This global nonprofit began when Founder, Tiffany Westrich, was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in February 2009.  Leading up to the diagnosis, she was labeled “the mystery patient” for a year and a half, so was excited about finally being able to tell others what was wrong.  However, she soon realized no one understood what Rheumatoid Arthritis was, most people only heard the word “arthritis” and would respond with “you are too young to have arthritis” or “me too, I take ibuprofen” or “diet and exercise will help that”.   The frustration resulting from this lack of understanding caused her to utilize her jewelry making skills to create the first autoimmune arthritis charity bracelet.  It was designed young and trendy to re-brand the image to a younger generation; and it used a buckle fastener, intending to bring attention to the difficulties these sufferers experience with everyday, daily tasks that others take for granted.  Upon finishing the bracelet, she also declared a "national movement of awareness”…to herself, in the living room of her studio apartment in Los Angeles, CA.

Pictured Above: Santa Monica Arthritis Walk, June 7th 2009.  Official launch day of
the "Buckle Me Up!" International Autoimmune Arthritis Awareness Movement.

The official launch was Sunday, June 7th, 2009 following the Arthritis Walk in Santa Monica, CA.  Tiffany’s team each wore one of the bracelets and prior to the event sold them to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation.  At the same time, an RA blogger posted about the bracelets and within one month orders began coming in from 26 different states (over 80 cities and 6 countries) and so the movement didn't take long to go from national to international.  Immediately a website was developed and inquiries started flooding in from as far as Australia, Ireland, South Africa and India.  With each email came a story of autoimmune arthritis experiences, diagnosis, challenges and defeats. They heard from sufferers as well as mothers, daughters and friends of sufferers. Dozens of people asked about leadership roles without anyone asking them to do so. 

A few months later, the Movement was published on MyRACentral.com and selected for “what’s hot in RA” on WebMD’s RA in the News, Summer 2009.  It was at this time, Fall 2009, when it was realized that there was a need for a nonprofit that focused exclusively on a specialized category of like diseases, so they branched from solely Rheumatoid Arthritis awareness to creating an organization that was based on a larger platform. 

Original Buckle Bracelet.  Available for purchase at our Merchandise Store. 100% of the proceeds are donated to IAAM.



Because of her extensive experience in running businesses, marketing, teaching and project management, Tiffany decided she could volunteer her time to turn the "Buckle Me Up!" Movement into the 1st nonprofit that would exclusively benefit those affected by diseases similar to Rheumatoid Arthritis.
 

The first step was to name the group of diseases that would be separated from the 100+ other conditions currently under the 'arthritis' umbrella.  After much brainstorming, a group of volunteers came up with the term "Autoimmune Arthritis" to give this group of diseases a new life and to separate them not only from Osteoarthritis, but also from the 65+ Autoimmune Diseases that could involve joint pain too.  So the top criteria to classify as a true, primary "Autoimmune Arthritis" would be that the joints were a major area of attack in over 90% of all cases reported.   

The Buckle Me Up! Movement group began testing the phrase in various Facebook groups at the end of 2009.  By 2010 major Facebook pages and groups, as well as other nonprofit organizations, had adopted the term into their vocabulary.  At that time, thy recruited a Rheumatology Board to solidify the final group of diseases that would be included as primary "Autoimmune Arthritis" diseases, and so the "Buckle Me Up!" Movement officially became the International Autoimmune Arthritis Movement.  Because the “Buckle Me Up!” Movement was such a huge part of their history, it is still sometimes used as a catch phrase as a reminder how this all began.

IAAM received official 501c3 status notification on May 7th, 2011, ironically on their Founder and CEO's 40th birthday!  And the rest is still yet to be written!