Alzheimers Disease And Related Disorders Association Inc

My husband first experienced confusion and loss of memory in March of 2000 while undergoing rehab for alcoholism. Being home seemed to help him until 2006 when he gradually began experiencing Alzheimer’s symptoms. He had four to five hours a day where he wants to get a "greyhound" to "go home." Also, he thinks I am his sister and believes he has rented a car (he hasn't driven in five to 10 years). His personal hygiene was in the tank — it was necessary for him to change two to three times a day. Without long-term insurance for his care, it was becoming stressful to care from him. this year our family doctor introduced and started him on Healthherbsclinic Alzheimer’s Disease Herbal Tincture, 6 months into treatment he improved dramatically. At the end of the full treatment course, the disease is totally under control. No case of Alzheimer’s, hallucination, forgetfulness, and other he’s strong again and able to go about daily activities. visit their official website, www. healthherbsclinic. com

As a consumer, volunteer, and board member of a local chapter, I agreed with the rest of the board to leave the national Alzheimer's Association 5 years ago. We did this in order to continue local services to surrounding rural & low-income areas. For it was then that the national Alzheimer's Association board, over much local objection, started requiring 40% of unrestricted income for themselves.
At that time they had already had their very expensive Gold Coast of Chicago corporate office to house their several dozen employees. We were shocked that CEO Johns then received more than $1 million/year in total compensation. Research showed that if you eliminate hospital CEO's and university presidents, $1 MILLION was already way out of line for non-profits who supervised so few staff.
But, in 2012 Mr. Johns' compensation had incredibly raised to $2.8 MILLION per year. That increase makes his pay package one of the fastest growing for nonprofits in the nation. In addition, there are now other additional staff in the national headquarters being paid over $1 MILLION per year.
The national now says that they had to reduce research dollars and increase salaries because they "had to take over operations for nearly 30 chapters since 2005. That means incorporating ... millions of dollars for salaries, travel expenses and other costs previously borne by those affiliates."
So their national fundraising staff in their hard-to-find Madison office is probably being counted as one of those 30 chapters that they just "had to take over". What the national staff does from their Madison outpost with no local accountability is to compete with the real service provider of 35 years, our Alzheimer & Dementia Alliance of WI. Their starting up another office under our former name caused great confusion and competition by scheduling fundraising walks close to ours and pretending they were us. They even had our mail forwarded to them and kept our emails until they got caught doing this. In hindsight, we should have had a no competition and no use of our name clause in our settlement with the national. But we did not expect the national to to be so ruthless.
If you want to assure quality services at the local level support your local chapter or independent organization. ​
For now the national headquarters demands that by 1-15-2015 all its 54 remaining local chapters must sign on to an Agreement called a "Mission Forward" to stay in good standing. Under that Agreement the local chapters would cease hiring their staff, would terminate their separate corporation, and would send 100% of funds they raise to the national headquarters. Many remaining chapters mock this approach, calling it a "Mission Forgotten."
Truly, to achieve better cognitive health we need to engage whole families and whole communities at the local level. We need to change our local cultures to connect all our differing abilities toward public health and well-being. We need our powerful "Mission Remembered".

I received a request for a donation in the mail. The purpose of the donation is very valid but I decided to check on the organization. I was appalled to learn the CEO's compensation for 2011 was 24% of Expenses. Over $550,000!! Put your expenses in line and maybe I will donate in the future. This year the CEO can make my donation**

I am a donor to a chapter of the Alzheimer's Association and am impressed with what they do for suffering families. I agree their national office does need to re-evaluate their email and telephone fundraising policies, but their program staff, the ones with boots on the ground helping families, are incredible, at least in this local chapter. They hold to an 20/80 expense to revenue which is far better than the industry standard. Yes their CEO makes $550,000, his education and years of experience with another non-profit have earned him that, it is actually considerably lower than most non-profit CEOs, St Jude's Children's Hospital's CEO makes $860,000. While it is true that NIH is the leading founder of Alzheimer's research, the Association is the worlds leading non-profit founder of cutting edge research that might not otherwise receive federal funding. As a result, they have been a part of every major breakthrough in Alzheimer's research in the past 30 years. That is why I am, and will remain, a donor and supporter.

I am a former donor. The amount of unsolicited literature sent, be it free cards, calendars, address labels, etc is overwhelming and bad enough. But their incessant calling on a daily basis under various guises/caller ID's---which I refuse to answer---makes me NEVER want to donate a penny to them again. They did the same thing last year in December and I finally answered the phone to tell them that I would not pledge any money to their association over the phone, that I should be contacted once/year by mail only, in the month of December and only then, would I consider giving again. They obviously didn't listen and don't care. Their constant phone calling borders on harassment. If this is indicative of their core principles and fundraising strategy, they don't deserve contributions.

I have been supporting the Alzheimer's Association with annual monetary contributions the past few years. Lately, they have been calling me repeatedly at dinner time soliciting me to mail letters to my friends asking them to contribute to their organization. When I explained to them that my current job, family, and civic responsibilities don't afford me any remaining discretionary time, they would not take my "no" for an answer and said that they would send me a letter writing packet. That's it!! I'm done with this organization. They will get no more contributions from me and I will block their telephone number. Let their CEO, who makes $550,000 a year, mail out letters to his friends and contribute some of his cash to their cause.

This organization seems more committed to building its own empire than to helping Alzheimer's patients. Only 70 cents out of every dollar raised goes to research or to patient/caregiver programs; the rest goes to administration and fundraising expenses. And it's unconscionable that their CEO, Harry Johns, is paid over $550,000 a year. Not exactly a paragon of sacrifice and altruism.

As an Alzheimer's caregiver--first for my father, now my mother--I have been given outstanding support by the Alzheimer's Association. I was a longtime member of one of their caregiver support groups, a group that kept me going through information and emotional support when the going was roughest. I've attended their caregiver six-week (once a week) course--invaluable! Twice I went to their financial information group, in which volunteer lawyers talk about managing family finances and the path to medicaid for Mom's care. The Alz. Assn. supports art organizations in New York which provide special tours for Alzheimer's victims and their caregivers--one of not very many mutually enjoyable things Mom and I do together. (more below)

My grandma and I have requested over 10 times to have her removed from the Alzheimer's Association's mailing lists, yet she continues to get mail from them asking for donations on a regular basis. My grandma suffers from dementia herself and often sends money to charities multiple times a week because she can't remember that she already sent them money. Being an organization that is supposed to support people who suffer from dementia, I can't fathom why they would continue to send her multiple mailings, despite being requested to remove her from their list so many times. It is completely disheartening to know that this charity is prowling the same people that they are supposed to be helping and squeezing as much money as they can out of them!

I am unimpressed with this organization. I never got any help from them when my wife had Alzheimer's. They don't actually fund most of the Alz research - the NIH does that - but they sure seem to take credit for it. Their administrative and fund raising expenses are very high. They lobby Congress for more money for Alz care and research - which I suppose is good - but I am pretty sick of the hype about every "breakthrough" - which may help people 5 or 10 years from now, but won't help anyone already suffering from dementia. How about helping the caregivers who are dealing with this every day of their lives?

I have regularly contributed to this organization for the past several years through the mail. Recently, I have been receiving calls from them, as evidenced on my caller ID. When I would pick up the telephone, no one would be there. Finally on 03/29/11 when I received another one of their calls, I spoke with Jennifer, who promised to take my telephone number off of their list, which she promised to do. In spite of this promise, the calls still continue. Needless to say, I will no longer contribute to this organization.