Alzheimers Ballet Teacher
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Carissa's Caregiving Journey with Miss Joan & Alzheimer's
Palm Beach Post — Extraordinary Lives of Local People - Feature Story
Carissa's Keynote Speech for Alzheimer's Community Care
Those who knew Miss Joan Miller during the days of the Palm Beach Ballet Center know of the countless nights she slept at the studio, the thousands of costumes she sewed, and the endless professional productions and full-length ballets she put on for the community…. For free… for love. But, sadly after more than a half-century of excellence and almost 6 decades of training the world’s most accomplished dancers, Miss Joan fell ill to Alzheimer’s, and the oldest business in Lake Park, the Palm Beach Ballet Center, closed its doors. As Miss Joan’s memory began to fail her, her studio was stolen from her, her home foreclosed, her animals confiscated, and medicaid warehoused her in a depressing nursing facility that felt like a hospital-prison. The woman who perfected the art of movement was encouraged to stay in bed and waste away at an end stage facility in a ward room with 5 beds. She was robbed of her dignity, and even her name. The nursing home nurses called her “Emily.” Anyone who ever knew Joan did not know her legal name was Emily Joan Miller. She was Joan and she was even more confused than she needed to be having to respond to Emily. She went from being a SOMEBODY to a bed while she was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, and still quite mobile and lively. She was robbed of her life years before the disease progressed, and she just was not suitably placed.
How did this happen to such a distinguished woman in the community? Unfortunately, Miss Joan had no real advocate or next of kin. Miss Joan never married, she never had children, she is an only child, and her parents are dead -- though her father passed of Alzheimer’s disease in 2004 and she cared for him until the end at 94 years old, she had noone to care for her. The community was her family, and her students, like me, were her kids. That’s when I decided to make her care and dignity my responsibility.
She paid it forward by giving me (and many others) free ballet training my entire life and she enriched the community with free performances, for more than 55-years. Her generous heart and selfless dedication to bettering the arts and the community deserved a more dignified exit. It was my time -- and now, our time -- to pay it back. That’s when I took over Power of Attorney, left my six figure law job, opened the Law Offices of Carissa Kranz, and moved her into my home.
I've been caring for Miss Joan in the home environment for into 6 years, at a significant sacrifice to my personal life and personal space. As the disease declined, I still did not have the heart to dump her back into the system I invested so many years to keep her out of, so I bought her and caregivers an apartment next to me. I have been sustaining all of this on my own without time to even ask for help. However, this purchase has been a huge expense, and the construction to make it perfectly comfortable an even bigger unprojected expense. Joan touched thousands of lives and this should be a community effort to keep her in the community. The apartment should be all completed in the next 60 days.
Any help is much appreciated, as I'm sure you can imagine, buying a home, maintaining a home, and managing a system of care is a costly endeavor. Joan Miller has a wonderful team of caregivers and services in the community, which I fought hard to get her and took years of advocacy. It would not be right to take that away from her now and dump her in a facility, like I found her, which is about all she could afford. We tried a "reputable" group home once, and within 3 weeks she almost died, two years ago. Right now, she is safest and most loved in the community with her current team of care.
Any assistance is greatly appreciated as we continue to make her NOW decent and dignified.
Palm Beach Post — Extraordinary Lives of Local People - Feature Story
Carissa's Keynote Speech for Alzheimer's Community Care
Those who knew Miss Joan Miller during the days of the Palm Beach Ballet Center know of the countless nights she slept at the studio, the thousands of costumes she sewed, and the endless professional productions and full-length ballets she put on for the community…. For free… for love. But, sadly after more than a half-century of excellence and almost 6 decades of training the world’s most accomplished dancers, Miss Joan fell ill to Alzheimer’s, and the oldest business in Lake Park, the Palm Beach Ballet Center, closed its doors. As Miss Joan’s memory began to fail her, her studio was stolen from her, her home foreclosed, her animals confiscated, and medicaid warehoused her in a depressing nursing facility that felt like a hospital-prison. The woman who perfected the art of movement was encouraged to stay in bed and waste away at an end stage facility in a ward room with 5 beds. She was robbed of her dignity, and even her name. The nursing home nurses called her “Emily.” Anyone who ever knew Joan did not know her legal name was Emily Joan Miller. She was Joan and she was even more confused than she needed to be having to respond to Emily. She went from being a SOMEBODY to a bed while she was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, and still quite mobile and lively. She was robbed of her life years before the disease progressed, and she just was not suitably placed.
How did this happen to such a distinguished woman in the community? Unfortunately, Miss Joan had no real advocate or next of kin. Miss Joan never married, she never had children, she is an only child, and her parents are dead -- though her father passed of Alzheimer’s disease in 2004 and she cared for him until the end at 94 years old, she had noone to care for her. The community was her family, and her students, like me, were her kids. That’s when I decided to make her care and dignity my responsibility.
She paid it forward by giving me (and many others) free ballet training my entire life and she enriched the community with free performances, for more than 55-years. Her generous heart and selfless dedication to bettering the arts and the community deserved a more dignified exit. It was my time -- and now, our time -- to pay it back. That’s when I took over Power of Attorney, left my six figure law job, opened the Law Offices of Carissa Kranz, and moved her into my home.
I've been caring for Miss Joan in the home environment for into 6 years, at a significant sacrifice to my personal life and personal space. As the disease declined, I still did not have the heart to dump her back into the system I invested so many years to keep her out of, so I bought her and caregivers an apartment next to me. I have been sustaining all of this on my own without time to even ask for help. However, this purchase has been a huge expense, and the construction to make it perfectly comfortable an even bigger unprojected expense. Joan touched thousands of lives and this should be a community effort to keep her in the community. The apartment should be all completed in the next 60 days.
Any help is much appreciated, as I'm sure you can imagine, buying a home, maintaining a home, and managing a system of care is a costly endeavor. Joan Miller has a wonderful team of caregivers and services in the community, which I fought hard to get her and took years of advocacy. It would not be right to take that away from her now and dump her in a facility, like I found her, which is about all she could afford. We tried a "reputable" group home once, and within 3 weeks she almost died, two years ago. Right now, she is safest and most loved in the community with her current team of care.
Any assistance is greatly appreciated as we continue to make her NOW decent and dignified.
Organizer
Carissa Kranz
Organizer
Jupiter, FL
