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The Act Now Newsletter

The monthly Act Now Newsletter is a new project we hope to launch in spring 2022. We invite you to sign up and receive:

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  • information about our upcoming events,

  • pictures from recent events,

  • reports on our progress as a nonprofit,

  • caregiver advice,

  • book recommendations, 

  • know more about our staff, volunteers, and donors,

  • beneficiary stories and photo essays,

  • and more!

Are you a caregiver interested in being featured in our newsletter?

As you know, caring for a loved one living with dementia can be physically, emotionally, and mentally draining. Writing can be incredibly therapeutic in these cases, helping us process emotions of grief and frustration as well as positive feelings. It can even help us see traumatic experiences from a more pragmatic perspective and speed up the healing process. For caregivers, having a clear mind is essential to provide the best care possible. 

 

For these reasons, we would like to invite you to write about your experiences at your own pace and, if you like, share your creations in our monthly newsletter and possibly our blog. Sharing your story can be empowering for others—it can help them feel less alone or inspire them to do better. If you would like to participate, please have a look at our formatting proposals:

Option 1, short story
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The focus can be either your loved one living with dementia, your experience as a caregiver, or both. Don’t share other people’s stories without their approval!

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There is no maximum or minimum required length.

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It can be as personal as you like, you have full liberty on what you share.

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You can submit your text by itself or accompany it with a picture of you and/or your loved one.

See an example below:

senior woman and daughter hugging

Charlotte and Sophie's Story

After retiring, my mother Charlotte started showing some symptoms of dementia. She would put her shirt on backwards and walk around without realizing or lose the TV remote and accuse the person next to her of stealing it. We heard Act Now Foundation was giving free of charge memory screenings at Cliffside Park Senior Activity Center, so me and my siblings agreed her to make her an 

agreed her to make her an appointment. After the assessment, Cary told us our mother most likely had dementia and she needed to be diagnosed by a doctor. At age 75, my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. However, a few months later she developed a tremor in her hands and started to have mobility issues. Her diagnosis was then corrected to Lewy body dementia. It has been a difficult journey for all of us; coming to terms with the fact that our mother will always rely on our support to have a good quality of life. It is hard to see her forget special moments we have shared together and seeing her become irritable because of her pain. Joining a support group has been crucial for my emotional wellbeing as well as learning caregiver tips here and there. We have also had the amazing luck Act Now found us a person that helps our mother a few hours every day, which has allowed us to keep her home while maintaining our full-time jobs.

option 2, photo essay
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Share 6-10 pictures that illustrate your day-to-day as a caregiver or your loved one’s living with dementia routine. Don’t share other people’s stories without their approval!

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You can submit the pictures without text or accompany each picture with one short sentence.

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We will create the photo essay with the pictures and text provided and we will contact you when the final design is ready for your approval.

See an example below:

example of a photo essay

If you would like to discuss a different type of submission, feel free to contact us at

asepulveda@actnowfoundation.org

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