Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay is closing. It offered dance parties, chair yoga and respite for caregivers

Micheal Pope (far left) inside one of the classrooms at Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay. Courtesy: Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay

Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay (ASEB), a 35-year-old nonprofit based in Berkeley that provides adult day care and other services for people with dementia, is closing its doors and ceasing operations on Dec. 13. 

The organization, which gives residents an “economical alternative to full-time residential or in-home care,” has served thousands of East Bay residents since its founding in 1989. But the nonprofit said the high cost of running the program, and delayed reimbursements from Medi-Cal and county grants, have left the organization in an unsustainable position. 

Micheal Pope, CEO and executive director of ASEB, laid out some of those high costs in an email sent to clients: “Van repairs have cost ASEB over $32,000 and the rising cost of gasoline has resulted in ASEB spending over $2,000 dollars a week,” she wrote. “The expenses of the program have risen faster than the reimbursements received.”

Even with timely reimbursements, ASEB would find itself in a financial hole. Medi-Cal reimburses $76 per day for each patient, a fraction of the $250 per day that it costs to run the program. Even private-pay families don’t cover the entire cost of the program, paying $150 per day.

Pope also noted that ASEB has had trouble meeting payroll, with Pope and others withholding their paychecks, and that the organization’s cash reserves have been depleted.

ASEB currently has 15 employees, down from 50 before the pandemic.

During the pandemic ASEB received Paycheck Protection Program loans and got support from Alameda County, but funding sources — especially from foundations — have dried up in the past three years, according to Pope. Individual donations have also dwindled, she said, and the organization has been unable to hold in-person fundraisers since before the pandemic. ASEB once had a program in Oakland inside Sutter Health Hospital, and another in Hayward. A Fremont location opened in 2014 but closed during the pandemic.

Along with adult day care services, ASEB also offers education and community outreach for the general public related to dementia care, and family support services, including a monthly caregiver meeting. 

Pope said that those caregivers, many of whom work full time jobs, were “devastated” after hearing the news of the closure. 

ASEB offered more than just a break to those caregivers.

“[The caregivers] are not getting respite in the true sense of the word, they’re going to work,” said Pope. “And the reality is their loved one comes here so that they can do that.”

Micheal Pope (far left) inside one of the classrooms at Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay. Courtesy: Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay

Odile Lavault, a recreation therapist and musician who works with seniors experiencing dementia, leads a monthly support group for families, some of whom have loved ones at ASEB. Lavault also regularly plays music at ASEB and has gotten to know many of the families there. She sees ASEB as an invaluable resource for Alzheimer’s patients to socialize with one another.

“There’s one gentleman that I see regularly and he goes two days a week and the rest of the time he has a mixture of family taking care of him and some paid caregivers,” she said. “He really likes going [to ASEB] because it’s socialization. For me this is really a resource that is unique.”

Ethan Mitchell, who manages the care of an ASEB client, echoed Lavault’s sentiments.

“He mostly appreciated socializing with people,” Mitchell said of his client. “I think it’s good for people’s moods to have a thing to do during the day. This population is so isolated. There’s not a lot of places for them, especially places that are so benevolent and focused on their well being. It’s a big loss.”

A 2015 article in the San Francisco Chronicle noted this aspect of ASEB’s work, describing how the staff offers a variety of group activities including songwriting circles, art therapy groups, a beauty salon and sweat-inducing dance parties. Lavault said that chair yoga is also popular at the center.

ASEB operates out of a building it owns on Channing Way, and hopes to sell it for $2.5 million. Pope said there is an interested buyer and paperwork for the sale is being drawn up. ASEB currently owes $430,000 on a mortgage loan. 

Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay plans to sell its building on Channing Way. Courtesy: Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay

The organization will use proceeds from the sale to pay off debt and offer severance packages for employees who have been with ASEB for more than a year. 

Pope is optimistic this won’t mean the end of ASEB.

“In January, we’re going to regroup with a new board,” said Pope, “and begin having the conversation, ‘How can we do what we’ve done, but in a more cost effective way?’”

Pope hopes to find a location inside an area church and is already in talks with local faith-based communities who may have large community rooms out of which ASEB can operate. 

In the meantime, Pope is referring her clients to Hong Fook Adult Day Health Center in downtown Oakland, but noted that the staff and participants primarily speak Cantonese and Mandarin, so it may be a bit of a challenge. 

“I’m hoping that we will have a Phoenix story,” she said. “That there’ll be this rise from the ashes of all of this. And I want to be the one to tell the good news that ASEB is back in the community because I know there are people who need us.”

Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay, 2320 Channing Way, Berkeley. Phone: 510-644-8292. Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.