Last year, the Los Angeles Business Journal recognized the Alzheimer’s Association California Southland Chapter’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s California Southland Chapter series as a finalist for fundraising event of the year.
We were honored, thrilled and excited to have pivoted to a new format that allowed us to not just continue, but to expand, serving families across the vast Los Angeles County geography and its extraordinary multicultural communities.
Within a month of the Safer at Home Order, we were able to offer more than 45 free online and telephone support groups. We brought the world’s leading researchers to home via localized, interactive research seminars to ensure all families had access to learning the most about maintaining healthy brains as well as Alzheimer’s and all other dementias.
We continued advocating for increased services for those with dementia and their caregivers and found more ways to reach Los Angeles families. These and many more pivots were made possible in part through the many organizations represented in the pages of the Los Angeles Business Journal, their leaders, their team members and their dedication to our communities throughout the pandemic.
Last year, more than 6,600 participants across the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s California Southland Chapter area and The Longest Day signature event, raised more than $1.9 million.
We are forever grateful to the participants and sponsors that brought these funds, all of which stay local, into the Association as it services those facing Alzheimer’s and all dementias as well as their caregivers and community as a whole.
Through maximizing the use of these funds, in 2021:
• More than 3,300 Chapter constituents used the Alzheimer’s Association free 24/7 Helpline (800.272.3900), which is available 365 day/year, run by master’s-level clinicians and offers support in nearly 200 languages to represent the many cultures in our vast chapter territory.
• More than 8,400 people attended our free, local support groups, education classes and social engagement activities. Social engagement is a cornerstone of brain health and is essential for both the caregiver and the loved one facing dementia, and through a swift pivot and partnerships from the get go, we were able to offer virtual museum tours, drumming classes and tap into hobbies such as gardening, cooking and current events.
Monies raised funded leading research institutions across Southern California, complementing over 750 active Association research projects worldwide.
The California Southland chapter territory remained one of the highest-funded chapter territories in the country. Research toward prevention, treatment and a cure for Alzheimer’s did not stop. Additionally, the Alzheimer’s Association as a whole became one of the leading forces in research focusing on the long-term effects of COVID on the brain.
This is all due to our participants and partners.
The California Southland Chapter held more than 70 meetings with volunteer advocates, chapter staff members and state and federal legislators to secure support for policy priorities, resulting in increases in funding and programs for those facing dementia and their caregivers.
We were not able to do any of this alone. Rather, we partnered with more than 75 organizations across the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion communities to ensure support was provided in a culturally appropriate way. We partnered with corporations, to bring our messaging of how to maximize brain health, caregiver support and available resources to their lunchrooms via educational presentations.
COVID affected our universe… our world… our nation, our state, our county and our city of Los Angeles, and every family within those boundaries.
By working with LA’s amazing nonprofit community, legislators on both state and federal levels, our local business communities- by ensuring all of these voices had the opportunity to speak loudly, clearly and openly about the essential necessity of creating a collective success for the Association’s healthy brain initiatives and free services for those facing Alzheimer’s and all other dementia… we, and many non- and for- profits successfully came together to best serve each and every person we could within LA’s borders.
Allyson Laughlin is communications director at the Alzheimer’s Association California Southland Chapter. Learn more at alz.org/socal.
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