We are honored to welcome Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers as an endowment fund partner at RSF Foundation. Their collaboration with San Diego Opera to create Town Square to provide care for those facing Alzheimer’s is the kind of innovative partnership we value and support.
The Need for Alzheimer’s Care in San Diego
With more than 60,000 San Diegans over the age of 55 currently living with Alzheimer’s disease, Glenner’s provides essential day care programs for patients and respite support for caregivers. A projected 50% increase in those living with the disease in San Diego by 2030 means that the need for these programs will grow significantly over the next decade.
How Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers Address the Need
Glenner Alzheimer’s provides adult day programs for seniors with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, caregiver support groups and respite care, and education, resources and referrals for families caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
A late night phone call for respite and support from a caregiver to Dr. George G. Glenner and his wife, Joy, nearly 40 years ago launched the Alzheimer’s family care centers that bear his name today. As a physician and Alzheimer’s researcher at UCSD School of Medicine, Dr. Glenner became world-renowned for his research and identification of the protein that became the basis of further understanding of the disease.
Glenner Alzheimer’s, San Diego Opera and Town Square
Glenner’s Town Square creates a 1950s-era themed Adult Day Care Center that uses Reminiscence Therapy to care for those facing Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. This form of therapy re-creates past activities, events and experiences with other people to support positive outcomes for the participants.
San Diego Opera Scenic Studios will build a replica of San Diego in the 1950s inside an industrial building for a safe, indoor environment. The urban replica, scheduled to open in Chula Vista in 2018, will include historic storefronts, a museum, movie theater, and city hall. In Glenner’s Town Square, each storefront is designed to be fully interactive and provide specific programmatic value to the participants. The concept is modeled on Junior Achievement’s BizTown facility and is expected to be the first of its kind in the nation.
A Partnership that Addresses Needs and Builds Community
“Town Square is truly an innovative care model that changes the way care is delivered for those facing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia across our city and the nation. We are absolutely honored to be working with the San Diego Opera Scenic Studios, who are helping us to create the most realistic and authentic experience for our participants. The opportunity to merge care and the arts will result in an unparalleled experience for our participants and family caregivers,” said Scott J. Tarde, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers.
“As San Diego Opera continues its transformation into an opera company for all of our community, I often talk about the need to build meaningful partnerships with our neighbors,” said San Diego Opera General Director, David Bennett. “The work the Glenner Center is doing enhances the lives of the San Diegans who use their services, just as the arts enhance the quality of life in our city. San Diego Opera is excited to assist the Glenner Center in the important work they do, and we look forward to building new ways to support their mission.”
Find out more about Town Square in this San Diego Union-Tribune article.
Find out more about Endowment Funds at RSF Foundation.
