The Lorenzo’s House Foundation is built around helping others who are suffering from Alzheimer’s, to make sure families know they’re not alone in the fight.
Tragedy often strikes when we least expect it, especially in the case of early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Chicagoan Diana Cose is seeing firsthand how harsh the reality of Alzheimer’s is.
“This has been very aggressive,” she said. “It has been five years and we already need full time home care.”
Cose’s husband Lorenzo has battled Alzheimer’s for about 5 years. Once she realized the disease wasn’t going away, she turned the tragedy into a teaching moment through her new foundation Lorenzo’s House.
“Lorenzo’s House is healing me and our family, and the big hope is that it can also help others,” Cose said.
The foundation works to bring people together. This year they held a virtual camp, where 20 families joined from across the country. Seth Rogan even shared some advice; he has an intimate knowledge of living with the disease because his mother-in-law had early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Caregivers shared treatments and strategies and, for the first time, kids met other kids going through the same thing as them,
“It definitely was something that was different for me, and that I think I kind of needed to learn how to develop how I would express myself as to what I’m going through,” said Arminah Lawrence, who attended the camp.
It’s not a cure but it’s a step forward for these families going through great difficulty, together.
This story originally appeared on ABC7 Chicago.