Overview
- Heming Willis announced the fund while accepting the Susan Newhouse & Si Newhouse Award of Hope at AFTD’s Hope Rising Benefit in New York on March 12.
- Administered by the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the fund will raise awareness of frontotemporal dementia, support promising research and strengthen services for caregivers.
- The organization outlines a grant-making approach that backs education and advocacy, accelerates discovery by supporting early‑career scientists, and provides practical tools and respite for care partners.
- In her remarks, Heming Willis said her family’s experience with FTD motivates her to advance research and to support the caregivers who “carry so much every day.”
- Bruce Willis’s diagnosis progressed from aphasia in 2022 to confirmed FTD in 2023, and he now receives specialized care in a nearby home with full-time support.