The Genius of Caring

Dear GlobalGiving Community,

We want to thank all of you, our community of support, for your generosity, love and kindness. Due to your ongoing support, we have been able to continue to serve caregivers through our work. The Genius of Caring campaign is designed to support caregivers and the loved ones of those affected by caregiving intensive diseases. For healthcare professionals, students, and others, the project also offers a uniquely intimate glimpse into the caregiving experience and creates an intimate portrait of a community connected through compassion.

In the face of what can be a very isolating experience, we are extremely proud that our work continues to provide a space for caregivers and their loved ones to share their experiences and create a meaningful community. Individual caregivers, who have participated in our community events, or contributed to our website and via social media channels, have told us how much they appreciate this welcoming and supportive space to share.

We now have over 350 stories contributed to our Care Gallery. We are connected to more than 5500 social media followers and post daily, interacting personally with this community. 

PROJECT UPDATE: Dolores & Chuck

We are excited to share that we are in the final stages of editing our latest portrait of Dolores and Chuck. Dolores and Chuck were a warm, giving, loving couple that had been together for 36 years. We began filming with them last year just before Chuck passed away from late stage Lewy Body dementia. We have continued to film with Dolores through the process of mourning her loss. She is a brave compassionate and generous soul who tells it like it is. In the later stages of Chuck’s disease and since he passed, Dolores has been very committed to helping other family caregivers. She is active in support groups and knows first hand how candidly sharing her experience has the power to help others. We feel honored to have met both Dolores and Chuck and look forward to sharing their story.

When the film is completed, we will present both a stand alone short documentary film that will be screened at community events and in festivals as well as a chaptered interactive story that will be added to the PORTRAITS page of The Genius of Caring website.

Here is a message from Dolores:

"My husband Chuck, the love of my life, passed away on March 12, 2017. During the last two or three weeks of his life, he had a difficult time swallowing liquids and solid foods. The swallow specialist changed his diet to thicken fluids and puréed food, but also told me this issue would increase to the point where he would stop eating and taking fluids.

After that conversation, I reached out to hospice. Another layer of care was comforting to me, but it only lasted for nine days. My heart is broken, my life without him seems surreal. For those caregivers out there, enjoy every moment your loved one shares with you!"

We wish you and your loved ones Happy Holidays!

With gratitude,

Banker White

The Genius of Caring project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works and through the generous support of these organizations and individuals: Sundance Institute, The Fledgling Fund, Home Instead Senior Care, SFFILM, Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund, PSW Family Foundation, Abigail Disney, McCance Foundation and private donors.