Local organization a lifeline for Alzheimer’s, dementia caregivers in Northeast Ohio

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — Right now, there are nearly half a million Ohioans caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer’s or other dementia, and the impact on those individuals is significant.

According to a 2023 Facts and Figures report from the Alzheimer’s Association, more than half, 59% of caregivers say they’re dealing with emotional stress, 38% are suffering from physical stress. Two-thirds of dementia caregivers are women, with a third of them daughters.

Karen Martin is one of those daughters caring for her 92-year-old mother with dementia.

The East Cleveland woman invited Good Morning Cleveland anchor Mike Brookbank into her home to get a better understanding of the struggle families like hers face and to also learn more about the positive impact one local organization is having in her search for a much-needed spark of life.

The change of seasons from winter to spring, summer to fall, helps us keep tabs on time.

But for the last two years, time has stood still for Martin.

“You don’t go outside, you don’t get to see the weather change, you can’t sleep in, you’re exhausted,” said Martin.

Martin has not left her mother Sharon’s side since signs of dementia started settling in just after she turned 90.

“There’s no quit, there’s no quit, especially where she’s concerned. To see her deteriorate to the point where she couldn’t tell me like what was wrong, it’s so hard to watch somebody go downhill like that,” said Martin.

Martin is her mother’s primary caregiver.

“I’m doing the best I can for her,” said Martin.

The 66-year-old said by doing so, she’s returning the unconditional love and support her mother gave her.

“I’m going to always do what I can for people because that’s just me, but I get that spirit from her,” said Martin.

However, the heartfelt around the clock care Martin provides is taking a huge toll on her mental and physical health.

Now, finally, this caregiver is getting the help she needs.

“A lot of people are alone in their caregiving, they feel like they are drowning in their caregiving duties,” said Jessica Friedman.

Friedman is with the Cleveland Area Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, which deploys much-needed lifelines to families.

“When they first come to us, a lot of times they’ll just say they feel so alone and so isolated, they don’t know who to reach out to what services are available,” said Friedman.

Every week, the non-profit covers the cost to have workers from local home care agencies step in so that caregivers can get a break.

“You, you will get very burnt out if you don’t get a break and taking care of your loved one,” said Friedman.

Families get a total of 100 hours of care covered through the Jan and Josephine Castor caregiver relief program.

Castor’s wife had dementia, and he was able to hire someone to help care for her.

“And he felt so fortunate that he had that ability to do so. So, he wanted to be able to give that gift to other families in the Cleveland area that could also benefit from that service,” said Freidman.

Every week, Martin gets eight hours of coverage.

“That has been like a million bucks,” said Martin.

She splits up the time into four-hour shifts over two days.

“They were like, you could go get your nails done, you could go, you know, go out to eat. The first thing I wanted to do is to get all my appointments that I could not go to because no one gave me relief,” said Martin.

Much needed relief that helps sustain Martin while she continues this caregiving journey.

“There are days that I want to break down, there’s days that I, you know, want to give up, but I just know that there will be an end to this, and I will know within myself that I did everything that I could to help her,” said Martin.

“I’m so thankful for this opportunity because it really kind of gave me a spark of life,” said Martin.