Please help the Sclimenti Family

The Sclimenti Family needs your help. John Sclimenti has been living with early onset Alzheimers for 7 years and the financial demands associated with his care and treatment have become overwhelming. Candace, John’s wife, has been the breadwinner and his primary caregiver while raising their two children, Roman, now 18 and Gia, 14.

Some history… things became clear that something was obviously wrong with John the Christmas of 2016. There had been many "odd" behaviors and lots of forgetfulness for a couple of years leading up to that point, but Candace just shrugged it off as "he's just not listening", or "he's tired", or "he's busy"... all of the usual excuses used to justify things we can't wrap our heads around. But when Candace actually confronted him that Christmas, he admitted that he was having memory problems and that something was really wrong. In January 2017, Candace took him to see his long-time neurologist (he had been a migraine sufferer for decades) who then referred them to a specialist at UCLA. John was originally misdiagnosed with FTD, and it took about another six months to get the proper diagnosis of early on-set Alzheimer's. While under the same neurological umbrella as age-related Alzheimer's, early on-set is much more aggressive and presents differently (although there are also similarities to age related.) So that fall of 2017 is when their world as they knew it shattered. Originally, they kept his diagnosis a secret sharing with only a few very close friends. For a few years, John was really good at hiding it. But, when it started to show more, slowly they began sharing with more and more people. Obviously, John couldn't work, but worse was that he couldn't collect unemployment and didn't qualify for disability. Long story short..... it's been a long seven years.

We are trying to raise $50,000 or more to cover the medical debt, rent for the year and funeral arrangements. We are hoping to go above and beyond the requested amount, particularly as Candace seeks to support her children in their educational pursuits.

We kindly ask you to help us show them the great love of community, as step by step, they begin to rebuild their lives. Your contribution of any size will be received as a gift of love and with the deepest appreciation.