I am very pleased to report on the impressive growth of the NYC Chapter’s Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return^® enrollment figures for fiscal year 2006. Through funding received from the NYC Department for the Aging, Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor; Edwin Méndez-Santiago, Commissioner; and Councilwoman Maria Baez, Committee on Aging; Safe Return enrollment increased by 117% from FY 05, with 1,821 new enrollees. We saw growth across the board in diverse neighborhoods throughout NYC: 80% increase in the Hispanic/Latino community, 94% increase in the African-American community, and 117% increase in the Asian community. We ended the year with a total of 7, 512 New Yorkers registered in Safe Return, more than any chapter in the network.

The Chapter could not have accomplished this alone. Thank you caregivers, clergy, social workers, geriatric care managers, nursing home directors, managed care providers, and Visiting Nurse Service who accepted the invitation to learn about Safe Return and help us register family members, residents and clients. We are especially grateful to the help and support of our partners at the NYC Department for the Aging. A special thanks also to the New York City Police Department for assisting us in training police officers and cadets about the Safe Return program. We appreciate the assistance of the NYPD during the annual Community Night Out, this year on August 1st, where Safe Return information was distributed at every precinct throughout the five boroughs.

I want to take a moment to say thank you. It has been a great privilege working and partnering with you in this outreach. I look forward to continuing our partnerships and establishing new ones during this new fiscal year. I would like to acknowledge my Safe Return staff, Raisa Furman and Niurqui Imbert, all of the Safe Return volunteers, and my colleagues at the Chapter who have worked tirelessly this year to achieve this level of success.

We realize that even with increased enrollment figures there is still a lot of work to do. Let’s remember that there are over 200,000 people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia living in our five boroughs of NYC - 6 out of 10 will wander. Many will become lost or seriously injured if not found within a 24 hour period. The NYC Grant continues to be available to cover the cost of Safe Return enrollment and identification products for all persons living in the five boroughs who have a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or other form of dementia.

If you would like to enroll someone in the Safe Return program, please call
212-983-6906 ext. 205 or click here. For those who are already registered, please call
1-888-572-8566 to update your contact information.

—Elizabeth Santiago,
Manager, Safe Return

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