Bending the Arc

Earlier this month, in a recent presentation by Susan McFadden, co-founder of the Fox Valley Memory Project in Wisconsin, I learned some encouraging and meaningful things. Most notably is that all 72 counties in Wisconsin have dementia care specialists whose job description includes encouraging social opportunities for people with dementia. Actually, the word “dementia,” as Susan describes, is going away and will soon be replaced with a term that carries less stigma - “neurogenic disorders” or NGDs. More and more families, medical staff and caretakers are using the specific name of their loved one’s type of NGD when describing their disease.

Wisconsin is home to at least 130 “memory cafes” which are free social events designed for people living with memory loss and their caregivers. This is the most of any U.S. state, according to one national tracker. Other programs such as SPARK are located throughout Wisconsin, Michigan, Tennessee and Colorado. They provide programs for people with memory loss and their caregivers. 

Susan’s presentation took me back to the learnings from another presentation that CSA Regional Coordinators invited me to last October. The presentation, “Journeying with Sisters and Loved Ones with Dementia '' was presented by Dayna Hurst, a dementia and memory care specialist and consultant with the National Religious Retirement Office. It was from Dayna that I first learned that “dementia” is the umbrella word for several types of diseases to include Alzheimer’s Lewy Body, frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy dementia, alcohol-related dementia, and others. Through Dayna I also learned a few ways to physically support our friends and family with a form of dementia, but maybe most impactful was learning how to support our loved one emotionally, as well as ourselves. Dayna stressed we need to let go of what was, let go of our own agenda, to accept that we are the ones who have to change because our loved ones no longer can, and of course, to support our own wellbeing.  

For these reasons, I was grateful to hear from Susan recently and to learn of the many wonderful opportunities our state offers for respite care, caregiver support, dementia education, and more. Unfortunately, many of these programs require participants to be able to ambulate without assistance, feed and toilet themselves, and interact socially with others, so these programs do not work for those with severe cases of dementia and additional medical issues.

But these efforts for others must continue to expand. In a January 2, 2024, article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, it was reported that as of 2020 there are an estimated 120,000 Wisconsinites over the age of 65 living with Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia. We know those numbers will only continue to grow as Wisconsin’s population ages. Read the full article.

This has all grabbed my attention of late as one who is currently watching dear friends struggle with multiple diseases, including one or two types of dementia or “NGD.” It’s been as difficult to watch my friend slip away from her diseases as it is to watch her husband fight his stress, depression, and exhaustion in caring for her.

A bill proposed by two state officials to regulate wake surfing and wakeboarding fails to provide any meaningful protection against the activities’ impact and will be detrimental to paddlesports, fishing, wildlife, and will increase the spread of invasive species.

Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard, is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers.  Wake-enhanced boats create a wake 3 to 12 times greater than a ski boat. You can imagine the impact this has on swimmers, fishermen, and kayakers, but as this Silent Sports Magazine article explains, what it does to shorelines, lake/river bottoms, water quality, and animal life are devastating. 

LRB-3518 prohibits wakeboarding within (only) 200 feet of shore while the overwhelming majority of studies assert that 500 - 600 is required for wakes to lose their size and power. Wake boats can churn up harmful pollutants from lake bottoms as deep as Green Lake, the deepest lake in the state. This bill also prevents municipalities from setting their own regulations on the use of wake boats on bodies of water in their local communities.

It’s imperative that the legislature passes sensible regulations that balance the rights of everyone to recreate on Wisconsin lakes. Without common sense restrictions, Wisconsin’s tourism, property values, public safety, and the lakes themselves are at risk. If you care for Wisconsin lakes, join the discussion by contacting your legislator. Urge them to add the above common-sense provisions in any wakeboarding legislation. Find your legislator here.

Through prayer, testimonials, and dialogue explore how our food and consumption choices can contribute to a positive ripple effect for society or exacerbate the challenges faced by people and planet.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. On January 11th, Human Trafficking Awareness Day, the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) offered a special Zoom/webinar, called:  Mindful of Our Impact on People and Planet. A video recording of this session is now available for those who were unable to attend live, or who wish to rewatch the reflection.  

