wordinista

As nearly everyone on my f-list knows, my grandfather is suffering from Fronto-Temporal Dementia, and is currently in Stage Four of that disease. My mother is my grandfather's caretaker, and during the course of his illness has become good friends with a woman who runs Senior Care of Brevard -- it's not a nursing home, but rather a facility that accepts dementia and Alzheimer's patients, providing a safe place for them to be during the day, if their regular caretaker needs to work, or simply cannot be home with them on that particular day. (We don't really like to call it a "daycare" facility, but that is essentially the service it provides.) Senior Care of Brevard is unique in this area because it is the only facility that will accept Stage Four patients, which is also what makes it vital.

Unfortunately, due to Medicare cuts (some very hefty ones at the state level), SCoB is finding itself in a precarious position. Since Medicare isn't covering this kind of service anymore, less fortunate patients can't take advantage of this facility. Caregivers -- usually the patient's adult children -- are then in an unenviable position of having to figure out how to go to work while also figuring out how to care for the patient. (My mother is lucky; she works from home, but caring for my grandfather is a full-time job in itself, and she rarely gets the oppotunity to get out of the house aside from taking Grampa to doctor appointments, or to run errands -- but even then, she has to arrange for someone to sit with him.)

My mother's friend, Linda, who runs Senior Care of Brevard, submitted a proposal for a grant, sponsored by Pepsi. The proposal was accepted, which means a lot of YAY! But now comes the difficult part. And this is the part where I am asking you, friends and friends-of-friends and random people who happen to stumble across this entry, to please help us harness the most-awesome Power of the Intarwebs.

We need votes. Whoever gets the most votes wins this $250,000 grant. This is not an insignificant sum, and would go a long way to helping a worthwhile facility.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Voting begins promptly on OCTOBER 1, 2010 at MIDNIGHT.

Here is URL you'll need. GO HERE: http://www.refresheverything.com/

· The screen is blue and divided into sections. Click on the right side where it says: "Browse Ideas and Vote"

· Scroll to the bottom of the page; on the bottom left it says: "Sign in/Join 'Refresh Everything.'"

· The first time voting, click on "Join 'Refresh Everything'" because you'll need to register in order to vote.

· You'll have to create a username and password, but after the initial registration, you'll just have to click on "Sign in" at the bottom of the page each time you want to vote.

And here's the best part:

· You can vote EVERY DAY until midnight October 31, 2010!!!!!

BUT:

· You are only allowed ONE vote per day for our cause. The one who gets the MOST votes WINS.

The most important thing to remember is the initial 48 hours of voting is the MOST CRUCIAL because it establishes rank. The numbers do not go UP, they go DOWN. So, the lower the number, the better! We're trying to get into FIRST PLACE here!

NOW: How to FIND SCoB to vote for it! (Because you know you really want to.  You really, really want to.)

Once you enter the site, there should be buttons across the top of the page designating areas where various people and organizations ahve submitted their work.

SENIOR CARE OF BREVARD IS LOCATED UNDER "HEALTH." (All "Health" related entries are in red.) Click that red button!

Under that, amounts are listed: $5000; $25,000; $50,000; and $250,000.  CLICK ON $250,000.

THEN LOOK FOR THE PROJECT TITLE: "PROVIDE A SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM FOR THE INDIGENT AND POOR PATIENTS" (As of 10/1, the ranking was somewhere around 245)

If you click on that project title, you'll be linked to a short synopsis all about Senior Care of Brevard.

THERE IS A BUTTON THAT SAYS, "VOTE FOR THIS IDEA." That is when you VOTE FOR THAT IDEA!

Please, guys -- vote. Link to this page, if you like! Pimp this out however you want. Twitter, Facebook, EVEN SANDWICH-BOARD SIGNS WOULD BE GREAT. But please, spread the word!

If SCoB wins this grant, they'll be able to provide dementia and Alzheimer's patients -- who would not otherwise be able to afford it -- a safe place to go during the day, and providing their caregivers with peace of mind.