Alzheimer's Association Of Southeastern Wisconsin

Our vision: A world without Alzheimer's Our mission: To eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research, to provide and enhance care and support for all affected, to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. In 1979, the National Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association was started, and in March 1980 in Milwaukee, four wives of persons with Alzheimer's disease met with a social worker who was in charge of a community day care program their husbands attended. They formed a nucleus of interested persons who wished to explore the possibility of forming an Alzheimer's support group. Their intentions were published in the Milwaukee Journal with a request that other families and professionals dealing with Alzheimer's disease attend an organizational meeting. Twenty-five persons responded and the meeting served as the impetus for the formation of the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association (ADRDA) of Greater Milwaukee. Started as a grassroots organization comprised solely of dedicated volunteers and a maximum budget of a few hundred dollars, the local chapter affiliated with the National ADRDA, and in 1983 it became incorporated as a non-profit 501c(3) corporation in Wisconsin and free office space was generously donated by Family Hospital. In July 1984 The Faye McBeth Foundation granted $60,000 over a two-year period to allow the chapter to hire a full-time executive director and two secretarial assistants, which allowed for significant expansion of services and programs. It is this Chapter's mandate to respond to the needs of an estimated 50,000 plus persons with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia and their families throughout southeastern Wisconsin with support, education, advocacy, and research. In response to that mandate the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter offers it's core services including information and referral, care consultation, education, more than 50 support groups, and the Safe Return program as well as a variety of other services. The Chapter service area includes Dodge, Fond Du Lac, Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha counties and more than 25 staff members, six of whom have work sites in our service area outside of Milwaukee County. For more information, please visit our website at www.alz.org/sewi.