SAN DIEGANS ARE NOW LIVING WITH DEMENTIA.
HERE’S HOW YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
A Letter from our President & Board Chair
After spending so much time isolating ourselves in 2020, it was a joy to come together in 2021. We saw the return of social activities – now held outdoors – centering around music, movement, and baseball. Our annual motorcycle ride and walk were both held in person again. And vaccinated employees were able to come back to the office on a hybrid schedule. These moments of connection have meant so much.
This past year has also brought major changes. We learned our Convoy Court office building, our longtime home, has been sold. We will be in a new location as of May 1st, just down the road in Kearny Mesa: 3635 Ruffin Road, Suite 300.
In other sobering news, the estimated number of San Diegans living with dementia increased from 84,000 to nearly 100,000 people. This is a record high that will only keep growing until a cure is found. Your support is needed now more than ever before, and truly changes lives. Thank you for your continued generosity. Because of you, no San Diegan will have to face this disease alone.
Board of Directors
Bari Berkman
Carlo Cecchetto
Linda Cho
Dr. Abraham Chyung
Dr. Katrina DeLeon
Sheriff Bill Gore
Susan Guerra
Vince Kingsley
Herb Liberman
Marcea Lloyd
Claudia Mazanec
Jill Mendlen
Kimberly Mendoza
Ann Owens
Inez Thomas
Judy Wenker
New address as of May 1st:
3635 Ruffin Road, Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92123
Impact by the Numbers
RIDES4ALZ & WALK4ALZ
Our annual motorcycle ride and walk, Rides4ALZ and Walk4ALZ, were held in person again. Together, generous riders and walkers raised $706,000 to support people living with dementia, their care partners, and to fund research for a cure! As a local nonprofit, 100% of every dollar raised stays in San Diego County to help the community we know and love.
NEW IN 2021
The Alzheimer’s San Diego education department grew to 3 full-time team members – including a dedicated bilingual Dementia Educator to teach classes in Spanish.
Our Law Enforcement Referral Program transitioned from a pilot project into a permanent service this year. It was first launched as part of a federal grant from the Administration for Community Living in 2019. It allows law enforcement officials to make online referrals to Alzheimer’s San Diego if they meet someone experiencing dementia-related symptoms or challenges. The original goal was to assist 25 families – however, more than 200 referrals have been made since the project launched, and we served 148 people in 2021 alone.
Our longtime contract with San Diego County for the Alzheimer’s Response Team (ART) officially ended December 31, 2021. We worked with Adult Protective Services to help 121 San Diegans in crisis since the program launched in 2018.
Alzheimer’s San Diego helped launch the first annual San Diego Gives on September 9, 2021. A total of 120 organizations participated in this local day of giving, raising nearly $500,000 to support the community. We are excited to be part of the #GiveLocal movement!
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Alpine View Lodge
City of San Diego
Cordoba Corporation
County of San Diego
David C. Copley Foundation
Featheringill Mortuary
Grossmont Healthcare District
Home Instead
Icon Utility Services
Janssen Pharmaceutical
Jingoli Power
Meruelo Enterprises, Inc.
Pacific Foundation for Medical Care
Par Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Patriot General Engineering, Inc.
San Diego Foundation
SDG&E
SDSU Research Foundation
Sharp HealthCare
Stellar Care
Walter J. and Betty C. Zable Foundation
Withington Foundation
Woolway Family Foundation
FEDERAL GRANTS BACK INNOVATIVE NEW PROJECTS
Grants are critical to our mission, comprising 18% of our revenue in 2021. They also enable our organization to get creative to serve the changing needs of the community. This past year, Alzheimer’s San Diego secured two new major federal grants – one for nearly $1 million from the Administration for Community Living (ACL), and another for $150,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
This is the third time we were awarded a grant from ACL (learn more about our most recent project, the Law Enforcement Referral Program, in the NEW IN 2021 section above). For this 3-year project, funds will support critical dementia training for local service providers, and expand support programs for people living with dementia and their care partners – especially those who are currently underserved. A major component will be the expansion of our VITALZ program, which specifically serves San Diegans with dementia who live alone. It will also allow us to increase support in Spanish, to help family caregivers of people with developmental disabilities, and to provide training to other local service organizations such as Elderhelp.
The DOJ grant is also a 3-year project, and will focus on protecting people living with dementia who wander from safe environments. A total of six grants were awarded to organizations across the country, and Alzheimer’s San Diego received the maximum funding amount. A key part of this grant includes partnering with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department to increase enrollment in Take Me Home. This free program is designed to be a safeguard if a person becomes disoriented or confused, and is unable to identify how to get back home.
In 2021, Alzheimer’s San Diego received national recognition for our partnerships with law enforcement. We teamed up with Carlsbad Police and the San Diego Sheriff’s Department to present our successes at the prestigious American Society on Aging conference, and we even put together a guide for ACL so other organizations can set up similar programs with their local law enforcement.
We are excited about these two new projects, and we will continue to innovate to help the nearly 100,000 San Diegans living with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia.
2022 Events
Visionary Luncheon & Auction
May 6, 2022
Date With A Cure
June 14, 2022
Rides4ALZ
July 9, 2022
San Diego Gives
September 8, 2022
Walk4ALZ
October 15, 2022
For more information about these events, please contact
Michelle Van Hoff, Director of Development, at 858.966.3300 or mvanhoff@alzsd.org.