The Gainesville-Hall County Community Service Center (CSC) will open Café Joy on Aug. 1, offering free respite care services the first Saturday of each month for residents diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers.
The program was made possible by a $100,000 grant from the Alzheimer’s Association Center for Dementia Respite Innovation, which selected CSC as one of 34 recipients nationwide. Funds will be used to create a coffeehouse‑themed space where guests with mild to moderate dementia can enjoy arts, crafts and entertainment while caregivers take time for themselves.
“Caring for someone living with dementia can be challenging. This grant will help us provide much‑needed dementia‑specific respite care and services for people living with dementia and their caregivers,” said CSC Director Phillippa Lewis Moss.
Café Joy will expand gradually, adding second Saturdays January 2027, third Saturdays in July 2027 and fourth Saturdays in January 2028. Moss noted the growing need for such services, citing a 338% increase in Alzheimer’s diagnoses reported by the Northeast Georgia Physicians Group between fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
CSC will also receive training and technical assistance from the Alzheimer’s Association to ensure services are dementia‑capable and sustainable.
Applications for Café Joy are now open, requiring both a Family & Caregiver Application and a Caregiver Needs & Interests Survey. For more information, visit ngcf.org/ngcf-grant-programs or contact Moss through the center’s online form.