In 2019, MPTF was awarded a three-year, $1-million grant from ACL (the Administration for Community Living) to serve people living with the effects of dementia and their caregivers. Partnering with Alzheimer’s LA and Wise & Healthy Aging, MPTF’s ACL implementation has benefited people across the country with education, social calls, activities, and much more. It started with our own Dr. Scott Kaiser and Maureen Feldman, Director of our Social Isolation Impact Project, and continued with our current Chief Innovation Officer, Linda Healy, NP and our ACL Grant Program Manager, Shelley Bay. At the end of the grant’s three-year period, we’ve been compiling a report showing the many ways the grant impacted the community while strategizing how to keep this vital work in place moving forward. “Grants like this are a critical support tool for MPTF and not only provide much-needed funding, but a way to address important issues within the entertainment community,” said Courteney Bailey, Chief Development Officer.
“We’ve really expanded the reach of the social call program for people that are affected by dementia, either themselves personally or someone that they love,” Linda Healy explains. “Maureen has done training for other organizations on how to develop social call programs and is widening that reach, along with virtual caregiver support groups.” Looking back, Maureen is struck by the positive reactions among those with dementia who have been overjoyed to find new ways to socialize with current technology; as one client said, “Who knew you could make new friends at my age?’”
