AWARE Announces Grant Recipients
AWARE president and Highland Park resident Jolie Humphrey has announced the grant recipients for the 2019-2020 year.
The nonprofit is dedicated to fighting Alzheimer’s disease, and its mission is to provide funding and support to nonprofit organizations that are working on the front lines to fight this disease in Dallas and the North Texas region.
Through the Dallas Foundation’s Field of Interest grant program, applications to the AWARE fund were received from nonprofit organizations located in Dallas and Collin County that are working on the front lines in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
Through the grant application review process, AWARE selects the most outstanding groups that provide services, programs, education, and resources to those who have Alzheimer’s disease, their families and caregivers, and to organizations doing valuable research to find a prevention and cure.
The final selections have been made, and the recipients are:
Baylor Healthcare System: Continued salary support for the Baylor AT&T Memory Center to provide a trained care and support specialist onsite at the Baylor AT&T Memory Center. Patients and their families in early diagnosis can receive disease education, caregiver skill training and support groups, elder law and financial planning, and a 24/7 helpline.
Casa de Vida: Continued support for the program at NorthPark Presbyterian Church. At the church, this program provides respite relief to families and caregivers by providing trained volunteer one-on-one care to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias with programs involving art, music, and games.
Center for Brain Health Mosaic of Meaningful Messages: Support to produce a series of short video testimonials from eight to 10 couples who were participants in the Center for Brain Health Discovery Group, a CBH program previously funded by AWARE. They will collect personal insights, experiences, and advice from those who are living with Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as, friends, family members and the community at large giving a voice to those with the disease and underscoring their value and purpose in the community.
Center for Vital Longevity Optimizing Neuro-cognitive Functions in Healthy Living: Support for funding of a postdoctoral fellow to conduct research on the differences in neuro-cognitive functions between younger adults and healthy aging adults and how these functions can be enhanced for healthy aging adults through a study of the role of physical fitness and cognitive training as potential neuroprotective factors against cognitive decline in aging adults.
Dallas Museum of Art Meaningful Moments Program: Continued support for the program designed to provide participants with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and their families or caregivers with ways to engage in art. Meaningful Moments will now offer the educational experience both on and off-site for approximately eight local care residences throughout each month. These will include Belmont Village, Christian Care Center, The Village at Mapleshade, Tradition Senior Living, Presbyterian Village North, Brookdale at White Rock, Villages of Lake Highlands, and MacArthur Hills.
For Love and Art: Funding for the hire of an administrative assistant to facilitate the scheduling, coordination, and back-office work in support of Love and Art “Celebrating the Arts” presentations. The mission for Love and Art is to bring the art experience to people with limited mobility to stimulate art appreciation while empowering caregivers to love people in creative and transformative ways. Digital images obtained through partnerships with the community outreach programs of 26 fine museums worldwide are showcased to groups on big-screen televisions or individuals bedside using Virtual Museum ArtBooks.
Jewish Family Service Older Adults Program: Continued salary support of the program staff to provide in-home mental health counseling, care management, and daily living support services to 50 older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and 20 family members and caregivers allowing them to remain independent and living in their own home.
Juliette Fowler Communities: Support to spearhead collaboration with other city organizations to secure Dementia Friendly certification for the city of Dallas. A dementia-friendly community raises awareness of and develops respect and inclusion for people with dementia, has services and resources embedded in all areas of community life to ensure meaningful access to community and to promote quality of life, supports and educates people with dementia, their families and care partners from diagnosis through disease progression, and promotes meaningful engagement in community life.
The Senior Source: Support for the Senior Companions program matching trained volunteers with individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and their families needing assistance with meals, errands, light housekeeping providing caregivers with respite, and/or time to work outside the home.
Stomping Ground Comedy: Support of funds needed to implement Improv for Caregivers, a therapeutic and psycho-educational workshop that is free for up to 30 family caregivers per month in the Dallas community.
Texas Winds Musical Outreach: Support for the Texas Winds Concerts for Seniors program will provide concerts by professional musicians in each of 95 nursing homes and adult daycare facilities serving individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias responding to their need for human interaction and bringing inspiration, joy, relief from isolation and peace to individuals affected by memory loss.
University of Texas Southwestern Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography for Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease: Support for development of a new diagnostic test to provide an earlier and more accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography has been investigated in preliminary studies and shown potential for identifying retinal changes in people having Alzheimer’s and those patients experiencing mild cognitive impairment.
Wilshire Baptist Church: Support for the Wilshire Baptist Church Friendly Friday Program, which addresses the need for those who care for a dementia relative at home and who have little or no assistance for relieving them of the constant care and supervision of the loved one.
