Special to The Gazette
TIFTON — Residents here will be among the hundreds of Alzheimer’s advocates from across the state headed to the Georgia Capitol on Monday for Alzheimer’s Awareness Day.
Tifton representatives, as well as people from Albany and Douglas, gathered at the Holiday Inn in Tifton last week to meet with Dan Phillips, regional outreach director of the Southwest Region of the Alzheimer’s Association, Georgia Chapter, to plan their trip to the Capitol.
Anyone who is interested in joining the group may call Phillips at 888-7676 to make travel arrangements.
As many as 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s and that number is expected to soar as high as 16 million by 2050. In Georgia alone, more than 200,000 residents age 65 and older have Alzheimer’s or related dementia. As many as 350,000 loved ones who care for them are dealing with the emotional and financial burden this disease brings.
An exploding epidemic, Alzheimer’s is said to have the power to undermine efforts to control health care costs because of its real potential to bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid and the retirement security of generations to come.
Albany, Tifton and Douglas advocates will join with other Alzheimer’s advocates to tell members of the Georgia Legislature that they need to take action to help those individuals living with Alzheimer’s, and other dementias, and their family caregivers.
The local Alzheimer’s advocates planning to visit the Capitol are: Letha Hartley, Connie Ewing, Bonnie Sayles, Sharon Curry, Donna Martin and Buffy Warren of Tifton; Connie Hardison and Virginia Griffin of Albany; and Jody and Layman Fussell and Jennifer Diliegros of Douglas. All have experienced the effects of Alzheimer’s on friends, relatives or clients.
“This disease doesn’t just happen to individuals; its ripple effects are felt throughout entire families and communities,” said Letha Hartley, executive director of Cypress Pond and Maple Court senior living facilities.
“We’re going to Atlanta to tell the people who represent us in the Georgia legislature that it is essential that the Alzheimer’s epidemic be meaningfully addressed by government before it becomes a burden too heavy for individual family members and Georgia taxpayers to bear.”
Alzheimer’s advocates statewide will converge on Atlanta to participate in the Awareness Day at the Georgia State Capitol — the signature event in Georgia for attendees to ensure elected officials hear about the unrelenting reality and impact of Alzheimer’s directly from their constituents. The event is designed to allow advocates from across Georgia to meet directly with legislators under the Gold Dome to share their personal journey with Alzheimer’s.
At the Awareness Day, advocates dressed in purple T-shirts will visit their senators and representatives, sharing three key issues impacting the lives of those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Gov. Sonny Perdue will join them in the South Wing for a brief ceremony.
Following the Awareness Day, advocates will be encouraged to take their “Dome experience home” and take the tools and information they learn to educate their local communities and advocate for Alzheimer’s issues all year around at the local, state and federal levels.
Other advocates who cannot make it to Atlanta for the day are organizing awareness efforts in their local communities — on the steps of city halls or county commission chambers — as church bells toll once every 70 seconds to recognize the frequency with which someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
For more about the Alzheimer’s Association’s Awareness Day at the Georgia State Capitol, call (229) 888-7676. The Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research. Its mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health and the vision is a world without Alzheimer’s.
For more information, visit www.alz.org/georgia
