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You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes. - A. A. Milne, Author (Winnie the Pooh) A good traveler is one who does not know where he is going to, and a perfect traveler does not know where he came from. - Lin Yutang, Writer If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a kind word of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things begin to happen. - Loretta Girzartis, Author The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. - William James, Philosopher Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essayist Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat . . .We must find each other. - Mother Theresa, Saint All real living is meeting. - Martin Buber, Philosopher Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World. - Christopher Columbus, Explorer Nothing is more revealing than movement. - Martha Graham, Dancer I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. - Albert Schweitzer, Missionary In American life, we think we are most free when we don’t need anybody. Exactly what Alzheimer’s represents is absolute dependency …That’s what we all need to learn …how deeply we need one another. - Stanley Hauerwas, Professor of Theological Ethics They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything. - Bil Keane, Cartoonist |
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Memory Bridge News 11/10/11 - Memory Bridge at Treasure Coast Hospice
The Life is a Bridge program will be presented Thursday, November 10 to Sunday, November 13, 2011 by Michael Verde to volunteers and staff at Treasure Coast Hospice in Stuart, FL. Attendees include Treasure Coast Hospice staff that care for patients in Skilled Nursing Facilities and Assisted Living Residents, like nurses, certified nurse's aides, social workers, and chaplains. Pariticpants will focus on learning to build bridges by expanding compassionate care for patients and each other. Starting Thursday evening and wrapping up Sunday afternoon, the itinerary
includes a progression of workshops, buddy visits, as well as individual and group activities.
11/09/11 - Upcoming Summit Presentation
Memory Bridge is proud to announce Michael Verde will be the first speaker at the Pathway Annual Summit. He will be presenting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, November 9, at Bobak's Signature Events, 6440 Double Eagle Drive, in Woodridge, IL 60517. Google Map
09/21/11 - Conference Presentation at Palliative Care Conference
Guest speaker Michael Verde is a participant in this year's ELNEC-VA/EPEC-VA Palliative Care Conference, hosted at North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System in Gainesville, Florida. Michael will be speaking about dementia on September 21, 2011, 10 A.M., at the Malcom Randall VA Auditorium.
08/12/11 - Naomi Feil and Michael Presenting in Cleveland
One-Day Validation training with Naomi Feil and keynote presentation with Michael on August 12 - 14 at the Embassy Suites Downtown, Cleveland, Ohio. For more information about the event visit www.compassionate-touch.org/naomi 08/10/11 - Tribune Update
After featuring Memory Bridge on the front page, the Chicago Tribune posted a gallery of photos from the experience. The gallery can be found here.
04/25/11 - Memory Bridge to Lead Hospice Training in Florida's Treasure Coast
Participants in this three-day, guided journey in connecting with those with dementia will explore what it means, and does not mean, for a person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and not merely from the outside-in, the bio-medical perspective, but from the inside-out, from within the lifeworld of a person living with dementia. Developed by the Memory Bridge Foundation, this experience-based, empathy-centered workshop pairs each participant with a person in hospice diagnosed with irreversible dementia--a Buddy. Volunteers and Buddies will meet two times in person over the three days of training. Combined with the supported companionship with hospice clients will be a variety of other learning experiences--presentation-based, creative, reflective, peer-to-peer dialogue, case study, and sharing circles. 03/25/11 - Michael Presenting at Life Services Network 2011 Meeting
Michael is presenting There Is a Bridge: Healing the Dis-ease of Alzheimer's at this year's Life Services Network Annual Meeting to be held in Chicago, Illinois at Navy Pier. Michael's presentation will define the crucial differences between the neurogenerative disease called Alzheimer's and the intersubjective experience of emotional and social isolation that is the dis-ease of Alzheimer's. Rooted in a vision that challenges the cliched and fear-mongering marketing scripts through which Alzheimer's is typically framed for public consumption, Michael's presentation explores the intra- and interpersonal lifeworlds of our collective humanity and points the way to meaningful action that we can take now to begin healing the suffering associated with Alzheimer's. 03/16/11 - Study of Memory Bridge Initiative Published in Educational Gerontology
This study evaluated the Memory Bridge Initiative (MBI), an educational, experiential program pairing high school students with older adults who have dementia. A qualitative, single group design with baseline and follow-up measures examined whether or not students would have a positive learning experience while gaining newfound appreciation and understanding of older adults with dementia. Findings showed that students' perceptions of older adults and of Alzheimer's disease became more optimistic and hopeful after participation in MBI. Students also favorably described their learning experience and recommended improvements for future programs. This evaluation informs future service-learning and dementia-care programs with results supporting wider dissemination of the Memory Bridge Initiative. Study available through Taylor & Francis Online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03601271003608860 01/13/11 - Educational Workshop with Naomi Feil and Michael Verde
Naomi Feil and Michael to lead a one-day, educational workshop on connecting with people with irreversible dementia in Port St. Lucie, Florida on January 13, 2011. The workshop, sponsored by Treasure Coast Hospice, is designed for care-partners and hospice volunteers. The event will be held in the Port St. Lucie Civic Center – 9221 SE Civic Center Place. For more information visit www.tchospice.org.
