How Old Friends Club Offers Connection, Dignity, and Relief

Over 33,500 people in King County are living with some form of dementia. Almost everyone knows someone trying to solve the puzzle of how to navigate care for a loved one while maintaining quality of life. In-home care and memory care facilities can be impersonal and expensive.

Old Friends Club can be a game changer. Old Friends Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to improving quality of life for families navigating dementia. It offers connection, dignity, and relief that benefits those living with dementia, the people who care for them, and their greater community.

Old Friends Club offers independent and affordable daytime social gatherings where people living with dementia participate in music, games, conversation, and shared meals in a supportive, dementia-friendly environment. While participants experience meaningful engagement and joy, their caregivers gain time to rest, work, or simply get things done.

As one caregiver explains, “My husband leaves Old Friends Club smiling and stays calmer the rest of the day. Those hours let me shop, return calls, and breathe. Knowing he’s with kind people who understand dementia changed our week for the better.”

The Old Friends Club Network currently has nine locations which can be found on their website.

Old Friends Club is continuously looking for community-based organizations that are interested in helping families impacted by dementia. Organizations can become an Old Friends Club Affiliate and establish local programs in their community. Affiliates then implement this proven model that supports individuals living with dementia while providing essential breaks for caregivers.

Affiliate partners receive a comprehensive operational Toolkit©, support, ongoing training in dementia care, programming, and safety. They also gain access to the Old Friends Club Network for shared learning and support.

Being a part of this robust network ensures that new clubs are both sustainable and aligned with best practices in dementia care.

A staff member at one of our affiliates said, “I want to say thank you again and again to all of you at Old Friends Club for your support and structure! I am so deeply blessed and fulfilled by this work. And to see the delightful impact on families, members and our volunteers it’s (tough to find the right word) magnificent! I feel so grateful to offer this to our community! Take care and know your work has brought joy to Wenatchee!”

To learn more about becoming an affiliate, how to support Old Friends Club, or to inquire about a club near you contact us at welcome@oldfriendsclub.org, call 425-681-9776, or visit www.oldfriendsclub.org.

Interested in learning more about the Old Friends Club affiliate model?  Come to an information session on Thursday, Sept. 15 at 12 p.m.-12:30 p.m. to learn more. Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/NrAWHwz8RKCvnKUoQkQKGw

Cecily Kaplan is the affiliate success manager for Old Friends Club, working with community-based organizations and faith communities as they launch and sustain their own Old Friends Club programs. Kaplan brings over 40 years of experience in aging services, most recently as director of senior programs and services for the Phinney Neighborhood Association, and holds a certificate in gerontology. Kaplan is passionate about helping communities support seniors with dementia and their family caregivers.