28-05-2025
Michigan Lupus Foundation facing funding cuts
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A non-profit that supports lupus patients across the state is now asking Michiganders for some financial help. Members of the say they're dealing with funding cuts that could lead them to close their doors after more than 50 years.
About 14,000 Michiganders have been diagnosed with some form of lupus, an autoimmune disease that makes your immune system damages organs and tissues throughout your body.
Fatigue, joint pain, and even rashes are some of the symptoms, Erica Lynn and many other Michiganders suffer from while dealing with Lupus.
'Hair loss. Brain fog,' said Lynn. 'I was having breathing issues. Kidney issues.'
She says she was diagnosed back in 2015, when she was 33 years old.
'I attended some support groups, and I agreed to be a co-leader of the support group,' said Lynn. 'At that time, they put on symposiums that bring medical professionals in to talk to you about the various symptoms, the various tests.'
With the non-profit facing funding issues, Kimberly Dimond, executive director of The Michigan Lupus Foundation, worries about the future.
'Pharmaceutical companies that did support patient advocacy groups like ours, they eliminated their departments and cut funding from groups like ours nationwide,' said Dimond.
Dimond says their operating annual budget is $150,000, and says they use $10,000 a month just to operate.
'The pharmaceutical companies made up about 60% of that individual or corporate support that came into the Foundation,' said Dimond. 'So, it really did have much of a significant impact.'
She says GlaxoSmithKline was their largest sponsor, which helped them educate people about the illness.
'There's also Aurinia Pharmaceuticals. They have a lupus nephritis drug. They were another one of our large sponsors, and GSK actually restructured and eliminated their entire advocacy department completely,' said Dimond.
Diamond says the organization has been rebuilding and reconstructing since 2022 due to depleted funds and other issues.
'When I started in 2022, I came into the organization, and we did not have any funding. We had also lost our 501(c)(3), because the 990s were not filed with the IRS for four years,' said Dimond.
Being sick is expensive; that's why the organization does all it can for lupus survivors like Lynn.
'One of the biggest things that they do is they provide support,' said Lynn. 'And they provide a community, they provide a lot of resources that you can't really get in one place.'
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