01/08/11 - Michael Verde on Radio Talk Show Today
WTTB radio host Cindy Bryant interviewed Michael prior to his presentation for Treasure Coast Hospice's Treasuring Life Speaker Series on January 13, 2011. In this interview Michael explains the difference between Alzheimer's disease and the dis-ease of Alzheimer's, and why understanding this difference can be the beginning of the most important spiritual journey of our lives. Click "read more" to hear the interview. 10/15/10 - Memory Bridge Begins Fall Classes
Memory Bridge begins its sixth year of bridge-building outreach in Chicago pubic schools. High school teens in eight Chicago public schools are partnering with elders diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in this fall's CPS Memory Bridge Initiative. This semester's selected schools, located in diverse areas across the city, are Corliss High School, Gwendolyn Brooks Prep. Academy (2 classes), Roberto Clemente high School, Walter Payton High School, Kelvyn Park High School, and Taft High School.
04/14/10 - Memory Bridge Makes Front Page of Tribune
The Memory Bridge Initiative was featured on the front page of the Chicago Tribune on April 14, 2010. To read the Tribune article, click here for the online version. 01/15/10 - The “I Have a Dream” Foundation partners with Memory Bridge
The “I Have a Dream” Foundation is partnering with Memory Bridge to launch Dreamers and Mockingbirds, a 12-week after school, service-learning and literacy-enrichment program based on the Memory Bridge Initiative. The Dreamers participating in Dreamers and Mockingbirds will read and explore To Kill a Mockingbird individually and as a class. Dreamers will also read parts of the novel to their Buddies (the elders with dementia participating in the program with the Dreamers), both in one-on-one and group contexts. 10/15/09 - Michael to speak at Florida Hospice Forum
Michael Verde will be presenting There Is a Bridge at the 2010 Florida Hospice & Palliative Care conference on May 20 & 21 in Orlando Florida. Michael's presentation explores those facets of personal identity that Alzheimer's disease and related forms of dementia can not extinguish. 06/18/09 - John Kotre's "White Gloves" to be included in Memory Bridge curriculum
John Kotre, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, is the author of "White Gloves", a book which introduces the idea of autobiographical memory, which he describes as "the people, places, objects, events, and feelings that go into the story of your life." 06/10/09 - Memory Bridge featured on Aging Matters
Michael Verde was interviewed on Aging Matters, a radio program that deals with issues affecting seniors and their families. 06/09/09 - Michael Verde discusses the importance of reminiscence on WGLT
Charlie Schlenker from WGLT in Bloomington-Normal, IL profiles the McLean County Museum of History's Senior Reminiscence Program. 06/01/09 - Memory Bridge highlighted in Forget Memory
Anne Basting, Director of the UWM Center on Age & Community, has written a book entitled Forget Memory: Creating Better Lives for People with Dementia that emphasizes the importance of activites that focus on the present when caring for individuals with Alzheimer's disease. 05/13/09 - Susan Bussey's interview on WBEZ
Memory Bridge Director Susan Bussey and Michael Marrero, a student at Clemente High School and a current Memory Bridge participant, discuss the program on Chicago Public Radio. 05/06/09 - Listen to Michael Verde's interview on Massage Therapy Radio
Michael Verde was interviewed by Eric Brown, host of Massage Therapy Radio and a practicing massage therapist since 1989. Click below for more information and to listen to the interview. 05/01/09 - Michael Verde interviewed on WGLT
Michael Verde was interviewed by Jim Browne of WGLT, a local NPR affiliate in Normal and Peoria, Illinois. Click below for more information and to listen to the interview. 04/10/09 - Michael Verde to present at Hand in Hand 2009
Michael Verde will present at the closing session of Hand in Hand 2009, a symposium dedicated to massage therapy in eldercare and hospice. The symposium will be held May 1-3 in Orlando, FL. 04/01/09 - Michael Verde to speak on Massage Therapy Radio
Michael Verde, the Founder and President of Memory Bridge, will speak on Massage Therapy Radio on Wednesday, April 15th. The interview will cover the spiritual nature of caregiving and the power of touch. 10/14/08 - Los Angeles Screening of There Is a Bridge
Join us for a very special Los Angeles screening of the documentary There Is A Bridge on Sunday, November 9, 2008. The screening is presented in conjunction with the exhibition "Within Four Miles": The World of Josh Dorman at the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM). The exhibition runs through January 11, 2009. 07/30/08 - Memory Bridge: A Talk with Michael Verde
