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Caring for someone with dementia is a lonely path. Find understanding, referrals, and encouragement at a local support group. (Due to Covid restrictions, please call ahead to ensure in-person meetings.)

December 28, 2013 at 8:30 am

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MOBILE COUNTY SUPPORT GROUPS

Rocking for Alzheimer’s Caregivers Support Group – call in support every third Sunday from 4-5:00 pm. Call 480-297-0773 code 4796634#. Contact Gina Scott at 251-533-6092 for more information.  https://www.dorismariejonesfoundation.org 

The Gulf Coast Dementia Services Support Group

Location: 3263 Demetropolis Road, Ste 9B at the Quadrangle Business Center, Mobile, AL 36693 at Touching Hearts Senior Care Office

The Caregiver Support Groups are held the second and fourth Tuesday from 11:00 – 12:00pm and meets in the Touching Hearts Senior Care office.  This is a free event and completely confidential.

You may call  251-445-4204 or 251-421-4888 for more information:

The Gulf Coast Dementia Services Support Groups provide emotional, educational and social support for caregivers by master certified dementia health coach and dementia practitioner, Janet Rich Pittman, who conducts all sessions.

Click here for a link to Gulf Coast Dementia Services

E. A. Roberts Alzheimer Center offers Dementia Education support once a quarter at 5:00 pm. They are located at 169 Mobile Infirmary Drive.  Please call 251-435-6950 for further information.

The Long Good-bye Support Group meets at noon for an hour on the second Tuesday of each month. Dauphin Way Methodist Church hosts this group and meets in the Family Life Room. RSVP by calling the church at 251-471-1511.

Alzheimer’s/Dementia Support Group – Third Tuesday of every  month from 6 to 7 pm.  No entrance or support fees associated with group.  VIA Senior Center, 1717 Dauphin Street, Mobile, AL  36604.  For meeting information call 251-776-5999.

Christ United Methodist Church – Second (Grief support) and Fourth Tuesday (Dementia Caregiving Support) evening, 6:00 PM.  6101 Grelot Road, Mobile, AL contact Donna Alexander for more information.   (251) 342-0462.

The Retreat Hospice – Grief Support Group, Wednesday 9:30 am and Thursday 1:30 pm at 1515 B. University Blvd South, Mobile, AL. 36609. Call Chelsey Myrick at 251-380-3810 for more information.

BALDWIN COUNTY SUPPORT GROUPS:  

Coming soon: First Thursday of every month at 9:00 a.m. at the Foley Senior Center, 304 E. Rose Street, Foley, AL  36535

Frontotemporal Degeneration and Related Dementias Support Group: South Alabama FTD Care Partner Support Group now meets on the LAST TUESDAY of each month from 6P to 7P at Faith Family Fellowship on Spanish Fort Boulevard. Contact Jerry Horn at (251) 626-5246 or jhorn@theaftd.org

Haven Memory Care Support group every third Tuesday from 5:30 – 6:30 pm. For more information, contact Patti Coiner, Community Development Director at Haven Memory Care, located on 6848 Gulf Shores Pkwy., Gulf Shores, AL 36542. RSVP 251-923-2800.

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In-person Alzheimer’s Association support groups

The Alzheimer’sAssociation offers in-person support groups for caregivers, individuals living with Alzheimer’s and others dealing with the disease. All support groups are facilitated by trained individuals. Many locations offer specialized groups for children, individuals with younger-onset and early-stage Alzheimer’s, adult caregivers and others with specific needs.

Daphne Public Library
2607 US Highway 98
Daphne, AL 36526

251-620-2500

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

24/7 Helpline: (800) 272-3900

View Chapter Website

Foley Senior Center
304 E Rose Ave
Foley, AL 36535

251-943-1442

Thursday, December 5, 2019

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

24/7 Helpline: (800) 272-3900

View Chapter Website

Marcus Pointe Baptist Church
6205 N W St
Pensacola, FL 32505

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

6:30 PM – 7:30 PM

24/7 Helpline: (800) 272-3900

View Chapter Website

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For Grief Support, Friday at 2:00 pm at Westminster Village, 500 Spanish Fort Blvd., Spanish Fort, AL  251-626-2900.

