AWARE Announces 2023-2024 Grant Recipients and New Board

Karen Koop, president of AWARE, is delighted to announce the 2023-2024 Grant Recipients and the new board of directors. 

Members of the new board are 
Dr. Kamilia Smith, President-Elect
Carol Stabler, Recording Secretary
Emily Collins, Treasurer
Stacey Angel, Finance
Ann McKinley, Membership
Gail Plummer, Grant Review
Dr. Holly Hull Miori, Immediate Past President/Parliamentarian
Nicole Bates, Inspiration
Karisti Julia, Programs
Catherine Dickson Weber, Corresponding Secertary
Veronica Shanklin, Communications; Dr. Cindy Marshall, Medical Minute
Sharon Walker, First Vice President
Bob Walker, Second Vice President

AWARE Dallas 2023-2024 Grant Recipients

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.

Bishop Arts Theatre Center: Support for a program offering senior/elder adults customized theatre workshops and performances to enhance their social, emotional, and physical memory abilities.

Center For BrainHealth at The University Of Texas At Dallas: Support for the creation of a BrainHealth Help Line to offer guidance to caregivers and those with Alzheimer's who are seeking information and tools to help them move out of a place of distress.

For Love And Art: Support to increase staff needed to coordinate volunteers, and assist with growth for a program bringing an interactive art experience to people with cognitive impairment and limited mobility living in long-term care facilities.

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 the organization's campus-wide dementia care initiatives including I'm Still Here, Dementia Friendly Dallas, music therapy, and Caregiver support programs.

Plano Symphony Orchestra: Support for Healing Notes, a free music therapy-influenced concert designed as an interactive musical experience for seniors. The program focuses on low-income individuals living in memory care facilities and dealing with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

Stomping Ground Theater And Training Center: Support for Improv for Caregivers, a fun and interactive program for family and professional caregivers that uses improvisational comedy techniques to teach effective communication skills that are specific to the needs of persons with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Texas Winds Musical Outreach: Support for the Concerts for Seniors program providing interactive concerts in 86 nursing homes and adult day care facilities bringing joy, relief from isolation, and peace to individuals affected by memory loss, and providing new communication skills to their caregivers.

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

The University Of Texas At Dallas Center For Vital Longevity: Support for testing the theory that Alzheimer’s disease is caused in part by a severe decline in the brain's energy system by examining neurometabolites using MRI scanning on one of seven such advanced MRI scanners in the country. Study located in the lab of Dr. K. Kennedy.

The University Of Texas At Dallas Center For Vital Longevity: Support for acquisition of a mobile Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ( fNIRS) system with physiological measures to assess brain-physiology in broad range of adults, and to train scientists in its use and allowing a broader range of access to study participants. Study located in the lab of Dr. Chandramallika Basak.

Westminster Presbyterian Church: Support to expand the number of days offered by the Caregivers Day Out program and allow more individuals with Alzheimer’s and related dementias to participate and provide greater respite for their caregivers.

Wilshire Baptist Church: Support for the Friday Friends Program providing stimulating activities for participants living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias and respite for their caregivers.

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.

AWARE Announces New Board and 2022-2023 Grant Recipients

 

Dr. Holly Hull Miori, 2022-2023 President of AWARE, is delighted to announce the new board of directors and the 2023 Grant Recipients. 

The 2022-2023 board members are: Karisti Julia, Immediate Past President; Emily Collins, Treasurer; Carol Stabler, Recording Secretary; Mari Epperson, Membership; Jolie Humphrey, Grant Review; Stacey Angel, Finance; Catherine Dickson Weber, Corresponding Secretary; Veronica Shanklin, Communications/Website; Barbara Mathes, Directory/Yearbook; Karen Koop, Programs-Logistics; Margo Crofford, Programs-Logistics; Gail Plummer, Grant Review-Elect; Dr. Kamilia Smith, Program Chair; Rev. Nicole Bates, Inspirational; Dr. Cindy Marshall, Webinar; Erin Dougherty, Volunteer Coordinator; Jack Broyles, First Vice President; Bob Walker, Second Vice President. 

AWARE 2022-2023 Grant 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. 

Bishop Arts Theatre Center:  Support for the PatioLive! Creative Aging Program, a continuing program provided by trained theater artists.  The program incorporates stories, music, visual arts, and dance to improve the quality of life for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementias living in low income memory care, independent living, and adult day care facilities.

C.C. Young:  Support for staff training on Alzheimer’s and dementia and programs in art and music therapy, service dog visits, exercise and movement programs designed to increase activity and interest for patients in the memory care unit of the retirement community.

Center For Brain Health:  Support for expansion of Alzheimer’s Voices, an online training series communicating brain health strategies, action items to create a plan, and testimonials from families sharing the power of practicing these concepts. Training will be accessible online via the CBH You Tube Channel enabling outreach to a wider, more diverse audience. 

Christian Care Communities And Services:  Support for a series of programs providing dementia and Alzheimer's awareness and education to the general public and healthcare workers. The curriculum is designed to increase participants' technical abilities in caring for people with dementia and Alzheimer's, as well as their empathy and understanding of these diseases.

Dallas Arboretum And Botanical Society:  Support for the expansion of the Memory Garden project held onsite at the Arboretum.  Individuals dealing with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers spend time in the gardens experiencing the tastes, scents, and textures of the herb/fruit and vegetable garden, and chef demonstrations of foods cooked with herbs and vegetables straight from the garden.  To further extend the Memory Garden outreach, the program includes the creation of 12 interactive videos to be shared with offsite Alzheimer programs.

For Love And Art:  Support for an interactive program bringing the art experience to people with cognitive impairment and limited mobility in 77 senior community long-term care facilities. The program is designed to stimulate art enrichment and memories to community residents while empowering caregivers to love people in creative and transformative ways. 

Foundation For The Callier Center And Communication Disorders:  Support for the continued development of TheraBeat, an easy-to-use innovative solution for Alzheimer’s and dementia treatment with a non-invasive and cost-effective therapeutic.  TheraBeat is a sound therapy app that integrates beat stimulation with the patient’s own favorite music with goals of boosting memory and language function, known to be disrupted in such patients.

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 the salary of a director-level staff member to be responsible for the expansion of the nationally recognized I’M STILL HERE program into additional Fowler community neighborhoods. The program provides training, oversight, and engagement for professionals and families working with Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. 

NorthPark Presbyterian Church:  Support for the Casa de Vida Respite Program giving respite relief to caregivers every Tuesday and Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.  The program provides trained volunteers who give one-on-one care and stimulating activities to individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. 

Plano Symphony Orchestra:  Support for Healing Notes, a free music therapy-influenced concert designed and directed PSO Director of Educational Outreach, Dr. Jennifer Wheeler, to be an interactive experience for seniors.  Concerts are performed by professional orchestra members and targeted toward over 400 low-income seniors who are living in 17 memory care facilities and dealing with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.  

Songs & Smiles:  Support for publication of Joyful Memories, a 24-page printed magazine designed for families to share with loved ones living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.  Published and distributed quarterly,  the magazine’scontent is timeless and intergenerational, featuring original and curated pictures, stories, poems, and jokes designed to stimulate conversation and evoke memories. 

Stomping Ground Theater and Training Center:  Support for Improv for Caregivers, a fun and interactive program for family and professional caregivers that uses improvisational comedy techniques to teach effective communication skills that are specific to the needs of persons with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Through interactive activities and games, participants gain a new understanding and a roadmap for effectively communicating with loved ones.

Texas Winds Musical Outreach:  Support for the Concerts for Seniors program providing 106 interactive concerts in 89 nursing homes and adult day care facilities bringing joy, relief from isolation, and peace to individuals affected by memory loss, and new communication skills to their caregivers. 

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

UT Southwestern Medical Center:  Support for a second year of Dr. Christian LoBue’s research trial to further evaluate Noninvasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS) as an intervention in dementia associated with Alzheimer’s Disease, and to train an advanced doctoral student having clinical skills in Alzheimer’s Disease on how to deliver the stimulation as an intervention. 

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.  Trained volunteers provide the Alzheimer’s patient with a stimulating day of art, music, and games for the individual with Alzheimer’s and dementia. 

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.

Join AWARE now and join the fight www.AWAREDallas.org

Leeza Gibbons to Headline Juliette Fowler Communities’ 2021 Visionary Women Luncheon on November 18

 

Leeza Gibbons, Emmy Award-Winning TV/radio personality, philanthropist, New York Times best-selling author, and caregiver advocate, returns to Dallas to take the stage as the featured speaker for the 2021 Juliette Fowler Communities’ Visionary Women Luncheon on Thursday, November 18, at noon, at the OMNI Dallas Hotel, 555 S. Lamar Street. AWARE will receive the Visionary Women Award for its dedication to fighting Alzheimer's disease through funding and support of programs, projects, and research. The luncheon featuring Gibbons was previously scheduled for May 2020 but postponed due to the pandemic.

Located on 20 picturesque acres, Juliette Fowler Communities is the only certified I’m Still Here® Center for Excellence in Dementia Care in North Texas and one of only two in Texas. Utilizing the I’m Still Here® approach, a unique paradigm shift in memory care, Fowler’s program employs evidence-based techniques to adapt experiences to an individual’s cognitive abilities and strengths. It is an engagement-focused program connecting with those living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias through abilities that do not diminish with time. By offering families and professionals ways to emotionally connect with loved ones who are still there through communication techniques and life enrichment, this program sparks creativity and engagement, helping them to thrive.

