David Kirby Memory Care and Hospice Fund

Our dear father, David Kirby, was diagnosed with (early onset) Fronto-Temporal Dementia/Primary Progressive Aphasia in July of 2021 at only 62 years old. His health has drastically declined in the last month, his vision and ability to communicate are almost entirely gone, and his memory is fading to the point that he is only able to remember something for about 30 seconds before he is confused again. My siblings and I are doing everything we can to support him, but the costs of memory care are roughly $8,000 a month and we are quickly being buried in a stack of IOU's to ensure our dad is receiving the care he needs. Please help to any degree you can! Every contribution and kind word makes this burden just a little bit lighter. Thank you so much!

His diagnosis came as a shock to all of us, he was so young and otherwise healthy. He had played baseball in a local league every year since kindergarten up until he was 60, was involved in creating and organizing yearly fundraisers for the local food bank and cancer care assistance, and was passionate about his lifelong career in graphic design. He has always been a loving, family-oriented and philanthropic man throughout life. Because of various hardships in his life, he does not have any retirement and his savings were quickly drained to cover living expenses as his ability to work decreased. He was moved into full-time care last week as he is no longer able to take care of himself or his most basic needs. We are now in desperate need of support to keep our dad safe and as healthy as can be in this incredibly challenging and heartbreaking process.

Since July 2021, it has been a continuous journey of trying to plan for the imminent future when he requires more extensive care. His memory has faded over the past couple of years, starting with him primarily struggling to remember specific words or occasionally struggling with names or short-term memory details. At the beginning of the year, he moved to a senior living community and was living independently- regularly going out for walks, playing card games with the other residents, engaging in social activities and connecting with his immediate and extended family.

All of this suddenly changed on February 28th of this year. My Dad called my sister in a panic because he could hardly see and his vision wouldn't focus. She rushed to take him to the ER and from that day forward it has been an endless stream of doctor's appointments, tests, phone calls, emails and paperwork. All trying to ensure there wasn't something else wrong going on. Unfortunately, after a laundry list of tests and consultations, it has been determined that my dad's loss of vision is permanent, caused by his FTD/PPA and will only continue to degrade. From one day to the next my dad went from being primarily independent, to not being able to dress, feed, bathe or walk without constant assistance and hands-on care. He is struggling to remember who people are, getting angry and skeptical of those who care for him, unsure of how to accomplish the simplest tasks and more and more confused with every passing day. All of us are reeling from this heartbreaking and sudden change, to see a man that has been so good-natured and kindhearted having to go through so much pain and confusion on a daily basis. It doesn't seem fair.

Our utmost concern is making sure our dad has the care he requires to be safe and as comfortable as possible. My sister has worked tirelessly to try and find every corner possible to cut, taken advantage of every benefit and resource the government has to provide. We've searched for grants and organizations that help with covering care costs for those affected with dementia and we are still falling thousands of dollars short every month to give our dad the care that he needs.

Currently, we are about $6,000 a month short and we are all doing our best to cover that, but unfortunately are not in the position to be able to sustain that type of contribution At $6,000 a month, that's $72,000 for 12 months. We are trying to reach that goal to ensure that he is able to stay safe and secure while receiving the care he needs.

Thank you so much in advance for your generosity and care!