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December 2013 

 

During this Magical Season of Giving
Just cardinal

"By making a gift today to the Alzheimer's Association,
you will be helping many families like mine get the
resources and support they desperately need."  

By Sandra Enness, Caregiver in Lansing

Thanks to your compassionate support, the Alzheimer’s Association has been an invaluable resource to my family in so many ways.

In 2008, my father-in-law showed increasing signs of cognitive difficulties; however, medical providers ignored our concerns about this change. Several misdiagnosed his cognitive decline as delirium associated with alcohol withdrawal - but my father-in-law did not drink.

A social worker suggested I turn to the Association for information. After visiting their website, I called the 1-800 Helpline and spoke to a staff person who spent nearly an hour on the phone with me. She helped me develop a list of questions to ask the doctors.  

Armed with this new information, we finally got the attention we were desperately seeking and an accurate diagnosis
. I know this would not have happened without the help of that wonderful woman from the Alzheimer’s Association - which is why your continued support of the Association means so much to families like mine.

Thanks to your generosity, we have also benefited from the support groups that the Association offers. Here we connect with others who truly understand the complexities of Alzheimer’s. They provide the emotional support so many of us need in the early months of trying to cope with understanding the disease and throughout its course with our loved one. We have been attending these groups for over four years now and look forward to them every month - thanks to people like you.

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season,


Sandra 
Donate
Your donation will have twice the impact!
All gifts received by January 31, 2014
will be matched by 
NuStep Corporation
of Ann Arbor
 - up to a total of $12,500.

NuStep - without white space
P.S.  Please share your story with the chapter online.

 

A Message to YOU from our Executive Director
Jennifer Howard2013 Dec eNews Ornament
Happy Holidays from your friends
at the Michigan Great Lakes Chapter!


Thanks to your continued support our chapter
has seen growth in all areas year after year!
Please enjoy a just a few highlights from 2013…



Our programs and services delivered significantly increased during FY 2013 (July 1, 2012 - June 30, 2013). We connect with families through our community education programs, support groups, care consultations and Helpline services. The number of family members we connected with increased from 5,463 in 2011 to 7,655 in 2012 and 9,242 in 2013 (21% increase from 2012)! We successfully launched an Early Stage Alzheimer’s Social Engagement program. We look forward to an even greater reach in 2014 through the expansion of our Early Stage program as well as the launch of our Diversity Outreach and Physician’s Outreach programs!

Our statewide public policy efforts were awarded with the passing of the Alzheimer’s Association Michigan State Income Tax Checkoff bill, which was signed by Governor Snyder this June.  We look forward to Michigan taxpayers supporting our local programs and services.

Our 2013 Ann Arbor Charity Golf Outing was a huge success thanks to our golfers, presenting sponsors EQ and Absopure as well as our Event Chair - State Representative David Rutledge. We hosted 140 golfers and additional guests for a gorgeous day of golf. The net revenue was $52,736 (25% increase)! We are looking forward to possibly expanding this event to two golf courses as this year’s event almost filled the course!

This fall our Walk to End Alzheimer’s events were again hugely successful as our communities hosted 11 Walks across our 23 counties. There were 5,067 proud walkers (19% increase) on 479 dedicated teams (8% increase from 2012) who raised a total of $577,784 (19% increase) to support Alzheimer’s care, support and research! We also enjoyed celebrating with our Lansing Walk Committee and walkers - the largest Walk in our chapter’s 31 year history... over $135,000 raised!

We will not be able to provide much needed programs and services to families and raise dollars to eventually find a cure for Alzheimer’s without raising awareness. One of the ways we fight for families is by getting the word out about why people should care. In 2013 we helped to raise general awareness through media stories, opinion editorials and advertisements (mostly donated). Media impressions grew from 16 million in FY 2012 to almost 22 million in FY 2013 (38% increase)!

There are far too many highlights to share with you in this newsletter, so please look for our 2013 Annual Report in January.  We hope you will keep up on all of the great work that is being done not only by our chapter but across the country and world in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease by visiting alz.org, “liking” us on Facebook and following us on Twitter!

Wishing you a peaceful, safe and happy holiday season!

Jennifer W. Howard  

 


During this season of giving, please do a little BIG thing to #ENDALZ 

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Special Thanks!
Our chapter truly appreciates the amazing generosity of these chapter supporters!

CHAPTER SPONSOR
Hospice of Michigan 400w    Learn more about our Chapter Sponsor's 
    specialized palliative services at hom.org


Working for Hospice of Michigan has afforded me many experiences to work with family and friends of people with tragic illnesses. But, this year has been very special because of my involvement with Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s events in Michigan. I was very fortunate to be knowledgeable and share my experiences as well as local resources with family caregivers. It was very pleasing to see so many energetic people supporting the walks. I look forward to Hospice of Michigan supporting the events next year.

Tyrone Rashid, Representative of Hospice of Michigan

CHAPTER MEDIA PARTNER
CoSozo Radio Network and Boomers Rock    Learn more about our Chapter Media Partner
    at cosozo.com


We’re thrilled to be able to partner with the Alzheimer’s Association. CoSozo Radio Network became a Chapter Media Partner with the Michigan Great Lakes Chapter in 2013. We were so impressed with their dedication, passion and professionalism that we further partnered with them and the fabulous team behind one of our shows - Boomers Rock - to initiate the ALZ All StarZ platform. Alzheimer’s is a disease that impacts us all, yet so much more attention needs to be given to help us find a cure and to support those already afflicted as well as their loved ones. 


That kind of global awareness requires hard work, creativity and perseverance - qualities that we were able to see firsthand in the Alzheimer’s Association teams during the 2013 Walk to End Alzheimer’s events. We got to experience firsthand the enormous outpouring of support that the families of those with Alzheimer’s receive from this incredible group of folks. They are filled with care, compassion and a sense of community that without a doubt will help us eradicate this disease one day. As a human being, those are required traits for the people that I embrace in my life. As a business owner, they are the qualities that exemplify the types of companies with whom we most desire to partner. 


Christine Andrews, President of CoSozo
Tom Matt, Host of Boomers Rock

 

Education, Support and Online Resources
Community Education Programs:  Locate an education program in your community or call us at 800.272.3900 if you are interested in bringing one of our programs to your community, senior center, office, church, chamber of commerce, etc. 

Caregiver Support Groups:  
Locate a support group in your community to get support from others who understand what you are going through

Online Resources:

 

Michigan Income Tax Checkoff
TMichigan Tax Checkoffax season is right around the corner.  Please checkoff your support of the Alzheimer's Association on Tax Form 4642.  For more information, please visit our website.

"Like" our Tax Checkoff Facebook page and invite your friends and family

Questions? micheckoff@alz.org

 

Take Advocacy Action Michigan!
Purple Michigan State CapitolTake Action Michigan! Advocacy eNews will provide updates about state policies related to Alzheimer’s and dementia and opportunities to take action in your community. 

Subscribe today to the Take Action Michigan! Advocacy eNews 

 

Our vision is a world without Alzheimer's
The Alzheimer's Association is the world's leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer's care, support and research. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. 
 
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Michigan Great Lakes Chapter

310 N. Main St., Suite 100  |  Chelsea, MI  48118
Regional offices in Kalamazoo, Lansing and Muskegon
alz.org/mglc  |  800.272.3900
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