Karl and Angela Robb with Karl’s book and Parky the Raccoon.

We had a such great turnout for our first café in Northern Virginia with 50 people dropping by! Special thank-yous go to Christi and Insight Memory Care Center for hosting us and providing coffee and donuts, and to our friends from the Fair Oaks Parkinson’s Support Group who brought drinks and homemade cookies, helped with sign-in, and for their encouragement and support.

It was great to see all the smiling faces and hear the buzz of conversation. Local Parkinson advocates Karl and Angela Robb joined us, as did owners from Graceful Care, Graceful HomeShare, and Old Dominion Home Care because they have a personal understanding of what it’s like to live with PD. We were also visited by therapists from The Virginian who work with the Parkinson community, as well as Right at Home. Old Dominion Home Care and Right at Home both train their caregivers in providing more personalized care for people living with Parkinson’s.

From the feedback we’ve received, we’re going to maintain an informal format for our cafés. Feel free to drop by, enjoy a cup of coffee and chat with old friends and meet new ones. We’ll also introduce you to resources – some specifically for PD, some from the local community – that can help you to live well with Parkinson’s.

One amazing resource is our host, Insight Memory Care Center. Some of us have been attending workshops held at Insight and the quality of the presentations and speakers have been exceptional. While the topics are primarily for people living with dementia and their care partners, friends from the Parkinson community have also found them to be very helpful.

For example, tomorrow, Wednesday, June 15 Wednesday, July 13 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, the topic is What if I have a Movement Disorder? Presented by Dr. Drew Falconer and Dr. Sean Rogers of the INOVA Neurosciences Movement Disorders Team. It’s a great opportunity to hear from Northern Virginia’s newest Movement Disorder Specialists and you’ll learn more about movement disorders, including Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson’s disease, and how they are different from Alzheimer’s disease. This presentation is free, but to help with planning, if you’re interested in attending, please contact:
Christi Clark at christi.clark@insightmcc.org or 703-204-4664.

SAVE THE DATE!

Our next café will be Monday, July 11 from 10:00 – 12 noon.

At: Insight Memory Care Center
Linda and Lou Mazawey Education and Support Center
3955 Pender Drive, Suite 100, Fairfax, VA 22030           Directions and map