Lifespan, a regional nonprofit providing information, guidance and services for older adults and caregivers, is one of 41 organizations throughout the country to win a $125,000 grant from the Alzheimer’s Association Center for Dementia Respite Innovation (CDRI) to enhance the quality and availability of dementia-specific respite care for people living with dementia and their caregivers.
The new funding will provide medical motors transportation for caregivers and people living with dementia to Lifespan’s ROC Respite service which offers no cost drop-in programming every Tuesday at the Phillis Wheatley Library in Rochester’s southwest neighborhood. ROC Respite gives caregivers of people with dementia and their loved ones a place to meet others on the same journey and enjoy activities and entertainment.
“Caring for someone living with dementia can be overwhelming,” said Ann Marie Cook, president and CEO of Lifespan. “This grant will provide much needed transportation to the respite location so more people can access respite.”
ROC Respite is available between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Phillis Wheatley Library, 33 Dr. Samuel McCree Way.
For more information call Donna Dixon at Lifespan. 585-244-8400.
Funding from the new grant also will enable Lifespan and the Deaf Senior Service Coalition to develop an in-home companion respite program for deaf family caregivers. The Deaf Senior Services Coalition (DSSC) is an initiative that supports Rochester’s Deaf 55+ individuals and their families. Rochester has the largest per-capita population of Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals in the country,