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Date: 6/28/2023
SOUTHWICK — Julianne Kordana remembers the heartbreak of watching her grandmother as the effects of Alzheimer’s got worse. She was just 7 years old when her grandmother was diagnosed.
Often, her grandmother acted like a different person.
“It was hard at times — I felt like I didn’t know my Nana any longer. It was tough to go through it as a kid,” said Kordana, 26. Her grandmother was in her early 70s when she was diagnosed and died when she was 80.
Now, the Westfield resident, a teacher at Westfield Intermediate School, volunteers for the Alzheimer’s Association as a member of the planning committee for the organizations’ s annual walk in October. Kordana was at the association’s second largest fundraising event — The Longest Day — on June 21 in Southwick, encouraging people to join her and others for the walk.
“I’m doing this because I want to help find a cure for Alzheimer’s so other families don’t have to go through what our family went through with my Nana,” said Kordana. She got involved with Alzheimer’s Association activities at an early age when her mother, Jill Kordana, also a Westfield resident, began volunteering for the organization.
It continues to be a family affair for them as they volunteer side by side and walk side by side in the annual Pioneer Valley Walk to End Alzheimer’s every October. About 20 years ago, while researching ways to help her mother, Jill Kordana met a representative from the Alzheimer’s Association who told her about the walk and how it raises money for research for a cure.
She formed a team — Nana’s Walkers — comprising 10 to 12 family members. They have raised about $30,000 during the past two decades.
“We do a variety of fundraisers — from getting Red Sox tickets to raffle off to having a lemonade stand,” said Jill Kordana. She said that since her mother was diagnosed, many advancements have been made in treating Alzheimer’s, due in part to the money raised at the walks and other events.
“The walk is the biggest fundraiser of the year and all of the money raised stays in the Pioneer Valley,” said Julianne Kordana. “The walk is also a way for anyone who has a connection with a person who has or had Alzheimer’s or memory loss to find support.”
The walk, scheduled for Oct. 15 in Holyoke, helps fund no-cost services the association provides, such as a 24/7 helpline for anyone dealing with Alzheimer’s. It also provides funding for the Care Connection, a service the association offers to help people come up with a care plan by connecting families to professionals who offer advice and support.
About 130,000 people aged 65 and older in Massachusetts are living with Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s is a specific degenerative brain disease leading to dementia, which is a group of symptoms that causes a mental disability to perform day-to-day activities. Alzheimer’s disease is more common in elderly people and the earliest symptoms are trouble in remembering, disorientation and confusion.
The Longest Day event, on the grounds of Christ Lutheran Church, celebrated the start of summer and served to jump-start fundraising for the walk while helping to raise awareness about dementia and Alzheimer’s. More than 20 vendors donated money to the Alzheimer’s Association to sell items and food at the summer celebration.
One of those vendors was Meghan Legrand, who runs a part-time business, the Garden of Scents. When the Southwick resident isn’t selling scents, she’s a nurse at an assisted living facility in Springfield. She cares for people who have Alzheimer’s or memory loss issues.
“I work closely with families to make sure we’re all on the same page when it comes to care and treatments,” said Legrand. “I help families cope — it’s hard watching families see loved ones doing things that they don’t normally do. We have a lot of support and education groups.”
She added that she often has to “cancel” airline flights made by some of her patients.
“They think they’ve made flight reservations and I have to tell them that they’ve been canceled because of weather or another reasons. It’s all part of learning their quirks and what triggers their emotions.”
Legrand also has a personal connection with Alzheimer’s through her grandmother. Legrand’s mother, Melanie Mullen, who was helping in her booth, recalled that her mother had a “pretty bad case” of Alzheimer’s later in life.
“She was in her 70s when I got a call in the middle of the night from the police who found her wandering down Depot Street in Southwick. That phone call was a blessing, because they found her, and a curse because we discovered she had Alzheimer’s,” said Mullen, who also lives in Southwick.
The Longest Day was hosted by the Genesis HealthCare-affiliated Heritage Hall Campus in Agawam. The health and rehabilitation facility offers post-hospital, dementia, dialysis and long-term care, and partners with the Alzheimer’s Association.
The event — which had 75 to 100 participants during its three hours — was part of a worldwide “Longest Day” celebration on the June solstice for people to gather to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s. Stephanie Schellenger, dementia program director for Memory Support of Heritage Hall, an all-memory care community, was lead event organizer in collaboration with key members of several other local Genesis-affiliated centers.
“Money is still coming in, but so far, we raised about $1,200. It was a great turnout and I’m very happy about it,” said Schellenger, who has been in her current position at Heritage Hall for five years. “It was a great way to show people dealing with Alzheimer’s and dementia that they are not alone in their fight.”