Our goal is to develop creative solutions to address the escalating number of older adults expected to suffer from Alzheimer’s and other dementias over the next 30 years. Last fall we fulfilled our vision to become the premier memory care center of excellence in the state of Pennsylvania when we were named a Memory Care Center of Excellence under the Boston, Massachusetts-based Hearthstone Institute’s “I’m Still Here” comprehensive transformation training program. Our entire staff was trained in innovative memory care techniques through agency-wide culture change. In fiscal year 2017, we broke ground on the new (and now open) AHAVA Memory Care Residence on the JAA main campus, a premier assisted-living residential facility for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias based on the Hearthstone “I’m Still Here” model. Building on the lessons we learned from the Hearthstone training, we expanded our programming for the Anathan Club Adult Day Service. We put into practice an immersive arts and culture curriculum called We Are Art!, an innovative instruction that has reached those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia. We have learned from Hearthstone that through groundbreaking teaching techniques, “On one particular day, I stopped teaching to look around and I was overwhelmed with the fact that every senior was engaged in their own art making. This was exciting! I knew then that we were on the right track.” ­—Maritza Mosquera JAA Artist-in-Residence 5 (Continued on page 7)