{"id":38238,"date":"2026-05-28T17:10:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T21:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=38238"},"modified":"2026-05-28T17:11:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T21:11:02","slug":"generations-of-area-family-impacted-supported-by-alzheimer-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/generations-of-area-family-impacted-supported-by-alzheimer-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Generations of area family impacted, supported by Alzheimer Society"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After Elizabeth De Faria\u2019s grandmother began showing signs of memory loss after a bad fall, she and her family didn\u2019t know in which direction to turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As her grandmother\u2019s needs became greater, their list of questions became longer, and eventually they found a vital lifeline in the Alzheimer Society of York Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then based in Newmarket, De Faria describes this first connection with the Society as \u201clike a miracle\u201d as they navigated these difficult waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These waters only became choppier when, in the years following her grandmother\u2019s passing, De Faria\u2019s own parents became afflicted by different forms of dementia \u2013 and, as they have in the past, the Alzheimer Society of York Region has once again been that lifeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Faria and her family are set to return the support this weekend as the Society hosts the 2026 IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer\u2019s on Saturday, May 30, at Lake Wilcox Park in Richmond Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year marks the 40th<\/sup> anniversary of the Alzheimer Society of York Region and, in a sense, De Faria has been with them every step of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNearly 40 years ago, we began our journey with the Alzheimer Society of York Region, and we are still utilizing and cherishing their invaluable help today,\u201d she says. \u201cThe Alzheimer Society of York Region has helped our family when we needed it most. Staff at AS York are the experts. They know how you feel when no one else does. Because of that, you feel instant comfort and have a new calm, knowing you are no longer alone. They are with you every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With just days to go before the community laces up for the cause, De Faria said she was a bit trepidatious of sharing her story in front of the crowd, but knew it was important to build awareness of the myriad programs and supports AS York offers to individuals and families in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back on her own family\u2019s journey with the organization, she cites their day program as just one example of a vital service that will be supported by the funds raised this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy grandmother started going to the day group and it was like a door opened up for my mom, especially at that time. She was the main caregiver, so she actually had a little bit of room to breathe, to think. There were all those kids at home and my dad \u2013 it was tremendous, not just for my grandmother, but really for the caregivers. Nowadays, there\u2019s a tremendous amount more supports. It\u2019s mind-boggling when I go on the website and see all the paths, programs and people you can connect with \u2013 and social workers that can help you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The multitude of pathways have been very helpful to the De Faria family as their needs have become more complex with her mother now in the later stages of dementia herself and her father diagnosed with the rare supranuclear palsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mom and I were teammates,\u201d she says of caring for her grandmother and father, and taking things in turns. \u201cWhen my mother got sick [during COVID], I was like, \u2018Okay, who is going to help me? Who\u2019s my team? I don\u2019t have one anymore.\u2019 That was pretty devastating. In [AS York] I had absolutely amazing people who were really passionate, who really loved what they were doing \u2013 very compassionate people. To have somebody on the other end of the phone who knows, who can just listen, and try to direct you on what you should do, what you could do, what they can offer during the COVID time, was very helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast year, I thought, my God, all the stuff they\u2019ve done for us, all the situations that, when we needed their help the most, they\u2019re the people who have pulled us through, every single time, and I have to give back. When I went to last year\u2019s Walk, it was so powerful, so emotional, I burst into tears. It just felt so good to be doing something to give back, to raise awareness, to tell other people, \u2018Hey, don\u2019t feel alone. Don\u2019t hide in the darkness. These people are really the ones you need to talk to.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen the immense growth of AS York and the immense support and that\u2019 because of the people they have, the people who have done fundraising, and my message is strength, togetherness, and to not feel alone, to not be afraid to talk about it, but come out and use the strength of other people to help you get through it. There\u2019s so much help that comes from that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on this year\u2019s Walk, including how to register as an individual or team, or to support others, visit alzheimer.ca\/york\/en\/2026IGWalk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

De Farias named Honourary Family for Saturday\u2019s Walk for Alzheimers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-28-06.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9WK","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-04 18:50:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38240,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38238\/revisions\/38240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}