Co-founder Matthew Call’s desire to better the lives of people with dementia began in 1996 when his high school assigned him to work at a local nursing home to fulfill his senior service, a graduation requirement. During his first week there, a nurse introduced him to one of the residents, a bedridden woman with dementia. After being introduced, the woman excitedly asked the staff member if Call was her son. The nurse told her that he was not and that her son had passed away years earlier. The woman was heartbroken. Even as a teen, he knew there was a better way to respond, one that wouldn’t hurt her. During his next visit, the woman again asked if he was her son. This time, the nurse was not present, and Call smiled and told her that it was good to see her and that he’d like to spend time with her. The woman was overjoyed. It was then that he realized that he wanted to spend his life helping improve the lives of others.

After college, Call spent the next twenty-two years working with individuals with cognitive impairments, during which he continued to witness what he had seen volunteering in high school: providers inappropriately addressing care-related challenges. After attending several dementia training courses, he realized why those tasked with care experienced such difficulties: there was a lack of quality education. These classes offered a basic understanding of the condition. Still, they failed to offer solutions; all of them emphasized using medications to manage symptoms over holistic approaches despite evidence that the latter intervention is often more effective.

In response, in 2015, Call began researching alternatives to pharmaceutical interventions and started consulting with various organizations, implementing the methods he discovered. Having experienced great success in his endeavor, The Center for Holistic Dementia Care is the product of both his previous successes and his future commitment to quality care.

Co-founder Mel Mirabello’s career as an educator stems from her desire to make learning both fun and rewarding. She has designed lessons for her classroom, created curriculum materials for private clients, academies and software companies, and worked as an independent contractor developing slideshows, editing, and writing. Her enthusiasm for reaching learners through various methodologies and frameworks such as the theory of multiple intelligences has inspired her collaboration with Matt at The Center for Holistic Dementia Care.