Coastal  Respite Care: Adult Day Center in Foley, AL coastalrespite.com

300 E. Laurel

Foley, Alabama 36535

Phone: 251-317-1212

DAYBREAK – Gulf Shores United Methodist Church, located at 1900 Gulf Shores Parkway, offers DayBreak, a ministry providing support and service for caregivers and their loved ones with Alzheimer’s Disease. DayBreak is held on Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost is nominal and lunch is provided. For more information, contact Dolly Crewes at 251-968-3634 or Terry Fowinkle at 251-968-2377.  For more information, visit their website at Gulf Shores United Methodist Church.

Haven of Gulf Shores,  a new 32 bed assisted and memory care facility, offers a support group the third Thursday evening of the month.  Call Teresa Carrel for details at  (251)923-2800.

SHEPHERD’S PLACE – Held at Fairhope United Methodist Church on the first 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month at 9:30 AM. This is open to anyone who cares for someone on a daily basis.  Contact Dr. Ann Pearson for further information at (251) 928-1148 or ann.pearson@fairhopeumc.org Map

ESCAMBIA COUNTY

 ALZHEIMER’S FAMILY SERVICES – Support group held on the first Monday of the month at noon in the Strandell Conference Room at D. W. McMillan Memorial Hospital, 1301 Belleville Avenue in Brewton, AL. Call 251-809-8309 for information or email facilitator, Marcia De Graaf, at mdegraaf@dwmmh.org.   Map 

Welcome to Caregivers Unite. Let’s talk about local resources, referrals and ideas to make life richer for dementia care stakeholders.

November 27, 2012 at 3:59 pm

Do you have a question to ask, suggestion, referral, or recommendations to make? Here is the place to do it.

I welcome any comments that you have.  Either write your comment after any post or e-mail me at beth@caregiversunite.org

To receive an automatic email of a recent post, subscribe at the bottom right of this page.  Be sure to confirm that you want to follow the blog when you get the confirmation email.  Many thanks and may you find something here to better your day.

purple angle symbol

This Purple Angel symbol can be used by anyone raising awareness regarding dementia. It symbolizes a guardian over those living with dementia, their families and friends, as well as all those working to raise awareness about dementia world wide.

2023 Legacy Leadership Institute for Older Adults – an opportunity for retired professionals to find new purpose and passion.

February 15, 2023 at 2:54 pm

Welcome to the HeartSong Singers!

September 7, 2019 at 12:35 pm

We are no longer meeting due to COVID.

Wondering what it’s all about? Here’s what you can expect:

We aim to make our time together a place where singers and care partners experience joy, social interaction, and the satisfaction of singing familiar songs.

We will meet every Thursday at 1:30  – 2:30 pm for six weeks. (Sept. 12 – Oct. 17)

For our first meeting, we ask that you inform us of your wishes about privacy. If you are willing to have your picture used to promote the HeartSong Singers, please sign a media release form. We will also ask for your contact information in order to further communicate with you. There is no cost to participate. Feel free to invite others who are living with dementia to join us.

Upon arrival at each meeting, put on your nametag and pick up a songbook. Please return the nametag and book at the end of practice. Copies of the songs are available to take home.

The bathrooms are down the hall on the right. If you need to take a quiet break, someone will accompany you to the parish hall. Refreshments will be served after the singing.

Our music leader is Richard Jones.

Our accompanist is Joyce Kirkland.

Christ Anglican Church minister is Reverend David Saunders.

Parish Coordinator – Phyllis Bergeron – 251-476-7790

Our administrator and organizer is Beth Reinert.

Please contact Beth with any questions at 251-209-1555 or by email, beth@caregiversunite.org.

Our Facebook page is HeartSong Singers.

