Editorial: Mill Valley church’s dementia program has great potential

A Mill Valley church’s plans to start offering local day care for people suffering from early to moderate dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, represents a small, but significant step for a community seeking to address a growing need.

It should serve as an example for others.

The Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church plans to open a special day social program for seniors with dementia to give their caregivers a break.

Facing projections that by 2030 one-third of Marin’s residents will be 65 years of age or older – a segment of our population most likely to suffer from dementia – the growing need for such a program is clear, even on an initially small scale of 15 clients two days a week.

The program will provide clients with opportunities for social interaction. Just as important, it will provide the caregivers, often loved ones, with some time off from the stress of their often-exhausting and very difficult tasks.

It is a community program aimed at addressing a real need.

The program, as Mill Valley Councilmember Caroline Joachim put it, is a “lifeline.”

It’s not surprising that the plan, which its organizers hope to have up and running around the middle of this year, won the enthusiastic support of members of the Mill Valley City Council. They were thankful.

The church’s program is modeled after an Alabama church-based program, Respite for All. It began in 2019 and has grown to 65 communities over 18 states.

“Respite for All’s social model of care doesn’t offer a cure for Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia but instead provides an immediate solution to the isolation that follows a diagnosis,” the nonprofit says in its 2025 annual report. “Participants can benefit significantly from opportunities to stay active and engaged, enjoying friendship and fellowship. Importantly, the Respite for All model is a sustainable model that draws on the principles of free space to operate (donated by a church), the support of trained volunteers from the community, and modest tuition to offset costs. The track record of sustainability continues to build.”
Mill Valley’s program, called Three Cheers, plans to provide respite care two days a week for four hours. The initial goal is to expand it to four days a week.

The cost would be $120 per day, including lunch. That’s a lot less than the cost of private caregivers.

Its startup has been fueled not only by the civic spirit of addressing a growing community need, but also by grants from the Respite for All Foundation, the county and the Marin Community Foundation.

The program hopes to raise additional funds and offer assistance with tuition. Mill Valley may be an affluent community, but not every household is well-off. Many seniors, including those who bought their homes when prices were far below today’s $2 million average price, are living on fixed incomes and are struggling to keep up with rising costs of living.

The city is writing a letter of support to boost the program’s grant-seeking efforts.

At the council meeting, San Rafael plastic surgeon Dr. Kyle Belek spoke of the need for these respite programs. “They preserve the dignity for those living with chronic illness. They protect the mental health of caregivers, and perhaps most importantly, they protect relationships from being consumed by the mechanics and fatigue of caregiving.”

The number of households facing the many challenges of Alzheimer’s will likely grow as Marin’s population grays – a scenario that a county grand jury termed the coming of a “silver tsunami.”

A 2020 state report predicted that the number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s would grow by nearly 22% by 2025.

While the need and its growth are obvious, Marin has had trouble sustaining adult day care programs.

In recent years, the Novato-based Marin Adult Day Health Center had to close due financial problems caused by lingering costs created by the pandemic and Medi-Cal and government reimbursement rates.

Thirty-six families lost that service. Likely there are many more that would welcome it.

Its program was much more extensive than Three Cheers’ plan. So was its budget.

Three Cheers is a modest example of a community responding to a real need. It’s a small program that will be of significant importance to those clients and caregivers.

Perhaps it will set an example that other Marin communities can model.