Organization
ALS Network: what they fund and how to apply
ALS Network is a US nonprofit providing care coordination, loaned equipment, and support groups to people with ALS. It serves California and Hawaii only. If you live anywhere else, this is not your organization, and you can go to our support network directories instead. Their equipment loan page states the rule plainly: a person must have ALS or a related diagnosis and reside within the ALS Network area.
If you do live in California or Hawaii, what they give you is a free care manager and free loaned equipment. The care manager is a real staff member who coordinates your care, and the loan closet covers power wheelchairs, hoyer lifts, commode chairs, shower transfer systems, walkers, and ramps. They say services are free regardless of insurance or immigration status. The organization brands itself as formerly ALS Golden West.
How to use this page
Everything below comes from ALS Network’s own pages, read on July 27, 2026. We have left out anything they do not publish. In particular, we found no published cash grant program, no income test, and no dollar figures, so we state none. One phone call registers you for all of it, and the single most useful sentence on this page is the number in How to apply.
What they provide
Care managers
Staff care managers who advise on health, independence, mobility, safety, and communication as the disease changes. Free of charge, and ALS Network says that applies regardless of your financial circumstances.
This is the program to use first. The care manager is also your route into the equipment loan program and the support groups, so registering once opens everything else.
Equipment loan program
Loaned durable medical equipment at no cost. The published list is transport and companion wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, four-wheel walkers, 3:1 commode chairs, fully electric hoyer lifts, sliding bath benches, shower bath transfer systems, and ramps.
Eligibility is an ALS or related diagnosis plus residence in the ALS Network area. Ask your care manager, or call 818-865-8067. In California they work with Superior Mobility and NuMotion. Hawaii has its own local coordinator.
Communication equipment loan program
A separate loan program for augmentative and alternative communication devices, aimed at keeping you able to communicate as speech changes.
Speech changes are easy to put off and expensive to fix late. Our guide to voice banking explains what to do in the weeks before you need a device.
ALS clinics and centers
They list partner ALS clinics across California in Baldwin Park, Fontana, Fresno, Harbor City, Loma Linda, Los Angeles, Martinez, Monterey, Orange, Palo Alto, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Leandro, San Rafael, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Stockton, and Woodland Hills, plus Honolulu in Hawaii.
ALS Network coordinates the connection. They do not run the clinics, and they do not bill you for the introduction.
Connection groups
Support meetings for people with ALS, family members, and friends. Some are topic-specific rather than general.
Free. Ask careservices@alsnetwork.org which group fits your situation, since a newly diagnosed group and a late-stage caregiver group are very different rooms.
Caregiver support
Support groups, respite care referrals, and resources aimed at the family rather than the patient.
Note the wording: respite referrals. We found no published fund that pays for respite hours. Ask directly what a referral gets you before you plan around it.
Support for children and families
Tools and resources for families facing ALS together, including younger children.
Free, and available through the same care services contact.
Bereavement support program
Support for family members and friends after a death from ALS. Free.
ASK ME educational webinars
Presentations and video education on ALS topics, plus Spanish-language resources.
These are online, so they are the one part of the offering that is not obviously restricted by where you live. Confirm with them if you are out of state.
Who is eligible
- Where you live. California or Hawaii. Their equipment loan page requires you to reside within the ALS Network area.
- Diagnosis. ALS or a related diagnosis.
- Insurance. Not required. They state services are for everyone facing the disease.
- Immigration status. Not a barrier. They say services are available regardless of immigration status.
- Income. No published income test. Care services are described as free of charge.
Their mailing addresses are PO Box 7082, Woodland Hills, CA 91365 and PO Box 11284, Honolulu, HI 96828, which matches the two-state footprint. If you are near a state line, or you get care in California but live elsewhere, ask them rather than guessing.
How to apply
There is no grant application to fill out. You register once, then work through a care manager. Have this ready.
- Confirm you live in California or Hawaii. Everything else depends on it.
- Call 1-866-750-2572, Monday to Friday, or email careservices@alsnetwork.org. You can also register through the form on their site.
- Have your diagnosis date, your neurologist or clinic name, and your address ready.
- Say what you need now and what you expect to need in three months. Equipment moves slowly, so ask early.
- For equipment specifically, ask about the loan closet by name, or call 818-865-8067.
- Ask whether the item you need is in stock, and what the wait looks like if it is not.
- Ask what happens to loaned equipment when it is no longer needed, so nobody is surprised later.
What they do not cover
- Anyone outside California and Hawaii. This is the single biggest limit and the reason to check first.
- No published cash grants. We found no equivalent of a copay fund, a rent fund, or a home modification grant on their site. Do not plan around money they have not said they give.
- Loaned equipment is not a gift. A loan closet lends. Expect items back in circulation.
- They do not run the clinics. Medical care, billing, and appointments stay with the clinic and your insurer.
- Respite is referral, not funding, based on what they publish. Confirm before you book anything.
- No published wait times or stock levels. Availability depends on donations and what has been returned.
The name change trips people up
ALS Network’s own site carries the line “Formerly ALS Golden West.” If a doctor, a social worker, or an older printout sends you to a Golden West chapter, this is where that trail now leads. We have not verified the details or the date of the change beyond what their site states, so if the history matters for a form you are filling in, ask them.
The practical consequence: do not assume services you remember from a national ALS organization are available here, and do not assume the reverse. Ask what this organization provides today.
Contact
- Care services and registration: 1-866-750-2572, careservices@alsnetwork.org
- Equipment loan program: 818-865-8067, info@alsnetwork.org
- General: (866) 750-2572, info@alsnetwork.org
- California mail: PO Box 7082, Woodland Hills, CA 91365
- Hawaii mail: PO Box 11284, Honolulu, HI 96828
Their pages worth opening: our care services, the equipment loan program, ALS clinics and centers, and caregiver support.
Related on Knowals
Knowals is not affiliated with ALS Network or any organization named here. We describe them as a resource, nothing more, and we receive nothing for doing so. Programs, eligibility rules, service areas, and equipment stock change without notice, so confirm current terms with them directly before you rely on them. Educational content only, not medical, financial, or legal advice.