Restoring homes, loaning wheelchairs, maintaining a literature library, helping pay for hospital bills, buying supplies, cleaning and taking care of patient homes and providing oxygen therapy, acupuncture and counseling are services DMSF provides to Utah MS patients.

"To have someone go in, feed the kids, take care of the house and do some dishes and some laundry, these are the women that turn around and help here and do it for someone else," Corinne said.

DMSF also donated money to the University of Utah for MS research. In addition, Dr. Arif Chowdhury, a neurologist in Layton who specializes in MS and has been involved in the foundation, has dedicated the first Wednesday of every month to working with MS patients for free through DMSF.

"MS is an expensive illness," she said. "Even with insurance, there's no way you can get around it being less than $800 a month. It's expensive to be this sick."

According to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, MS is a disease of the central nervous system and is the most common neurological disorder diagnosed in young adults. MS damages or destroys protective insulation surrounding the nerves as well as the nerves themselves within the central nervous system. Its causes are not fully understood and difficult to diagnose, but it may be controlled if recognized and treated early.

"It's not uncommon for the typical woman to come in and talk to us about what's going on for her to have been struggling two years with doctors of not knowing what's happening to her," Corinne said. "I have watched so many people not make it because they weren't diagnosed in time."

In the United States, approximately 350,000 individuals have been diagnosed — about 10,000 in Utah. The occurrence of MS is correlated with latitude, meaning people living beyond the 40-degree mark north or south of the equator are far more likely to develop MS. Also, MS is more prevalent among people with Northern European or Scandinavian ancestry and is three times as likely to develop in women.

The foundation is applying for grants to hire a full-time nurse who can make house calls and do consulting. Smith, who is one of about six active board members, helps man the foundations wide variety of volunteer and staff workers.

"None of it is possible without an entire team," Smith said. "Without a team, none of this would be happening."

And Corinne said she hopes that through the artists' donations and the foundation's work, MS will someday stand for "Mystery Solved."

The future

Today, Corinne is symptom-free. She is still bargain shopping, purchasing frames at closeout sales. Although the gallery is constantly selling art, she is cautious where the money goes.