The Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA) is supported through the generosity and vision of many - including individuals, foundations and corporations. Occasionally, these important partners or others who are considering making a gift to the ICA ask how we use the donations.

The ICA is dedicated to helping all those living with interstitial cystitis - when they need it most.

The Mission of the ICA is:

• To provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on IC;
  
• To provide IC patients, their families and friends with a support network;
  
• To educate the medical community and the public about IC;
  
• To advocate in the public and private sectors for research funding and for patients' rights; and,
  
• To promote and provide research funding to find effective treatments and a cure for IC.

To fulfill this mission, contributions to the ICA help us in providing the following services and programs:

I. Comprehensive Information & Support for People with IC

• Our website: The ICA's website, http://www.ichelp.org/, which receives more than 1,000,000 hits each month, provides immediate access to the most current, comprehensive IC-related information and includes:
  
  Café ICA - our on-line monthly news digest
  
  Extensive Treatment, Research and Clinical Trials sections, and information on Experimental Therapies
  
  IC Question Corner - the only on-line resource for patients to ask questions about IC and receive quick, thorough, personalized responses from the ICA's in-house expert who has over 20 years experience
  
  Local and National Patient Support, including self-help and coping strategies, support group information and listings, as well as information on ICA educational forums and international scientific symposia
• Our newsletter: The ICA Update, the only IC-related print publication, is published quarterly, and enables IC patients, their loved ones, and healthcare providers to keep abreast of the newest IC developments.
• Our healthcare provider newsletter: ICA Physician Perspectives, the only quarterly publication specifically tailored for health care professionals, which enables them to keep up-to-date on the latest treatments, clinical trials and experimental therapies for IC.
• Our Toll-Free Number: 1-800-HELP-ICA has been providing hotline assistance to IC patients and their loved ones since 1996.
• ICA National Patient Support Advocates: Nationwide volunteers provide one-on-one telephone and email support to IC sufferers and assist them in finding local healthcare providers. These individuals also disseminate IC-related information to their community health clinics and libraries.
• The ICA Physician Registry: The ICA distributes, upon request, state-by-state lists of urologists and other healthcare professionals who have indicated to us their interest in treating patients with IC.

II. Research Funding

To continue working toward finding the cause and cure for IC, the ICA provides and administers IC research funding in the United States and around the world through two programs:

• The ICA Pilot Research Program - now embarking on a new research initiative, an epidemiological study investigating possible causes; IC's prevalence and incidence; risk factors; possible environmental influences; and, connections to other medical conditions
• The Fishbein Family IC Research Foundation - this family foundation, administered by the ICA, focuses on funding research on novel therapies, immunology, and the genetics of IC.

III. Healthcare Provider Education and Outreach

In our continuing efforts to increase awareness and educate the healthcare community, the ICA:

• Publishes our quarterly newsletter, ICA Physician Perspectives, covering the most current developments in IC treatments and research, and each issue contains a reference section that lists the latest IC articles in medical journals. This publication is provided free-of-charge.
• Distributes specialized Healthcare Provider Education Kits to educate medical professionals about the latest developments in IC treatment and research.
• Attends and presents essential IC information at professional medical association annual meetings, including the American Urologic Association and the International Association for the Study of Pain.
• ICA staff and Medical Advisory Board members reach directly to hospital staff, nurses, and physicians through numerous seminars and speaking engagements.
• Co-sponsors, with the NIH, International Scientific Symposia on IC.

Without your support of the ICA, none of this would be possible. Your donation dollars help to pay for all of these services, and more.

Perhaps the hardest part of living with IC is the potential for loneliness and isolation in the face of chronic pain. Your ICA donation dollars help us to keep our one-on-one support network operating at peak strength, so that every IC patient who needs help can have it, no matter where he or she may live, no matter how disabled they may be. At the same time, your donation dollars enable the ICA to continue to fund new IC research projects each and every year, as well as work closely with Congress and the National Institutes of Health to ensure on-going IC-specific research funding at the federal level.

I founded the ICA twenty years ago, when I was a young medical student and learned that I faced a chronic, painful illness for which the medical community had few, if any, answers. The ICA was the first organization to provide patient support and raise IC awareness, and it remains the ONLY national, patient-driven, nonprofit organization to be dedicated exclusively to interstitial cystitis. <

We work hard every day to make sure that thousands of patients and healthcare providers get the information and the support they need to provide patients with the best care possible, until the cure for IC is found. Please join us.

Vicki Ratner, MD
Founder and President