Ron's Blog

Innovation and Leadership Here at Compassionate Care ALS, we have our slogan printed on our business cards, stating our intention: “Leading a New Vision in ALS Care Since 1998.” We refer back to our humble beginnings because it was then that Gordon Heald, his wife Betsy and I, his full-time caregivers, looked around ourselves at…

I was at a fundraiser recently when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I turned to find two tall young men standing there, one about six-foot-five and the other only slightly shorter. When they told me who they were, I was taken aback. I met them more than ten years prior, after their…

Compassionate Care ALS provides the best in service and equipment, delivered with an understanding of people and relationships more than any diagnosis, progression, or fear of the future. We are dedicated to showing up on all levels; physical, emotional and spiritual. And we do so without passing along the material costs of what we are…

Not long ago, I was reading a post from a prominent advocate in the world of ALS and he was speaking about his caregiver in terms I found troubling. It was as if he was totally different from his wife because he had ALS, and he was somehow powerless to know her needs or struggles…

A few weeks ago many of our staff and volunteers participated in a weekend program from the Upaya Zen Center called “G.R.A.C.E.: Training in Cultivating Compassion-based Interactions.” A great fit for a compassion-based organization such as ours, and a program I have personally participated in on several occasions. The first letter of G.R.A.C.E. stands for…

Over the past two plus decades, CCALS has done a lot of little things and big things in ways that truly serve the ALS community. We have done these things so well that we see the need to expand our physical presence in parts of the country where we have a connection and where it…

I took Madison out for her morning walk the other day and felt the crispness of spring giving way to the warmth of summer. The turning of the seasons made me think about the circle of life, the springtime of youth giving way to the summer of maturity, flowing into the responsibilities of the fall…

The days and times of our lives become vividly more precious when we are confronted with a fatal illness. Our ALS families have taught me that. Everyone reacts to the trauma of an ALS diagnosis in different ways, but unconsciously or consciously we understand one thing clearly: time is precious. Knowing this encourages us to…

I was driving around Falmouth the other day and felt like I had dropped into the middle of a sci-fi movie, kind of like The Day the Earth Stood Still. The streets were empty—an eerie stillness—like I was the last person alive on earth. I knew intellectually what was going on, but in my heart…

Watch a conversation with Compassionate Care ALS Founder/Executive Director and author of Sacred Bullet, Ron Hoffman, and New York Times best selling author, Lisa Genova, below: