July 30th, 2024
While caring for an aging loved one can be a rewarding, life-enriching experience, it can also sometimes be difficult. Family caregivers often neglect their own needs and can struggle to find the support they need.
Family Caregiving Connections: Learn, Link, and Lunch will give caregivers a day that is all about them. You’ll be the focus. We’ll help you find information and inspiration, while you connect with resources and build a sense of community.
We invite you to join us to:
Learn from caregiving experts:
Get the knowledge you need. We will have expert presentations on the legal aspects of caregiving, and caring for a loved one with dementia.
Link to local resources:
Enjoy lunch, with a side of inspiration:
Enjoy a boxed lunch while hearing from keynote speaker, Christy McDonald from WDIV. Christy will share inspiration, motivation, and a little about her personal caregiving journey.
The day will also include morning refreshments, giveaways, and a raffle!
Cost: $10
(If cost is a barrier for you, please contact us at communications@ageways.org and we will help you apply for a fee waiver.)
Free parking!
All monies collected from ticket sales will go directly to support the AgeWays Nonprofit Senior Services’ Holiday Meals on Wheels Program.
Registration:
Please register by visiting CareConnections.eventbrite.com. If you have trouble registering, call (248) 606-5798.
Questions and More Information:
Please contact communications@ageways.org.
Meet our presenters:
Morning Session
Legal Concepts and Documents for Family Caregivers
Jason A. Tower / Tower Karson, P.L.L.C.
This session will cover broad legal issues surrounding caregiving for the elderly, including what documents caregivers should have in place.
About Jason Tower:
Jason A. Tower is a Shareholder at Tower Karson, P.L.L.C., and practices out of the Troy, Michigan office. Mr. Tower earned his Juris Doctor in 2016. While in law school he worked in the Estate Planning Clinic, where he assisted the elderly and the indigent in the preparation of wills, powers of attorney and trusts.
Lunchtime Keynote
Hope, Grief and the Unknown: A Caregiver’s Journey
Christy McDonald / Detroit TV Personality
Christy reveals her personal journey of being a caregiver to her sports radio host
husband while he battled stage 4 colon cancer. She’s brutally honest about her
anticipatory grief while struggling to be her husband’s support, work as a TV anchor
and parent three children.
Christy will weave the feelings of holding joy and sadness at the same time by using the stories so many caregivers have shared with her. She’ll help caregivers embrace their own tough and beautiful moments – what makes us laugh and what gives us hope.
About Christy McDonald:
Christy McDonald is an Emmy-Award winning TV anchor who has covered news in
Detroit and Michigan for 25 years. She is currently a special correspondent and anchor at WDIV Local 4.
Afternoon Session
Dementia Conversations: Communicating with Empathy and Building Understanding
Jim Mangi, PhD / Community Education Volunteer, Alzheimer’s Association—Greater Michigan Chapter.
Learn how dementia affects communication, including tips for communicating well with family, friends and health care professionals.
Learn about common behavior changes, how to use non-medical approaches to address these behaviors and how to recognize when additional help is needed.
About Jim Mangi:
Jim’s 35-year first career as founder and owner of a successful nationwide environmental consulting firm in no way prepared him for his second, and far more important career, as caregiver for his wife. He was totally clueless when his wife developed Alzheimer’s in her later fifties. Now, 16 years later, Jim–no longer quite so clueless–is caregiver for his best friend, who has long since forgotten his name but has not forgotten how to smile. She has inspired him to become a dementia awareness activist.
