Caregiver Resource Center

Success Story

For years, Jim Theisen cared for his late wife, Marita, as she progressed through Alzheimer’s Disease. While happy to support his spouse, the experience was physically and emotionally exhausting.

“My mother dealt with Alzheimer’s for a number of years, and Dad was the primary caregiver,” says Chris Theisen. “in the end, we had to get the entire family involved. It’s challenging dealing with anybody with a chronic illness. You think you can handle it all by yourself, but at some point in time, you need to reach out to other people.”

In recent years, Jim learned about and visited a center in Cedar Rapids that provides resources and support for caregivers like him and his family members. As Dubuque residents know, Jim leads the community through his generosity and vision, and his visit to Cedar Rapids led him to develop a vision for a caregiver center in Dubuque.

Just as the entire Theisen family has helped care for Marita, the family is supporting Jim’s vision for the Dubuque Area Caregiver Resource Center. Located within Stonehill Communities, the Resource Center is a place where non-professionals who care for loved ones with chronic illnesses can go to learn, make connections, unwind and take care of themselves. Most of these resources are available at no cost in the interest of supporting caregivers.

According to a 2004 study cited by the national Caregiver Action Network, 78% of adults in need of long-term care depend on family and friends as their only source of help. Yet there are few resources to support these caregivers through the stress of tending to their loved ones' needs while balancing other life matters. The Caregiver Resource Center is a first of its kind in the Dubuque region — a community resource and gathering place where caregivers can go for support, learn from others, and not feel alone.

"No matter what caregivers need — even if it’s just a hug — this center will be there to provide it," says Jim. He has generously contributed $1 million as a challenge grant to make the center reality, and he is asking the community to match his gift. Jim envisions the Center will be a sustainable nonprofit that doesn’t need to conduct annual fundraising and create competition with others in the area.

Stonehill already works with social services professionals, making it an ideal organization to provide the space for the Center within its new administrative outreach building and host a coordinator position on its staff. The Center will offer:

Educational, medical and legal library and resources
Social work assistance
Support groups
Stonehill's Wellness Center and massage services

“Stonehill is committed to sharing our experience and expertise in these areas with the broader community,” says Gretchen Brown, president and CEO of Stonehill Communities. “We are so excited to be part of this wonderful initiative for the Dubuque community.”

The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque is assisting the Theisen family in raising $1 million to match Jim Theisen’s challenge grant and create an endowment fund that the Foundation will host. The fund will pay out $100,000 annually, sustaining Center operations forever.

“There will come a point in many of our lives when it will be up to us to care for someone we love, or our loved ones will be providing the care we need,” says Shirley Templeton Vaughn, project coordinator at the Foundation. According to a 2009 report by the National Alliance for Caregiving, in collaboration with AARP, more than 65 million people, 29% of the U.S. population, provide care for a chronically ill, disabled, or aged family member or friend during any given year and spend an average of 20 hours per week providing that care.

“The entire family benefits when caregivers have easy access to the resources they need,” says Templeton Vaughn. “Those providing care have the reassurance that the help they are receiving is coming from experts in their fields, while those who are ill benefit from the expert assistance their caregivers will receive.”