Life Before Alzheimer’s San Diego
Originally from Northern California, Maddie Shureen first came down the coast to attend San Diego State University where she studied Rhetoric & Writing Studies and Journalism & Media Studies. In 2019, one of her classes had students connect with nonprofit organizations to learn about professional writing and communications within the field. She then “reached out to Regina [Director of Grants & Advocacy] without even knowing her or what grants really were to see if I could learn more.” After connecting with Regina for the project, Maddie ended up writing a grant proposal for our social activities programs. To get a better understanding of the program, she volunteered in the Memories in the Making activity and still keeps the watercolor painting of a dancing candy corn she made. Maddie then interned with us in 2020, and officially joined the team full time in 2021.
While at SDSU, she also worked on campus as an RWS fellow and in the university’s writing center. Through these experiences she says she “learned so many different kinds of writing styles and how to craft proposals to help people understand community needs.”
Importance of Grant Funding
As our Grants Specialist, Maddie’s role boils down to making sure the organization has income from grant opportunities and makes sure funders see the impact of the programs they support. Through submitting grant applications for services and organizational needs, to putting together grant reports for demonstrating progress of what’s being funded, Maddie works with every department on our team. Grant funding keeps programs free and available to everyone in San Diego County, which is why she mentions that “hearing feedback from community members who use our services, including anonymous feedback from program evaluation surveys, is so important.”
When Maddie first joined Alzheimer’s San Diego, she wanted to be able to write about each service thoroughly. She decided to attend a number of education classes, met with each program’s team, and more so she could see how each aspect of the organization helps the community in different ways.
“I have the privilege to see the whole picture, from our team supporting someone, to a foundation investing in our services so we can stay a resource for anyone navigating dementia. Every week I hear about how people receive some piece of knowledge, or emotional validation from a team member that helped that person in some way. It’s the moment where I think ‘Oh yeah, this is why I do this.’“
Maddie’s Perspective
Maddie’s grandmother lived with Alzheimer’s disease before she passed, but Maddie didn’t understand what dementia really meant at the time. “Ultimately, the only thing I really had power to do as a young adult was to make sure my grandma felt loved and laughed. Even when she stopped fully recognizing me as her granddaughter, her smile became the most important thing to me.” She wishes she would have known back then what she knows now about services for people living with dementia, but she’s glad she’s now able to contribute towards providing these free programs for everyone in San Diego County.
View our services page to see all the programs that grants help fund like education classes, support groups, social activities, Spanish services, and more.
By Braulio Ambriz
RECOMMENDED: Alzheimer’s San Diego awarded major grant by the DOJ
