This year was our first to offer a Memory Café, in addition to our monthly Sunday Strolls program (for friends with disabilities and their 24/7 caregivers). Welcoming people with dementia and their caregivers (unpaid family caregivers and paid professional caregivers), dementia-care duos as well as dementia-care facility small groups, resulted in a 70% growth in participation over last year (2014), when we invited only three NE-ARC group homes and local friends with disabilities referred by our church family. This year we hosted 72 guests; last year we hosted 42 guests.
This year, we hosted:
34 People with a Disability (Developmental Disability-7; Dementia-27)
22 Caregivers (Unpaid Family Caregivers- 8; Paid Professionals- 14)
15 Friends, Neighbors and Project Stakeholders
5 Small Groups
2 Dementia-Care Duos (person with dementia and their 24/7 primary family caregiver)
1 Independent Wheelchair User
The number for “Dementia-Care Duos” is the one we care most about increasing. Our mission is providing respite and recreation for weary, unpaid, 24/7 dementia caregivers and their loved ones with dementia. Please tell your friends North of Boston that our passion is to serve dementia-care duos! These are your friends and neighbors with dementia and their primary care-partner (most often a family member, but also may be a friend, neighbor, or paid Personal Care Assistant).
2015 Small Group Participants
April: NE-ARC Topsfield, MA House
May: NE-ARC Burlington, MA House
July: BrightView Assisted Living, Danvers, MA Dementia-Care Group
August: Sunrise Assisted Living, Arlington, MA Dementia-Care Group
October: Putnam Farm Assisted Living, Danvers, MA Dementia-Care Group
Special Thanks to the volunteers who helped us this year with our hospitality ministry!
Jensi Rogers Lisle
Marcus Lisle
Jean Perreault
Marlene Bettencourt
We had a great 2015 Sunday Strolls and Memory Café Season, and will be deciding on 2016 program dates in early 2016.
Moving forward with a listening heart,
vision, inquiry, and action,
~ Mary