Barb Stewart with the DB Foundation for Health Research asking Vernon City Council for an in-kind donation to support a Memory Cafe event (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

Memory Cafe

Organization seeking support to host local Memory Cafe event

Jun 10, 2025 | 1:55 PM

An agency that supports people with alzheimers and dementia is looking for some support to host a local event.

Barb Stewart, program coordinator for the DB Foundation for Health Research, appeared before Vernon City Council Monday to ask for assistance putting on a Memory Cafe event.

“[Memory Cafes invite] all those with all stages of cognitive decline and dementia, their families, their loved ones, their caregivers, and their community members [to come together and learn more about the disease],” Stewart told council Monday.

“We’ve conducted pilots and the findings from all the feedback is that they are addressing the stigma and the isolation; they like that we are featuring, at every Memory Cafe, stories of the lived experience of dementia, people really want to hear from the people currently going through it.”

Stewart added this type of event would align with the City of Vernon’s strategy to make the community more senior-friendly.

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The foundation had already received $2,000 in community support to put on the event, and asked the City of Vernon to provide in-kind support in the form of waiving rental fees for the Creekside Conference room and the kitchen at the Vernon Recreation Centre.

The event, which would be held on September 19, would feature arts and recreation activities, food, as well as the opportunity for people to gather and learn more about the alzheimers and dementia.

Vernon City Council accepted the request for information and asked staff to come back with a recommendation and estimated cost associated with waiving the rental fees.