The SPARK! Program, facilitated by the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) of Brown County, is set to make its return to the Green Bay area in 2025, bringing along with it a year-long lineup of free, engaging experiences for individuals living with memory loss and their caregivers.
“The SPARK! Program is specifically a program for folks with dementia and their caregivers,” explained Michelle Erdmann, caregiver and prevention program manager at the Brown County ADRC. “It’s a program of creative discovery… You actually are engaged in a stimulating and new experience when you’re at the SPARK! Program and it’s really specific to museums, galleries, nature centers, cultural centers — any kind of cultural venue.”
Through interactive, creative activities, the SPARK! Program invites care partners and individuals with memory loss to stay engaged in their communities while embracing the present together.
“The program really is intended to help families that have loved ones with dementia to get out into the community and be able to socially engage,” Erdmann said. “When you’re a caregiver and especially for someone with dementia, it can be a very isolating experience… They’re welcomed at these kinds of venues where they can get out in the community and meet with other people that are facing the same kind of caregiving challenges and joys… They can have a little bit of a step in the right direction to socially integrate back into the community and try to really address those isolation issues.”
Erdmann said that isolation is a common challenge faced by caregivers.
“When somebody is caregiving for a loved one, there’s a lot of stress involved…” she said. “And if you can’t even get out in the community to see what other beautiful opportunities are out there for your own personal stimulus, that can be very difficult. It’s isolating being a caregiver.”
Through the SPARK! Program, caregivers have the opportunity to meet and connect with other caregivers, but also reconnect with those they are caring for.
“It takes the pressure away from the roles that these families are so used to — the caregiver and the person receiving care,” Erdmann said. “You can actually just have your original relationship back. It can be a husband and wife enjoying a fun activity in a cultural setting together. You’re moving out of the caregiving role and back into the role that you had as a loved one… You can actually go back to the original relationship that you had and not have all those worries or those layers on top of it. You can just be together in your relationship again as it perhaps might originally have been. That brings a lot of caregivers relief — to be able to just enjoy each other’s company again, doing an activity and not being in that caregiving role.”
And caregivers bringing their loved ones to a SPARK! event can feel comfortable stepping back from that caregiving role knowing that staff at all SPARK! venues have been trained to support their loved ones.
“For any one of the organizations that are hosting a SPARK event, all of their staff have been trained on how to work with caregivers and anyone with dementia,” Erdmann said. “They have a specific skill set and the activity that’s been chosen for each one of these events is appropriate for caregivers and people with dementia. It’s been very well thought out… [Attendees] are going to be walking into a group of people there to support them and to really create an environment where they can enjoy a cultural event together… And all of the activities aren’t just educational in nature. They’re very much hands-on. So you’ll not only learn about an activity, but you’ll also be able to physically create something that families will be able to take home.”
To ensure all caregivers and their families have access to this resource, SPARK! Program events are free to attend.
“It costs a tremendous amount of money to care for a loved one at home,” Erdmann said. “With the SPARK program, this is free. There’s no charge for caregivers and their loved ones to come to these programs, so that’s a huge barrier removed for families. Any person from any walk of life or socioeconomic status can come to this event and can feel welcome, feel connected and not have to be worrying about money.”
In 2025, SPARK! Program events will be held on the third Monday of each month:
• Jan. 20 – National Railroad Museum – Let’s Take a Train Ride!
• Feb. 17 – Neville Public Museum – Candy Creations
• March 17 – Mulva Cultural Center – Papermaking
• April 11 – Mulva Cultural Center – (Spanish Event) Abstract Art: Kandinsky
• May 19 – Neville Public Museum – Music Marvels
• June 16 – Neville Public Museum – People of Northeastern WI
• July 21 – National Railroad Museum – Christmas in July: Polar Express
• Aug. 18 – National Railroad Museum – Dining on the Rails
• Sept. 15 – National Railroad Museum – Oh No! Hobos!
• Oct. 20 – Mulva Cultural Center – Photography & Photograms
• Nov. 17 – Mulva Cultural Center – Space Flight
• Dec. 15 – Neville Public Museum – Holiday Memories
More details about the SPARK! Program and additional resources for caregivers can be found at adrcofbrowncounty.org.
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