Learn the lasting impact your monthly gift makes

When her husband Bob was diagnosed with dementia around two years ago, Bev McIntyre felt lost. The realization hit her that she was now a care partner — a role she never imagined herself in and something she wasn’t sure she’d be able to do.

“When we got that diagnosis, it really blew my world apart,” Bev says. “I’d never met anybody who knew or cared for someone living with dementia. I didn’t know where to turn for help.”

Finding a community of support

It didn’t take long for Bev to learn about the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba; every doctor she and Bob saw suggested they reach out for support.

Bev wasn’t sure what to expect when she left that first message, explaining her situation, but after her first phone call — everything changed.

“That call was so helpful. I talked and talked to the point where I apologized,” Bev laughs. “But they told me that’s why they’re here — to listen to everything I needed to say.”

From that moment, Bev realized she had found something special, somewhere to turn where she’d be heard and understood. She started taking every education session the Society offered, she attended the annual Care4u Conference, went to an ambiguous loss support group and she and Bob joined the Minds in Motion program.

“I knew I needed a community that would support both of us,” Bev says. “There were so many programs that allowed Bob and I to go together, and separately, to find this community.”

Bev says she can’t put into words how much the Society has done for her and Bob and how meaningful that support has been. For example, when Bob was facing a particularly difficult time, his support group facilitator stayed online for an extra half hour after their weekly Zoom support group to talk just with him.

“The Society was our saving grace,” says Bev. “I truly don’t know another place you can go that understands dementia on this level and that is there for you the way the Society is.”

It was also through the Society that Bev met five other women caring for husbands living with dementia. This connection became a significant line of friendship and support in Bev’s life. Click here to read more about these women and the story behind their coffee group.

The impact of monthly giving

Bev often tells her family how grateful she is for the Society — and how important it is to help sustain it for others. “I don’t know another organization that does what the Society does, and I know they want to offer even more,” she says. “But you can only do that with more staff, volunteers, time, and at the foundation, more funds.”

As a community not-for-profit, donations play an essential role in the Society’s programs and services. The programs Bev and Bob attend, the support groups they lean on, and the education Bev has been able to take are all possible thanks to donations, big and small.

Monthly donations are especially important to organizations like the Society. These kinds of donations give an organization a reliable source of funding that allows it to plan ahead and budget for the future.

“If you’re looking to pay it forward — even if it’s giving just a little bit every month — your donation to the Alzheimer Society will have a lasting impact,” Bev says. “I can’t say enough how grateful I am that the Society is here for people living with dementia.”