News from Tulane

Tulane alumnus and former NFL player Steve Gleason today teamed up with Chase to announce the financial institution’s $350,000 grant to the Team Gleason House for Innovative Living in New Orleans, funding the development of technologies to help ALS and MS patients.

Gleason, the founder of Team Gleason, retired from football in 2008 and was diagnosed with ALS in 2010. He has made it his mission to show ALS patients can not only live but thrive after this diagnosis.

The Team Gleason House will be located at St. Margaret’s Skilled Nursing Residence and will be the second U.S. facility of its kind.

“The Team Gleason House was only a dream less than a year ago,” said Gleason, a 2011 MBA graduate of the A. B. Freeman School of Business. “Through our efforts and the extraordinary efforts of Chase and St. Margaret’s, we have realized that dream so ALS patients can continue to live, thrive and contribute to the community. Until there is a medical cure for ALS, technology is the cure, and we are proving that today."

The former New Orleans Saints player has become a symbol of the city’s determination and perseverance. His celebrated punt-block on the night the Superdome reopened in 2006 renewed hope that New Orleans was ready for a big comeback.

“That was the day when the people of New Orleans began to believe that we can win again,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. “What’s in his heart represents the best that the city of New Orleans has to offer.” 

The Team Gleason House for Innovative Living will be a residential facility within St. Margaret’s that provides care for people living with incurable neuromuscular disorders. The house will employ technology that allows patients to control doors, lights, televisions, shades and other devices through eye-sensitive technologies.