AWARE Announces Grant Recipients for 2021-2022 and New Board of Directors

(Featured photo: Karisti Julia.)*

Karisti Julia, president of AWARE, announces the Grant Recipients and the new board for 2021-2022.

Members of the  new board are President: Karisti Julia; First Vice President: Jack Broyles; Second Vice President: Maurice Ballew; Treasurer: Emily Collins; Recording Secretary: Carol Stabler; Membership: Sharon Walker; Grant Review Chair: Jolie Humphrey; Finance/Immediate Past Grant Chair: Stacey Angel; Corresponding Secretary: Audette Rackley; Communications/Website: Veronica Shanklin; Directory/Yearbook/Name Tags: Barbara Mathes; Programs: Karen Koop; Programs: Margo Crofford; Long Range/Strategic Planning/Grant Review Chair-Elect: Gail Plummer; Inspirational: Nicole Bates; Immediate Past President: Barbara Glass.
        

Grant applications were submitted from nonprofit organizations located in Dallas and Collin County that are working on the front lines in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. 

  What is AWARE? AWARE is dedicated to fighting Alzheimer’s disease by providing funding and support to programs, projects, and research provided by nonprofit organizations that actively help individuals affected by Alzheimer’s in Dallas and the greater North Texas area. In other words, the funds raised by AWARE stay in our local community.

Who is AWARE and what are the grants? AWARE is a component fund of The Dallas Foundation, a 501(c)(3) publicly supported charity.  In partnership with the Foundation, AWARE conducts an annual grant review process by which grant applicants are carefully and thoughtfully vetted to ensure that grant dollars are awarded to organizations that provide outstanding services to Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers, and to those research institutions that are at the forefront of medical research in the treatment, prevention, and cure of Alzheimer’s disease. 

  Together with compassion and dedication, we are making a difference. Membership is open to men and women. Join AWARE now and join the fight.  www.AWAREDallas.org

         The final selections have been made and the 2021-2022 recipients are:

BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE DALLAS FOUNDATION:  Salary support for the Baylor AT&T Memory Center to provide a trained care navigation specialist on site at the Center.  At the point of care, patients and families are provided with disease education, caregiver training and support groups, elder law and financial planning, and a 24/7 helpline.

CASA DE VIDA:   Support for Casa de Vida, a program at NorthPark Presbyterian Church giving respite relief to caregivers by providing trained volunteer one-on-one care for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

CENTER FOR BRAIN HEALTH AT UT DALLAS:   Support for production of a series of educational videos, Alzheimer’s Voices: Creating a New Narrative, distributed worldwide via the Center’s YouTube channel, that will change the conversation about Alzheimer’s by communicating a strengths-based approach with testimonials to help others navigate a positive path.

DALLAS ARBORETUM AND BOTANICAL SOCIETY:   Support for expansion of the Memory Garden nature program that incorporates horticulture, conversations, and crafts to enrich the life of those affected by Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART:   Support for Meaningful Moments, a DMA program designed to provide participants with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and their families or caregivers with ways to engage in art, providing a continuing cultural opportunity regardless of the abilities.

ED-U-CARE:   Support for the annual Compassion Fatigue Symposium designed to educate caregivers about compassion fatigue and build resilient professionals and family members caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

FOR LOVE AND ART:   Support for Celebrating the Art Experience for Seniors to bring the art experience to people with cognitive impairment and limited mobility in long-term care facilities to stimulate art enrichment and memories while empowering caregivers to love people in creative and transformative ways.

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE :  Support for the older adults program staff to provide in-home mental health counseling, care management, and daily living support to older adults with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, allowing them to remain living in their own home.

JULIETTE FOWLER COMMUNITIES:   Support for facility dementia care programs, including the expansion of I’m Still Here, a six-month intensive dementia care training program for staff members throughout the Fowler communities.

PLANO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA:   Support for Healing Notes, a free music-therapy programtargeted toward low-income seniors dealing with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. 

STOMPING GROUND COMEDY:   Support for the Improv for Caregivers program, a therapeutic and psycho-educational workshop that uses improvisational comedy techniques to teach caregivers effective communication skills that are specific to the needs of Alzheimer’s patients.

THE SENIOR SOURCE:   Support for the Senior Companion Program matching trained volunteers with low-income individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and their families needing assistance with meals, errands, and light housekeeping, providing caregivers with respite and/or time to work outside the home.    

TEXAS HEALTH RESOURCES:   Support for the outpatient memory care program, Lifelines, to provide cognitive stimulation therapy, a short-term evidence-based intervention for individuals with mild to moderate dementia.

TEXAS WINDS MUSICAL OUTREACH:   Support for the Concerts for Seniors program providing interactive concerts in 95 nursing homes and adult day care facilities bringing joy, relief from isolation, and peace to individuals affected by memory loss.

THE MEADOWS MUSEUM AT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY:   Support for the Meadows Museum memory care programs, Connections and Re-connections, which provide social and emotional support to those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, their caregivers and partners through engagement with art.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION FOR THE CALLIER CENTER:   Support for research to develop Therabeat, an easy-to-use and cost-effective mobile application designed to improve the cognitive and psychological well-being of Alzheimer’s disease patients.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER:   Support for a clinical trial research program to determine whether noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technology is an effective treatment for patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and associated memory problems.

VISITING NURSES ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS:   Support for the VNA RN nurse navigators to evaluate clients of the Meals on Wheels program with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and other dementias for need of a higher level of care.

WILSHIRE BAPTIST CHURCH:   Support for the Friday Friends program addressing the need to provide respite to 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 their loved one, while providing a stimulating day of art, music and games for the individual with Alzheimer’s.

Myrna D. Schlegel AWARE Scholarship Fund:   Scholarship support for nursing students at Baylor University, Texas Woman’s University, and Texas Christian University toward studies in gerontology, especially in the field of dementia.

*Photo by Dana Driensky.

(This CharityLifestyles eBuzz provided by Sharon Adams, Adams Communications Public Relations, representing AWARE.)