An article in the WYDaily showcased the growth and expansion of Riverside’s popular Memory Café, a unique program that creates highly beneficial social gathering opportunities for those personally dealing with memory loss and those who help care for those with these challenges.
CEALH and the Peninsula Agency on Aging teamed up with community advocates to launch the Memory Café in Williamsburg, where it has been operating for the last three years. The program is organized and hosted by trained volunteers.
“When people have memory loss, especially when they’re living at home, they can become isolated,” program organizer Marjorie Hilkert remarked in the WYDaily article. “When memory loss gets worse, they misspeak and feel like they can’t function in the real world. This gives them a comfortable space for interaction.”
Each Café offers guests the chance for unstructured conversation, refreshments, and some enjoyable activities that change from month to month. The goal is to let participants have fun, get to know others in the community with similar challenges, and to enjoy time with caring people who understand those living with memory loss.
Available free of charge, the Memory Café is one a number of valuable programs and initiatives benefitting from a nearly $1 million grant Riverside CEALH received in 2018 to enhance dementia care across the region.
Last May, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living (ACL) announced an Alzheimer’s Disease Programs Initiative (ADPI) funding opportunity to support and promote the development and expansion of dementia-capable home and community-based service systems in both states and communities. ADPI three-year cooperative agreements have been awarded to 4 states and 15 community organizations for a total value of $16,913,374. The 2018 awards are located in 13 states across the nation.
Among other needs, Riverside is using grant funds on collaborative initiatives to help patients and their families not only receive a dementia diagnosis earlier in the disease process, but also help manage the disease to enhance the quality of life for persons living with dementia.
In York Country, new Memory Café sessions will be hosted on the fourth Wednesday of each month beginning on April 24 at the Tabb Library from 1-2:30 p.m. Volunteers need to be available those days from 12:30 to 2:45 p.m. Upcoming Williamsburg sessions will be held at Braemar Creek on April 3 and April 17 from 10-11:30 a.m. both days.
Visit the Riverside CEALH website to register for Memory Café sessions. To register by phone, or for more information on volunteering in the program, call (757) 220-4751.
Visit WYDaily.com to read the full article.