Encore respite ministry opens at Canterbury UMC

The Birmingham community now has another resource for individuals with memory loss. Encore has been in the works for nine months and celebrated its ribbon cutting at Canterbury United Methodist Church on Monday, June 6.

Valerie Boyd, director of senior adult ministries for Canterbury and Encore, thanked all of the volunteers and team members who helped build Encore, as well as Miller Piggot and Vance Holder of Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama.

“Here were are, nine months later. I feel like we are birthing a baby, and it is finally starting this long-awaited, amazing ministry,” Boyd said. “It truly has been a team effort.”

The ministry’s mission is to enrich the lives of adults with memory loss through fellowship and engaging activities and to provide resources for families and caregivers in the Birmingham community, Boyd said.

“We want all of you to know our Encore team is committed to walking on this journey with you and the caregiver and the families and anyone who participates in this Encore program, including the volunteers,” Boyd said.

Encore is open to the whole Birmingham community, Boyd said, not just Mountain Brook. All faith backgrounds and walks of life are welcome in Encore, she said.

“There will be lots of laughter and love among everyone in that room,” she said.

Canterbury United Methodist Church member Barbara Crane’s husband Ted Crane died in February 2014, about 10 years after he was diagnosed with dementia. She has worked with Encore over the last nine months to help build Encore.

“All of you have been walking this journey with us for the last nine months, and we cannot believe we are here, but thank God we are,” Crane said.

Crane thanked the volunteers who plan to work with Encore, noting that they cannot know the great impact they will have on those who come to Encore.

“And you don’t know, today, how happy you are going to be to be a part of that program,” she said. “You are the core, you are the cog that is going to run this instrument, and thank God for you all.”

The first day of activities for registered participants will be held June 7.

Encore community respite ministry will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cost is $40 a day and includes lunch. It takes place in Room M140 at Canterbury United Methodist Church at 350 Overbrook Road.

For more information about Encore or to learn about becoming a volunteer, visit encorerespite.org or email Patti Williams at encorepatti@gmail.com or Kristen Snell at encorekristen@gmail.com.