We hope you have a wonderful time and will come back every week!

Let’s Talk About Dementia

August 21, 2019 at 2:31 pm
Author and advocate Lynda Everman tells us how we can move from awareness to action.

1994: President Ronald Reagan penned his now famous letter to the American public announcing that he was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The same year, my dad, at 81, had just been diagnosed with “memory problems”; my son Mike was a sophomore in high school; and I was 3 years into a new marriage and at the top of my Human Resources career.  Three years later my husband Richard, at 57, was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment. Dad died in 2001 from what I later learned was vascular dementia and Richard in 2012 from Alzheimer’s.

What I didn’t know in 1994 and even in 1997 was that my life, like theirs, had been forever changed. Did the word “advocacy” enter my mind? Of course not. Neither was “caregiver” a part of my vocabulary. While I quickly became both for my dad and my husband, in those early years I had little understanding of the demands, the challenges and the ravages of dementia. I was unaware of the physical, emotional, and financial damage it would wield.

September marks World Alzheimer’s Month, the international campaign launched by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) to raise awareness and promote a greater understanding of dementia. Every 3 seconds someone in the world develops dementia; every 65 seconds in the United States. The number of people living with dementia around the world is over 50 million. In the United States over 5.8 million individuals are living with dementia and being cared for by 16 million unpaid family caregivers providing an estimated 18.5 billion hours of care each year. While the statistics are staggering, according to ADI, two out of three people globally believe there is little or no understanding of dementia in their countries. The theme of this year’s campaign,  “Let’s Talk About Dementia,” hopes to change that.

I know there are people who will take exception to the use of my harsh description but dementia is a harsh disease that continues to outmaneuver us. 25 years after my dad’s diagnosis, I’m still striving to make my voice heard on behalf of families like mine who spent too many gut-wrenching years in the trenches with dementia. In 2009 my brother urged me to seek additional help and move my husband to assisted living, reminding me that without help, dementia could take two lives and not just one. While well-intentioned, we both were terribly naïve.For in fact, it has. 

For the past 10 years I’ve used my time, my voice and my resources to pull others into the movement to support families facing what I once faced and to help create a movement big enough to change the trajectory of this disease. 

Sure we can live well with Alzheimer’s or any other tragic event because we are people of faith and inherent in that is the desire to leave things just a bit better— really . . .exponentially better—than the circumstances we have found ourselves in. That’s what motivated me to become a founding member of the ClergyAgainstAlzheimer’s Network and, later, the Faith United Against Alzheimer’s Coalition:multi-faith, diverse communities of clergy, other faith leaders, laity, and faith organizations sharing this mission of care and cure.

So how do we translate our experience as caregivers to effective action because I’m sure you believe as I do, that a “like” on FaceBook, Twitter, or Instagram, is not action. Awareness is a good beginning, and empathy is essential, but they need to be coupled with action. How do we talk about dementia in such a way that we grow our movement and multiply our voices? How do we unify all the valid yet competing interests and achieve what we all long for—better care, prevention, and one day, a cure for Alzheimer’s and related dementias?

Faith communities are uniquely positioned to do just that: to welcome those living with dementia and their families, to enable worship, support care partners, educate about dementia, promote brain health, and advocate for local and national policies and research funding.

Let me share briefly what I hope are powerful and far reaching resources—conversation starters— that the Clergy Network and Faith Coalition have created. Our first book, Seasons of Caring: Meditations for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers, published in 2014, is a collection of personal reflections, stories, songs, prayers, scriptures, and encouraging words written by caregivers of multiple faith traditions to comfort and sustain other caregivers during this most challenging time. Is there someone in your congregation—or now, painfully absent from your congregation—who could use this book?

