Week of February 10 - February 16, 2008

It's party time inside the "green room" at the Baptist Church of Beaufort, SC, on a Wednesday afternoon. A rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" is being sung.

It doesn't matter that Mary Blyzes won't actually turn 78 for another two days -- there's homemade chocolate cake to be had and familiar faces to share in the celebration. Between bites, Betty Allen explains why she enjoys these social outings.

"We have wonderful leaders. They always plan good things for us," she said. "Today we did some exercises and we did some singing, and we always do a lot of talking. And they have Scripturesfor us -- all of those good things."

Those "leaders" are the 14 women who make up the staff of Alzheimer's Family Services of Greater Beaufort, a nonprofit support group for those suffering from dementia and their caregivers. The agency is heavily supported by an annual United Way grant and donations from the community and other agencies.

Elena Mosakowski, an activity coordinator for the group, at one time made her living teaching children with learning disabilities. She raised her family, became involved in volunteer activities, and "it has evolved into this."

"I love working with the elderly, the stories that I hear, especially with this group," she said. "A lot of our men here, the majority of them are military, most of them Marines. They have a wealth of stories to tell, from running moonshine in Tennessee as a teenager to bringing in illegal contraband on military ships. ... I get a lot of satisfaction out of making them comfortable."

Alzheimer's Family Services of Greater Beaufort offers six services, four of them free of charge, according to Maria Landry, the organization's executive director. They are:

• A caregivers support group led by a licensed social worker that meets weekly. Various businesses also provide monthly caregiver luncheons at Golden Corral.

• A home education service, also led by a licensed social worker, who meets with caregivers and their loved ones to explain resources available in the area and discuss therapeutic activities.

• An early memory-loss group for caregivers and their loved ones who are in early stages of dementia.

• A social day program that runs from 10 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., Monday through Friday at different locations. Clients participate in therapeutic activities such as memory exercises and physical activities like yoga and Pilates, and caregivers get nearly four hours of respite. The charge is $25 a day.

• An in-home respite service for clients who cannot take care of themselves. Caregivers get almost four hours of respite, and the charge is $25 a day.

• A "reach out" community education program for any organization or group that would like to learn how they can help, such as volunteering.

Landry sees a "huge" need for her group's services for what she calls a very simple reason.

"Dementias are part of the aging population, and the baby boomers, as they grow older -- approximately 5 percent of the population in the United States right now has or will have a dementia of some sort, predominantly Alzheimer's disease. Once you pass age 65, that percentage increases," she said. "... As our population grows older, the more dementia you are going to see."

Landry also calls Alzheimer's an "incredibly expensive disease." At different stages, caregivers may be forced between deciding to leave their jobs, to hire home help or to pay an assisted living facility, which ranges "from $30,000 and upward" per year.

But the emotional toll can be just as great.

"Our services are there to provide support to the caregiver primarily, and they need it, because there is a tremendous amount of stress -- emotional stress, physical stress, sometimes relational stress. As you go through the disease as it progresses, you have people who don't recognize you anymore," Landry said. "There comes a point when your wife of 50 years looks at you and wonders 'Who's this stranger?' ... Or there's the parent who nurtured you and loved you telling you that you've stolen from them, or that you're abusing them, or that you hate them, or saying things to you like 'I hate you. I wish you were dead.'"

She wants caregivers to know her group is there for them.

"We provide whatever support we can provide. We're not the only agency that does this in Beaufort County, but we are the only agency north of the Broad River that does it for free or nearly free."

By Ben Pillow, The Beaufort Gazette. ( bpillow@beaufortgazette.com )

Copyright:

Published with permission of Ben Pillow.