How do you fight a disease with no known cure?

This was the question that prompted me to create The Memory Tree.  Over thirty years ago, when I was working in the Geriatrics Department as the co-director of the Information Core of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, I started designing a program that could make a difference for people in the early stages of memory loss.

I recognized that people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders have the desire and the ability to play an active role in our society but were being marginalized because there were no programs created with them in mind.  They were being told there was nothing that could be done until the disease progressed to the point where they would need an adult day-care program or a nursing home.

That is why I founded the Early Alzheimer’s Foundation Inc, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to help this underserved community.  The Memory Tree, its signature program, was the first in New York City, and one of the first in the country, to focus exclusively on people in the early-stage of memory loss. 

It isn’t just the memory-challenged that need our services.  Friends, family, and other caregivers benefit from the support, respite, and community we provide as they deal with their responsibilities and the transitions forced by the disease. 

There still is no magic pill that doctors can prescribe that will halt memory loss. But the literature is clear, we are not helpless.  There are things we can do.

The Memory Tree engages our participants in mental exercise through fascinating classes; providing just the kind of stimulation needed to foster brain development.  We also incorporate gentle chair-yoga to engage the body-brain connection.  It is this multi-disciplinary, holistic approach, and our single-focus on early-stage individuals, that sets us apart from other programs.