Memory Link: Navigating Memory Loss

In 2015, it was estimated that 115,000 people in Wisconsin had dementia. By 2040, that number is expected to increase to 242,000 people with dementia, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Kaukauna native J.J. Smith met his wife Joyce in the Air Force nearly 60 years ago and were looking for resources to help with Joyce’s memory loss. “Sometimes it’s frustrating for me,” says J.J. The couple became involved with the Fox Valley Memory Project and are excited for its newest program, Memory Link, launched in April. .

Thanks to a federal grant of nearly $1 million and generous support from the Community Foundation and other donors, the Fox Valley Memory Project’s Memory Link program received the initial funding to begin providing free personal support and resources to people living at home with memory loss and their caregivers in Calumet, Outagamie, Winnebago and Waupaca Counties.

The organization hired two resource navigators to offer a compassionate ear for families to use as a sounding board and offers resources and easy solutions for them to try with their loved ones, so they don’t have to bear the weight of their dementia journey alone.