You are invited to continue taking time between now and February 8 (International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking) to consider in a heightened way the impact your choices have on people and planet. To help you get started in this effort, here is one resource for the week.

There is no true justice being served, or an ounce of humanity being considered, in what the state of Alabama is planning.

Kenneth Smith is scheduled for execution on January 25, 2024 for the 1988 murder of Elizabeth Sennett. Mr. Smith’s case is unusual in several respects. First, he has already survived one execution attempt, which left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a clinical psychologist and trauma expert who examined him. On November 17, 2022, the state tried and failed to execute Mr. Smith using lethal injection but abandoned its efforts after four hours when staff were unable to access a vein. 

Second, Mr. Smith would likely not be sentenced to death today. In 1996, a jury recommended that he receive a sentence of life in prison by a vote of 11 to 1, but the judge overrode its recommendation and sentenced him to death. Alabama judges no longer have the ability to override jury sentencing recommendations, so if sentenced today, Mr. Smith would not be facing execution. 

Third, unless an appeals court intervenes, Mr. Smith will be the first human being executed using nitrogen gas. The consequences of using this protocol are completely unknown, even to Alabama officials. Read the full story.

You can be sure groups such as Death Penalty Action have been working diligently to prevent this. But if the execution is not halted, please join Death Penalty Action, Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty and a variety of experts and special guests for an informative and prayerful vigil to protest the execution of Kenneth Smith. They’ll be live from Atmore, Alabama on Thursday, January 25 starting 5pm CT and will continue until after the execution is either stayed or completed, at which time they will be joined by Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, Kenny's spiritual advisor, to hear his first-hand experiences and observations of the first-ever nitrogen hypoxia prisoner-extermination. Register here to be a part of the live audience, or watch on the Death Penalty Action Facebook or YouTube platforms.

Should this horrific event happen, you can still take action in preventing it from happening again. Sign this letter and tell state governors to Say NO to the Gas Chamber.

The community is invited to engage with a short film and discussion that proves, Love Conquers Hate.

In this short (29-minute) 2022 documentary, a U.S. Marine plots a terrorist attack on a small-town American mosque, but his plan takes an unexpected turn when he comes face-to-face with the people he is about to kill.

You are invited to attend the free showing of this short film at the Moraine Park Technical College Conference Center (235 N.National Ave, FDL - Lot C, Door 02) Thursday, February 29, 2024, 4:00 - 6:00 PM. No registration required.

A panel discussion with special guests will follow the film.

This is the time to rethink our whole approach to society, to accept and implement social change and transformation. Peoples’ needs are changing in response to a quickly evolving context. People want more responsive action to address the key challenges. We need leadership to establish a renewed social contract integrating social, economic, environmental and political justice at both national and international levels.

The 62nd session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD62) will take place from February 5-14, 2024 in a hybrid (in-person and digital) format in Conference Room 4 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

This year’s priority theme is: “Fostering social development and social justice through social policies to accelerate progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to achieve the overarching goal of poverty eradication.”

UNANIMA International Executive Director, Jean Quinn, DW, chairs the Executive Committee of CSocD. Sr. Jean is pleased to share with us the 2024 Civil Society Declaration, which calls for placing people and justice at the center of social issues. 

The declaration demands transformative change by:

1. Establishing nationally owned, human rights-based, social protection systems and floors for all.
2. Ensuring equal access to healthcare, education, digital technology, affordable housing and food for all.
3. Extending debt relief for the least developed countries based on solidarity.
4. Ensuring equal access to a healthy and safe environment for all.
5. Ensuring that all persons are equal before the law without discrimination.

You can read the 2024 Civil Society Declaration here.

The Congregation of Sisters of St Agnes (CSA) has signed our support of the Declaration. It is now open to public signatures. You are invited to show your support by signing through this link.

The Declaration will be open for signatures/endorsements until February 2, 2024. Please share this Declaration with your networks!

All signatures received will be shared with Bureau members of this Commission, UN Member States and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs at the opening of the 62nd session of the Commission on February 5, 2024.