Service Area 2
Meet Our Dementia Friends Champions at Service Area 2
Get to know the passionate leaders driving the Dementia Friends movement across Illinois, dedicated to fostering understanding and building supportive communities for those living with dementia.
Cherie Aschenbrenner
Where do you work?
City of Elgin – Senior Liaison
What Dementia Friendly Community are you a part of?
Dementia Friendly Elgin Area
Where are you located for giving talks?
Elgin and South Elgin
What do you like about Dementia Friends?
Doing presentations to our local businesses, senior living facilities and our police and fire departments. The more education and resources we can provide locally is vital. Everyone knows someone with dementia, so creating this awareness is crucial and to let them know they are not alone and there are people who can help
Amy Cohen
Where do you work?
I own and operate ACE Senior Care Navigators, a geriatric care management and senior care advising company based on the North Shore of Chicago.
What Dementia Friendly Community are you a part of?
Dementia Friendly Elgin Area
Where are you located for giving talks?
I come to you and generally travel within the N/NW Cook county suburbs, northern side of the city, and south Lake County. I can also speak virtually.
What do you like about Dementia Friends?
It is humbling to be part of a community that supports individuals with dementia and their loved ones. I value the approach that the DF program takes of treating people with dementia from a person-first perspective, with a focus on respect, dignity, and strengths
Cindy DeGroot
Where do you work?
Riverside Senior Living Communities Assisted Living & Memory Care
Adjunct Faculty Certified Nursing Instructor – Kankakee Community College
Volunteer Community Educator /Support Group Facilitator – Alzheimer Association-
What Dementia Friendly Community are you a part of?
Kankakee County
Where are you located for giving talks?
Kankakee/Iroquois County
What do you like about Dementia Friends?
Dementia Friends is a wonderful introduction to increase awareness on Alzheimer’s Disease, with the growing numbers, our aging population, many families, neighbors, churches, have loved ones, members living with dementia related diseases… I love seeing the momentum grow for support in our community when others attend these sessions, they always learn something that they can use!
Leann Donovan
Where do you work?
Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center
Where are you located for giving talks?
Can do presentations in the Western/Northwestern and Southwestern suburbs
What do you like about Dementia Friends?
I really like the fact that the Dementia Friends/Friendly concept is easy to explain to people for those who haven’t had dementia training or for those who don’t have a good grasp of what dementia/Alzheimer’s is. It breaks it down and makes it very simple to understand, while being very thorough.
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Mary Ferguson
Where do you work?
The Birches Assisted Living & Memory Care,
Clarendon Hills
What Dementia Friendly Community are you a part of?
Westmont
Where are you located for giving talks?
DuPage County and surrounding areas
What do you like about Dementia Friends?
Dementia Friends brings the community together through education and awareness. One of the great things about these talks is they provide an open dialogue so that dementia is not a taboo topic. Knowledge is power and the more we know the better we can support those living with dementia and their caregivers in the communites where they live and work. No one should be alone on this journey!
Glenna Godinsky
Where do you work?
Manager of Life Enrichment Services at Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL (I design and take monthly library programs and activity kits to 24 senior/developmental care communities in our district, serving around 700 residents/month)
What Dementia Friendly Community are you a part of?
Dementia Friendly Elgin Area
Where are you located for giving talks?
Elgin and South Elgin
What do you like about Dementia Friends?
Dementia Friends brings together community caregivers, those living with dementia, local business leaders, legislators, first responders, healthcare providers, and organizations by creating a shared understanding of what it’s like to have dementia and giving simple steps to take to help. We are reducing the stigma and increasing understanding and support, so no one needs to face dementia alone.
Jack Kreger
Where do you work?
I closed my consulting business (a consultancy targeted at owners and operators of Illinois-based Home Services businesses ) in 2020 and retired. I’m currently on the board of directors of AgeGuide Northeastern Illinois; am a member of the IDPH Home Health, Home Services and Home Nursing Advisory Committee; am a member of Dementia Friendly Naperville; and am a board member of Naperville Seniors, a nonprofit that assists organizations that serve older adults with funding.
What Dementia Friendly Community are you a part of?
Naperville
Where are you located for giving talks?
Naperville
What do you like about Dementia Friends?
The chance to make a difference for care partners and other family members who are struggling to support individuals with dementia. The reassurance I can give that they’re not alone.
LeVon Lenaway
Where do you work? I am the founder and owner of Dragonfly Senior Navigation Services LLC
What Dementia Friendly Community are you a part of? I am a part of Dementia Friendly Elgin and the Tri-Cities (St. Charles, Geneva, and Batavia)
Where are you located for giving talks? I am happy to give talks anywhere within an hour drive radius of Batavia, IL
What do you like about Dementia Friends? I dream of a neighborhood/community that is sensitive to those with dementia and this is the very best program/opportunity that I have found that is intentionally getting integrated into the community with the hopes of raising awareness, giving tools, and creating a more beautiful place, one person at a time, for our growing community of older adults with any kind of cognitive impairment. Dementia Friends is a tiny step in helping my dream to become true!
Emily Mysel
Where do you work?
Family Service of Glencoe
What Dementia Friendly Community are you a part of?
Dementia Friendly Glencoe and West Deerfield Township Dementia FriendlyTown and County
Where are you located for giving talks?
Glencoe, IL (Cook) and Deerfield, IL (Lake)
What do you like about Dementia Friends?
I think it’s vital communities understand how to best support individuals and their families impacted by dementia. We all want to feel connected to the community we live in and by providing resources, support, education and programming that help to increase quality of life and awareness around the disease helps to provide richness, compassion and inclusivity. By creating a Dementia Friendly Community, you are showing your community that you value those living with the disease and by becoming a Dementia Friend you are learning best practices, patience and awareness on ways the community can be more attentive, supportive and caring towards this important population.
Susan Wesner
Where do you work?
Northwestern University
What Dementia Friendly Community are you a part of?
Dementia Friendly Elgin Area
Where are you located for giving talks?
Elgin
What do you like about Dementia Friends?
“Dementia Friends and Dementia Friendly programs promote dementia awareness to communities in effort to create safe environments where individuals and families living with dementia can continue to engage and thrive.
