Senator Elaine Alquist speaks at the State Plan media event.
On Wednesday, March 9th, 2011, over 150 Alzheimer’s volunteers gathered at the State Capitol for Alzheimer’s Advocacy Day. Caregivers, family members, Alzheimer’s Disease Center staff, and people diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s came together from throughout the state to advocate on behalf of the more than 588,000 families living with the disease in California.
In addition to legislative office visits, this year’s Advocacy Day included a media event for the release of the California Alzheimer’s Disease State Plan. Speaking at the event were Senators Elaine Alquist and Mark Leno; Assembly Members Bonnie Lowenthal, Fiona Ma, and Mariko Yamada; representatives from the Task Force that developed the State Plan; and an individual living with Alzheimer’s disease. Multiple media outlets covered the historic event, including Capitol Public Radio, The Sacramento Bee, The San Diego Union Tribune, Ventura County Star, and local television affiliates.
Advocates meet with Assembly Member Fiona Ma (center)
After the one-hour media event, our teams of volunteers and staff visited every legislative office to deliver written materials and a poster, including our State Plan summary. In the legislative visits, teams made three asks:
- Protect the community-based programs and services that California families living with Alzheimer’s rely on, including Adult Day Health Care, the Multipurpose Senior Services Program, and In-Home Supportive Services, from complete elimination by giving your constituents a choice in June.
- Please review the California Alzheimer’s Disease State Plan; post a link on your website; and consider hosting a community forum in your district on Alzheimer’s disease and aging issues.
- In an effort to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease, we ask that you include information on the disease and community resources in your next newsletter, and to please place this poster on your hall door for the remainder of the month.
Thank you to everybody who joined us for this important day. We look forward to seeing you again at future events!
