GEORGETOWN, Texas — Vic Figurelli's wife, Camille, died in 2016. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2011. Between those years, Vic had to make tough decisions to take care of Camille, including when to place her in an assisted living facility.
Now, Vic is helping open a new facility called A Gift of Time. The board of directors wants to open the building for the nonprofit to provide an adult daycare facility for those dealing with early to mid-stage dementia.
"I lost my wife three times," Vic said, "when she stopped knowing me at home; when I put her into the facility when she no longer was home physically; and then when she passed away."
Camille's forgetfulness started appearing in small ways.
"I would go into the glove compartment [of the car], or the little compartment on the side, and I would find directions being written for her," Vic said, "which meant she would stop someplace to get directions to go home."
Vic and Camille moved to Georgetown more than 20 years ago. Once Camille was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, the disease got progressively worse. The two of them used to complete 1,000-piece puzzles together, but as her Alzheimer's deteriorated, so did her abilities to focus.
"We would end up doing puzzles, and when she got tired of that I would put the television on. When she got tired of that we would go for a walk. When she got tired of that we would do more puzzles," Vic said.
She didn't just lose focus, her memories started to fade.
"She would say, ‘Who are you?’ or she would call me by a cousin’s name or – towards the end – thinking I was her father," Vic said. "Losing her during that time frame that was difficult because you don’t have any memories to share because she doesn’t remember what happened yesterday. You can’t even share future plans because she would forget about it."
RELATED:
With Camille in mind, Vic is now helping jump-start A Gift of Time. Using his own experience, he knows the nonprofit will help others taking care of their loved ones with memory loss.
"There is research that indicates adult daycare centers extend the time the person can be living at home," Vic said. "That would’ve allowed me to delay that inevitable decision for some time longer. How much longer? I don’t really know. In retrospect, I would’ve taken another day, another week, another month if I could've had it."
Vic added each caretaker has a similar, yet equally unique story.
"Caretakers, generally speaking, have very little time to themselves," Vic said.
Vic brought Camille daycare facilities in Williamson County whenever he needed to run errands – for example, grocery shopping, writing checks or going to an appropriately timed movie. However, he said it seemed as soon as he dropped her off, he was picking her up.
A Gift of Time would operate Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. while providing programming, meals and mental exercises for all patients. Vic added that, differently than the daycares he used, A Gift of Time would also be able to administer medicine when appropriate.
According to Josie Zamora, the founder of the nonprofit, the organization needs to raise a total of $735,000 for the building, programming and staffing. Zamora said so far they've raised approximately $50,000 but have also applied for grant funding that would cover the rest, if not all, of the associated costs, except for paying for staff.
Zamora is hoping to open the building in spring or summer of 2020, after the State approves of renovations made to the building the organization is looking to lease.
If you would like to donate, you can do so on A Gift of Time's website.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: