In The News | Fall 2017 Newsletter
CaringKind made it “official” this summer by publicly declaring August to be NYC Alzheimer’s Caregiver Month! With the support of NYC Councilwoman Margaret Chin and Caryn Resnick, the Deputy Commissioner at New York City Department for the Aging, dozens of members of the NYC Alzheimer’s community gathered on the steps of City Hall in a show of support for more than 250,000 caregivers in NYC. The City Hall kick-off event was covered by New York Nonprofit Media and WMBC-TV, as well as Chinese-language news outlets Sinovision, Sing Tao, and World Journal.
Because of CaringKind’s outreach during NYC Caregiver Month, one of the most widely-read Spanish-language newspapers, El Diario, interviewed CaringKind’s Latino Outreach Manager, Roberto Reyes in a front-page article on Latino caregivers in NYC. Roberto, his mother, and his grandfather, who has Alzheimer’s, were all featured in the story.
Just a few weeks later, CaringKind hosted the Annual Latino Heritage Conference, which featured expert presentations and discussions on the impact of Alzheimer’s and dementia in the Latino community. In addition to this conference, we continue to reach caregivers across the boroughs and diverse communities through caregiving training programs and workshops. Offered in English, Spanish, and Chinese, the Understanding Dementia seminars continue to be featured on more than 100 local events websites and calendars.
In July, CaringKind and B&O Play, a division of audio company Bang & Olufsen, publicly premiered Caring Through Music, a film on how music is being used to reconnect those affected by Alzheimer’s or dementia with memories of their past. In addition to co-creating the short film, now available on CaringKind’s website, B&O Play donated headphones, speakers and audio equipment to be used onsite at CaringKind’s Early Stage Center. The news release on Caring Through Music and the B&O Play donation was covered by over 170 news outlets across the country!
In another terrific collaboration, CaringKind publicly announced an innovative partnership with Antidote Technologies, a digital health company that connects patients with clinical trials. Through this partnership, we now feature Antidote MatchTM, Antidote’s unique clinical trial matching tool, on our website. The news release was covered by almost 180 media outlets across the country.
In widely-read local coverage, CaringKind’s Sixth Annual Golf Outing was featured in Crain’s New York Business. The website featured photos of the players, who raised over $160,000 to support CaringKind’s services and programs when they hit the links at Glen Head Country Club.
Local caregivers also continue to read Lou-Ellen’s monthly column, Care Chronicle, which appears in several local newspapers, and offers information and practical advice on dealing with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Recent topics have addressed the differences between Alzheimer’s and dementia, as well as early stage versus younger-onset Alzheimer’s.
As temperatures (finally) cooled down, we closed the summer season with four incredible walks that took place in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The Manhattan walk was emceed by longtime CaringKind supporter and WABC-TV anchor Bill Ritter, and featured presentations by Tony Award-winning actor and Alzheimer’s advocate, David Hyde Pierce and New York Ranger legend and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, Ron Duguay. WABC-TV, NY1 and NY1 Noticias all broadcast television coverage of the event, featuring shots of the more than one thousand orange-clad walkers. Not to be outdone, New York City radio station 1010WINS also broadcast an on-location interview with Lou-Ellen Barkan.