Dementia-friendly Worship: A Multifaith Handbook for Chaplains, Clergy and Faith Communities, published in June of this year, is also a first of its kind book with 45 different authors representing diverse faith traditions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Native American. These experienced and compassionate authors provide an understanding of the cognitive, communicative and physical abilities of people with dementia and share what chaplains, clergy and laypersons can do to engage them through worship and other spiritual practices. Included are the voices of individuals living with and at risk for dementia.There are also three chapters that go beyond worship to creating dementia-friendly faith communities. If your pastor, priest, rabbi or imam is acquainted with dementia but uncertain as to how to offer support, this would be an excellent gift.

But what about pastors, priests, and rabbis who have yet to be impacted and who might benefit from an abbreviated introduction? That’s where Stolen Memories: An Alzheimer’s Stole Ministry & Tallit Initiative comes in. It’s a book with pictures of about 25 clergy members and their short reflections on their experience with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. It’s clergy talking to clergy.

Grace does not come from us but through us so my purpose in writing today is to ask each of you what or who it was that called you to this movement and, more importantly, what can you do to move us from awareness to action? If you are a member of a faith community and want to broach this subject with others, you now have the resources to do so. So, please, while not the most pleasant or welcome of topics, “Let’s Talk About Dementia.”

Heartsong Singers

August 14, 2019 at 3:35 pm
Invite someone you know living with cognitive decline and come with them!

Singing familiar songs together can bring clarity and joy. The HeartSong Singers uses the miraculous power of music to move people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias with their care partners to rediscover themselves, make new friends, learn together, and create something unique together. You are invited to join us! Starts Thursday, Sept 12th – Oct 17th, meeting at 1:30 for one hour, once a week for six weeks.

Amazing Grace

June 21, 2019 at 3:31 pm

It all started with a prayer. I had been worrying about what I would have to sacrifice in my busy schedule. What being a care partner to my mom was going to take.  I feared my church life, my YMCA life, and my home life would be rearranged, diminished, or removed in order to keep my mom safe, fed, and satisfied. The endless phone calls to solve the problem of the moment, to find the missing item, to review what had already been said were not enough. Making the 30-minute drive multiple times a week in addition to my vigorous schedule was wearing me out. Something was going to have to change. And I feared that it would be my schedule and me (in fact, I knew it would be my schedule and me). I just wasn’t willing to let it all go. Yet. To get my head and heart around those changes required some level of motivation, inspiration and commitment. Some move of God. Faith.

So I went forward in the Sunday service to the altar to pray, where prayer partners were waiting to join our petitions. I chose Melissa, a friend, a woman of faith to trust and hear my concerns. I whispered in her ear that I was conflicted about the growing needs of my mom, that in order to truly be helpful to her, I would have to back off my other activities that I held dear. I asked for divine guidance, a willing heart, and a path to follow. 

As Melissa lifted my struggle to the Lord, a peace began to settle over me. The conflict and chaos that I had been living began to ease and I had a vision that seemed to make everything all right.  In my mind’s eye, I saw myself sitting on the couch in my mother’s den. The dark paneled wall behind me was lit by light streaming in from the window over my left shoulder. All was quiet. I was calm. And I was writing.  

One of the things I was currently doing was writing – just little vignettes about people I knew, spiritual lessons from my dog, everyday life seen through the lens of faith – things like that. Seeing this vision gave me a fresh perspective on what might be a blessing – an alternate plan – perhaps God’s plan, instead of an inconvenience and a diversion from my life.  It began to dawn on me that sacrificing the plans I had and attending to the need right in front of me was the right thing to do. Tearfully, I told Melissa what I had seen in my vision. I felt like the decision was made. So I walked away from the altar feeling empowered to trim down my schedule and turn my heart toward my mom. Trusting that everything would work out. 

That was 2008. Today is June 212019.  The Longest Day. The day people are doing something to commemorate or honor a person with dementia. The day the book, Dementia-Friendly Worship – A Multifaith Handbook for Chaplains, Clergy, and Faith Communities goes on sale, on amazon.com. The day I am a published author.

Because I chose the path of caring for my mom, the desires of my heart are realized.  

