A common question for loved ones of someone battling with dementia is how to combat the inevitable loneliness the disease brings.
If you ask Dementia Friendly Buckeye, the answer to that question is a monthly social gathering, beginning at 9 a.m. the second Tuesday every month at Buckeye Senior Center, 201 E. Centre Ave. It connects people with memory loss to a network of caregivers, friends and family.
It was created as a local initiative after evaluating what was missing for Buckeye families impacted by dementia.
One thing that stood out was how isolating memory loss can be. That’s why Buckeye’s Memory Café events remind the city’s seniors they’re not alone.
“The café events really don’t feel clinical, and that is intentional,” said Jaime Ryum, Community Engagement Coordinator for Dementia Friendly Buckeye.
Participants spend time together over coffee, snacks and activities. The goal is to foster the sense of community that is often lost when seniors enter memory care units with the opportunity to bond over games and activities.
Buckeye Memory Café is a community program open to people living with dementia, caregivers and loved ones throughout all of Buckeye.
An average of 25-30 people attend the memory café monthly since its 2025 inception.
“What has been exciting is watching it become a little community within the community,” Ryum said. “Dementia may change the way someone experiences the world, but it should never take away their need for friendship, laughter, purpose and belonging.”
A diagnosis of dementia can make someone’s world become very small very quickly. Friends stop calling, families become hesitant to go places and caregivers can become incredibly isolated, said Ryum.
“The Memory Café gives them somewhere they know they are welcome and nobody has to explain or apologize for dementia,” Ryum said.
Dementia Friendly America grew that concept into a national network of communities focused on awareness, education and support for people living with dementia and their caregivers.
There are more than a dozen Arizona communities developing programs through Dementia Friendly America. Buckeye has been involved for the last year and a half.
For Ryum, one of the clearest signs the memory café became important to its participants occurred during a major storm.
“I assumed attendance would be very low, but 29 people still came. That says a lot about how important these relationships have become,” Ryum said.
