Prairie Elder Care has been helping people through the dementia journey for 10 years through our Group Homes, Day Program and Care Farm since 2014. We have seen the huge impact dementia has had not only on the person living with dementia but also the rest of the family. The person often lives with loneliness, helplessness and boredom and the caregiver struggles with caregiver burnout. Healthcare is in crisis and we need to find new ways to meet the growing care needs in cost effective and purposeful ways. Through the Prairie Elder Care Community Connect project, we can help both the person living with dementia and their caregivers at our therapeutic care farm and beyond in the future.

The purpose of the Prairie Elder Care Community Connect is to give people living with dementia who still live at home opportunities to do meaningful jobs and to give caregivers respite without the additional cost of paid caregivers. These jobs will set the person up for success with a job coach to ensure the person is set up for success and safety. 

The Prairie Farmstead is our first job site which offers many opportunities for meaningful work such as gardening, animal care, and sales at the local farmer's market. The addition of a greenhouse and interactive walking path will allow for year round work opportuntiies. The goal would be to create a model that other communities could implement in their neighborhood as well.