The years we spent together after that day at the altar were full of trials, unbelievable challenges, sorrow, uncertainty, and grief. However, the further we went, the responsibility I felt for my mom began to turn into devotion and love. The stories I now have to cherish and share came from that fork in the road that led us down a path of hope, faith, and trust.  And have ended up in a book. Amazing. 

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Afternoon Tea with Dr. Rev. Cynthia Huling Hummel

May 11, 2019 at 8:39 am

Spring Cleaning For Your Health and Estate Plans

January 24, 2019 at 3:08 pm

An educational dementia support group with

Kyla G. Kelim, Esq. Attorney at Law, “Aging in Alabama”

 February 7, 2019, at 5:00 PM.

E.A. Roberts Alzheimer’s Center

169 Mobile Infirmary Blvd.

Mobile, AL 36607

Refreshments will be provided.

For more information, please call 251-435-6950

Educational Dementia Support Group Meeting will present Palliative Care, What Is It?

October 11, 2018 at 4:30 pm

Palliative Care is supportive care that focuses on quality of life for the patient and caregivers throughout the course of the disease. This informational session will help you better understand Palliative Care and how it might benefit a person living with dementia.

Presented by Infirmary Cancer Care, Mary Nelson, RN, Valenda Lankford, LGSW, and June Lassister, CRNP on Thursday, November 8th at 5:00 pm.

E.A. Roberts Alzheimer’s Center

169 Mobile Infirmary Blvd.

Mobile, AL  36607

For more information, please call 251-435-6950.

Register now – Free Legal & Financial Planning Webinar Session # 2 – Crisis Planning, Tuesday 19th June 12 pm

June 5, 2018 at 1:19 pm
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Free Financial & Legal Planning Webinar Series

The Alzheimer’s Association is pleased to welcome guest speaker Melanie Bradford Holliman who will be presenting at their new webinar series on several topics related to Legal and Financial planning for families affected by Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Melanie is the Executive Director of Alabama Family Trust, a special needs nonprofit 501(C)3 pooled-trust company and an elder law attorney. She has practiced estate planning law in Northeast and Central Alabama for over a decade, and she brings her expertise in these areas to assist our families in understanding how to plan ahead for long-term care.

The free sessions will be held on the: 3rd Tuesday of every month – 12pm – 1.30pm CST

You can access the live session by telephone only or you can watch the live webinar feed. To pre-register and receive the webinar link and dial in details, please complete our online form at https://goo.gl/forms/XTcb2S89oXkv9SUr1 or contact at 205 379 8065 / lhurley@alz.org and provide your name, number, email address and zip code. For those who are unable to attend,  the session recordings available in the future.

Session Dates:

May 15th– Long Term Care Strategies and Options

A more comprehensive overview of various forms of long term care planning, methods to pay for care, and strategies to get the best care

June 19th – Crisis Planning

Long Term Care Planning in an Emergency and how to avoid a Medicaid Spend down

July 17th – The Basics of Estate Planning

Capacity, Durable Power of Attorney, Health Care Directives, Guardianship, Conservatorship, Wills, Living Trust

August 21st – Blended Family Estate Planning

Common mistakes that couples make in estate planning when they have a blended family

September 18th – Question and Answer Session

An opportunity for viewers to present questions to Melanie. If you are unable to attend the live session, please submit your questions to the chapter in advance by contacting lhurley@alz.org.

Please note Melanie cannot answer questions related to specific cases or provide legal advice. These sessions aim to provide general information on the topics.

E.A. Roberts Alzheimer’s Center Support Group Meeting – UPDATE!

May 29, 2018 at 2:52 pm

E.A. Roberts Alzheimer’s Center

There will not be a support group meeting held in June. They are in the process of transitioning their support group meetings to be held once a quarter at 5:00 p.m. after the Center has closed for the day. Participants whose caregivers attend the meeting will be permitted to stay until the meeting has ended at 6:00 p.m.

The next support group is scheduled for Thursday, August 2nd at 5:00 p.m.

If you have any questions, please contact the offie at 251-435-6950.