By LOIS KINDLE
Being the caregiver of a family member with Alzheimer’s or other form of dementia is a tough job. While the role can be gratifying and is undertaken with love, it can be all-consuming and demanding, often resulting in physical, mental and emotional stress.
Folks at the United Methodist Church of Sun City Center understand this. Its Breakaway Ministry program offers caregivers respite for several hours twice a week to give them a break, so they can take some free time away from their loved ones to exercise self-care.
Renee Tisdale, director of the Breakaway Ministry at Sun City Center United Methodist Church, invites caregivers in the community to learn more about the respite program, which will celebrate its fifth year this September.
Knowing their family members are safe, cared for with love and being enriched through stimulating activities and the companionship of others, caregivers can do whatever they desire with their time off – run errands, get their hair styled, do some shopping, attend a meeting or simply relax.
“The program is open to anyone,” said its director Renee Tisdale. “Caregivers and participants don’t have to be members of the church or any particular faith at all. Everyone is welcome.
“Participants must be ambulatory, able to feed themselves, tend to their own restroom needs and have no violent tendencies,” she said.
All participants are living with some form of dementia, Tisdale said. The median age is 78.
Each of the Breakaway Ministry gatherings includes a variety of stimulating activities for participants, who are also known as “friends” in the program. These include a creative array of arts and crafts, exercises, cognitive games and puzzles, music and dance, service projects and more. Volunteers spend time one-one-one with members of the group.
A full family-style lunch is provided by the church, and volunteers often bring desserts.
The gatherings take place in Creason Hall Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants may attend one or both days.
Antoinette Desimone is seen here with Breakaway Ministry volunteer Amanda Funk, who is helping her work on an arts and craft project. Desimone has participated in the respite program almost since its inception.
The cost is $40 per day, with scholarships available for folks in need. Funding for the program, a community-wide ministry of the United Methodist Church of Sun City Center, comes from program fees, grants, private donations and the church.
The program includes an optional, free caregivers support meeting the first Monday of every month from 10 to 11 a.m. Any caregiver in the community is welcome to join.
To learn more about the Breakaway Ministry or to schedule a meeting and tour to see for yourself what it’s all about, call 813-634-2539, ext. 1011, or email breakawaymin@sccumc.com/.
World War II veteran Reggie Brilliant, 97, listens as Breakaway Ministry volunteer Tere Seggerman suggests his next puzzle piece during a recent gathering at Sun City Center United Methodist Church’s Creason Hall.
How Breakaway started
In 2019 the South Shore Council of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay gave $44,500 to the United Methodist Church of Sun City Center to support its new Breakaway Respite Ministry. The program was started and overseen by The Rev. Pam DeDea, then associate pastor.
A portion of the funding was set aside to hire a director and cover some of Breakaway’s start-up expenses. It was also used to add better lighting in Creason Hall. The remainder went to scholarships for people in need.
The foundation recently awarded an additional $10,000 to generally support the program.
“Due to increasing numbers of people in our community who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, we started this ministry to help support the growing number of folks caring for them,” said Victoria Sorensen, the church’s current director of ministry. “We also provide our site as the venue each year for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s, where we highlight the efforts of Breakaway and its volunteers.”
These efforts affect many lives.
“Caregivers express overwhelming gratitude for time they get to spend taking care of themselves,” Tisdale said. “They also tell us their loved ones may have been initially nervous about coming, but now they look forward to it. Our friends may not always remember what we do while they’re here, but they absolutely leave knowing they are loved.”
The work is especially meaningful to those who work with these people.
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Twice weekly gatherings of the Breakaway Ministry respite program are filled with highly social, enriching activities for participants while their caregivers enjoy some free time away to do things for themselves.
“I’m serving God and having fun at it,” Tisdale added, noting, after 20 years in the Navy, she was quite happy being retired.
She volunteered in 2019 to help at Breakaway, fell in love with the program and became director three years later. “Feeling all the love in the room and knowing we’re making a difference in the lives of our friends and caregivers every time we meet gives me and all our volunteers such joy.”
If you’d like to support this community-wide ministry, you can mail a check earmarked for “Breakaway” and made out to Sun City Center United Methodist Church, 1971 Haverford Ave., Sun City Center, FL 33573; stop by in person; or visit www.sccumc.com/.
Volunteers are always welcome.