Georgetown nonprofit receives $164K grant from Alzheimer's Association

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — A Georgetown nonprofit said it recently received a $164,000 grant from the Alzheimer's Association.

A Gift Of Time offers a break for spouses and family members who care for loved ones with Alzheimer's.

The nonprofit said it was one of 20 recipients selected to receive the grant, which would allow for more dementia-specific respite care.

“We congratulate A Gift Of Time on its grant and look forward to working with its team to help enhance respite care services for local dementia caregivers,” said Sam Fazio with the Alzheimer’s Association. “We intend to gain insights from each respite program we fund, ultimately developing a catalog of programs, tools, and resources that will be easily accessible to interested caregivers and care providers.” 

KXAN's Avery Travis spoke with Becky Folta-May, the executive director for A Gift Of Time, to discuss the work of the nonprofit and how the grant would help.

Read an edited transcription of the conversation below or use the video player above to watch.

TRAVIS: Talk to us about what A Gift Of Time does.

FOLTA-MAY: Imagine going to a doctor's appointment with your spouse or with your mom or dad, and they give you the devastating diagnosis of dementia. You leave the doctor's office—where do you go next? Most people aren't going to go and start searching for member care facilities to move them in. They're going to want to keep their routine as normal as possible at the house and minimize the disruption. So, that's where A Gift Of Time comes in.

We give families the gift of time to be able to stay at home longer, to prolong that need for more institutional-type care. We give them the support and resources education they need, so that way, they can feel comfortable with providing that care in the home.

TRAVIS: Talk to us about this grant. What is it and how is it going to help you guys keep giving that gift of time?

FOLTA-MAY: It is a wonderful honor to be able to receive this grant because it was unexpected. We were one out of 20 in the whole United States that received this grant out of 200 applications. Our little organization is so pleased to have this kind of influx of support from a national organization with the money, and they're actually going to meet with families in Georgetown to be able to find out what that true respite need is, and how we can stretch our resources to go even farther. So, we're really excited.

TRAVIS: For people who maybe are not a caregiver, they don't have someone in their life who has experienced this. Talk to us about really what this looks like. What do these caregivers really need? And why an organization like yours is so important to caregivers.

FOLTA-MAY: It's really important for caregivers to have the support they need because they are providing care in the home, where at the end stages, they'll go to a memory care facility and those facilities—there are nurses or activities people, there's other staff. The caregivers are doing all of that 24/7. There's no break. So, with our respite program, which is what the Alzheimer's Association is going to help us expand, they can get that much-needed break, and so they're able to drop off their loved one.

With our wonderful programs, we have fun, we have lunch, we joke around, and it gives the family time to go out and run errands, to make doctor's appointments that they probably may not be able to make because it's very important for them to take. Important for them to take care of themselves as well. Very important. So we give that that confidence and that support.

TRAVIS: I know for people who maybe are a caregiver, they're going to want to get connected with you guys, and they will want to do some research. Where can they get connected with your organization?

FOLTA-MAY: It's very easy—AGiftOfTimeGeorgetown.org is our website. Tons of information on there about local resources, national resources, volunteer opportunities and board opportunities to join us. Also, there are many educational videos.

We also have a part-time education coordinator, and so she goes out to areas—community places—and does the Alzheimer's education for family caregivers as well. That calendar is actually on our website, so you can check it out and hopefully visit us there.