die of their injuries.
  • 357 children are diagnosed with epilepsy.
  • 380 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
  • 961 learn they will lose their identity to Alzheimer’s disease.
  • 2,000 suffer a stroke.
  • 3,846 receive brain injuries (including 2,747 children), with 220 suffering permanent damage and 137 dying of their injuries.

As the number of victims increases each day, so does the need for cures. “We believe it is not enough to simply find new treatments,” said Hope Happens board member John Brightman. “We are determined to find cures.” Brightman is also vice chairman of UMB Bank.

Our Plan
To raise money from forward-thinking donors to fund collaborative translational research at The Hope Center for Neurological Disorders at Washington University in St. Louis. The Hope Center’s innovative model for doing research is designed to:

1. Provide an infrastructure for research that promotes collaboration across disciplines and institutions, trains the next generation of scientists and speeds the dissemination of information about neurological disorders through the research community.

2. Provide state-of-the-art core resources and technical expertise so that basic scientific discovers can be rapidly tested—both through relevant and validated animal models and through other techniques that promise even swifter results, such as yeast-based testing, High-Throughput Screening Robotics and a variety of Cell Culture approaches.

3. Fund promising disease-focused research without the years-long delay typical for other sources of grant funds.
101 South Hanley Road
Suite 1320
St. Louis, MO 63105

p: 314-725-3888
f: 314-725-3892


Founder
Christopher Wells Hobler
1965 - 2005


Chris lost his battle against ALS on Wednesday, February 16, 2005, surrounded by his loving wife, family, friends and caregivers.
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The Hope Center
for Neurological Disorders

www.hcnd.org

HOPE HAPPENS was formerly

ALS HOPE: The Chris Hobler/James Maritz Foundation