A blog post on www.tangledneuron.info by Mona Johnson, a layperson who began writing to chronicle her search for answers about her father's dementia, that highlights the work of Memory Bridge and the importance of connecting with persons with Alzheimer's in emotionally meaningful ways. Click here to download the post in PDF form. 06/10/08 - June 2008 newsletter published
The June 2008 issue of "Crossings" includes viewer reactions to the PBS documentary "There Is A Bridge"; Michael Verde's "The Mirror and the Bridge"; an article about Meeting of Minds, a program for people with early-stage memory loss; an essay on memory as it is represented in The Sopranos; and a snapshot of the special relationship between a student and person with Alzheimer's disease that was formed through the Chicago Memory Bridge Initiative. You can download a PDF copy here. 01/24/08 - 'HereThereEverywhere' Map Exhibit Finds Its Place
"HereThereEverywhere," the penultimate artistic entry in the citywide Festival of Maps, is a sometimes surprising exhibition that extends the Chicago Cultural Center's 1994 examination of artists and maps beyond traditional media into cyberspace. 10/15/07 - Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Sponsors There Is a Bridge Documentary: Supports Memory Bridge’s Efforts to Show Ways to Remain Connected to Those with Alzheimer’s
The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA), a national nonprofit organization based in New York, has become the lead sponsor of the new documentary There is a Bridge, airing on public television stations nationwide. The film reveals different ways of communicating with those who have dementia and explores how these emotionally profound relationships can change our lives. The documentary was produced by Memory Bridge: The Foundation for Alzheimer’s and Cultural Memory. 10/12/07 - U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and Chicago Singer Terisa Griffin at Chicago Premiere of There is a Bridge
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky will introduce the new Alzheimer’s documentary, There is a Bridge (www.thereisabridge.org), at its Chicago premiere October 16, 2007 at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Pinsky will be joined by the acclaimed Chicago singer and songwriter Terisa Griffin, who will perform, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, which she performs in the documentary. 10/02/07 - U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky to Introduce There is a Bridge at Chicago Premiere
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky will introduce the new Alzheimer's documentary, There Is a Bridge, at its Chicago premiere October 16, 2007 at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. 05/31/07 - Planting memories: Students help seniors remember better times
Read an article from Cicero Life about students from Unity Middle School in Cicero, Illinois, who participated in the Memory Bridge Initiative. The students developed relationships with residents of Alden Town Manor Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. 01/11/07 - Sixth-Graders Take Part in Memory Bridge Program
Read an article from the Deerfield Review about sixth-grade students from Elm Place Middle School in Highland Park, who participated in the Memory Bridge Initiative. The students developed relationships with residents of The Ponds in Lincolnshire as they learn about Alzheimer's and its effects. 09/01/06 - Celebrating Senior Storytellers
Memory Bridge is featured in this article from FutureAge, along with other organizations that are striving to use storytelling as a creative, meaningful approach to building relationships. 06/13/06 - Opening Hearts and Minds: CMBI's Inaugural Year
Read a report of the Chicagoland Memory Bridge 2006 classroom initiative. In it’s first year, the program touched 536 students, teachers, and care facility residents from 11 Chicago-area high schools, 5 middle schools, and 2 elementary schools. The care facilities were located in Chicago and the outlying areas. 11/30/99 - Conference Presentation at Palliative Care Conference
Guest speaker Michael Verde is a participant in this year's ELNEC-VA/EPEC-VA Palliative Care Conference, hosted at North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System in Gainesville, Florida. Michael will be speaking about dementia on September 21, 2011, 10 A.M., at the Malcom Randall VA Auditorium.
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