 The luncheon will also feature an art display presented by the Junior League of Dallas (JLD) highlighting work completed by residents with dementia at Fowler Communities through “Artful Awakenings,” a weekly art program which has been led by members of JLD since 2017.

The Visionary Women Luncheon Chair Michelle Feavel announces the 2021 luncheon award recipients: 

AWARE will receive the Visionary Women Award for its philanthropic leadership in support of Alzheimer's care and research.

Deloitte will receive the Erika McKenzie Volunteer Award for its 20 years of volunteer service at Juliette Fowler Communities.

Miranda Sullivan, a recent graduate of Texas Christian University selected by TCU campus ministry, will receive the Juliette Fowler Faith and Service Award. 

Honorary Luncheon Chairs are Mary and Roland Bandy.

Tickets are $200, and sponsorships are available. Contact Jamie Rodgers,  jamier@fowlercommunities.org, 214-818-0342.  Visit https://fowlercommunities.org/visionary-women-luncheon/

AWARE 2020-2021 Grant Recipients Announced

 AWARE president Barbara Glass has announced the grant recipients for the 2020-2021 year. 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.

The final selections have been made and the recipients are:

BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE DALLAS FOUNDATION: Salary support for the Baylor AT&T Memory Center to provide a trained 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.

 BISHOP ARTS THEATRE CENTER:  Support for the Silver Stories Storytelling Circle, a continuing program incorporating stories, music, visual arts, and dance to improve the quality of life for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

 CASA DE VIDA:  Support for the Casa de Vida 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.

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 a 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 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.

HIGHLAND PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH:  Support for the Journey Program, a no-fee program designed to allow participants with early stage Alzheimer’s and other dementias to thrive, while giving their caregivers much-needed respite.

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 program targeted toward low-income seniors dealing with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. 

THE SENIOR SOURCE:  Support for the Senior Companions 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.    

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

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

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 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER:  Support for research to develop a formula that estimates how much time a patient might have from initial diagnosis of Alzheimer’s to the need for full-time care.

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.

VISITING NURSES ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS:  Support 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 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 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:  Support for scholarships for nursing students at Baylor University, Texas Woman’s University, and Texas Christian University toward their studies in gerontology, especially in the field of dementia.

         To learn more about AWARE, membership benefits, special events, educational programs and more, visit the website at www.AWAREDallas.org

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

Announcing the 2016 Visionary Woman by Juliette Fowler Communities





Honorary Chair Barbara Bradfield, honoree Virginia Chandler Dykes, CEO Sabrina Porter, and luncheon chair Elaine Kellam





Virginia Chandler Dykes has been named the 2016 Visionary Woman by Juliette Fowler Communities and will be honored at the 4^th Annual Visionary Women Luncheon, Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at the Omni Dallas Hotel, from 12:00 – 1:15 p.m.  Additionally, the luncheon will present the Juliette Fowler Faith and Service Award to Hannah Canterbury, a TCU senior social work major.  The Dallas Junior Forum will receive the inaugural Erika McKenzie Volunteer award, named after Fowler’s first volunteer coordinator.

 

The luncheon celebrates the vision of Juliette Peak Fowler, Dallas’ first female philanthropist, and honors individuals who embody her compassionate spirit and who use their visionary leadership and remarkable gifts to make a difference in the lives of others in our community. Luncheon chair is Elaine Kellam and honorary chair is Barbara Bradfield.  WFAA’s Shelley Slater will emcee the luncheon.

 

Virginia Chandler Dykes’ passion for her lifelong work as an occupational therapist, coupled with her servant’s heart and desire to improve life for others, has created a legacy of leadership, mentorship and philanthropy in the Dallas community and beyond.   She is nationally known for her work in rehabilitation, adult and adolescent psychiatry, eating disorders, hand splinting, and acute physical disabilities as well as her ongoing commitment to provide scholarship assistance to occupational therapy students.  Her work with Texas Woman’s University and her namesake luncheon – honoring Dallas leaders for the past 14 years –has raised over $550,000 and awarded more than 100 scholarships to students in all four colleges of TWU. Dykes is also known for her leadership in organizations such as The Dallas Opera, the Dallas Arboretum Women’s Council and the Fort Worth Opera.

 

“We are thrilled to honor Virginia as our 2016 Visionary Woman,” said Sabrina Porter, president and chief executive officer, Juliette Fowler Communities.  “Virginia’s passion for occupational therapy, education and the arts is perfectly aligned with our mission. Our residents and staff have benefited from her work and her support of students in social work, therapy and nursing.  Her life’s work mirrors ours and has encouraged self-sufficiency, independence and fulfillment.”

 

Luncheon tickets are $150.  Sponsorships are available. Contact Coleman Rabourn, colemanr@fowlercommunities.org, 214-515-1342.