South Central Austin Edition | January 2026

Health & wellness

BY DACIA GARCIA

Students are taken to nearby memory care facilities to apply what they’ve learned with community members.

The nonprot has taught an estimated 30 students per year.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MEMORY CAREGIVER ACADEMY OF AUSTIN

Memory Caregiver Academy of Austin shapes future caregivers Memory Caregiver Academy of Austin has spent four years training local high school students how to care for people with dementia. How we got here In 2001, founder and active director Debbie Wilder launched a respite program for community members with dementia. The program operated

Students are shown videos created by Wilder and her team that show how to be empathetic to those experiencing memory loss, including simplifying daily routines. After students watch the video series, an instructor visits the class to work with the students before they take trips to nearby memory care facilities. “We have placed a number of students in mem- ory care facilities after they nish the course and a number of them just have family members that they’re still caring for at home,” Wilder said.

for about 20 years before shutting down during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I started getting phone calls from all the caregiv- ers needing some extra help at home because they couldn’t take their family members anywhere,” Wilder said. “I kept thinking, ‘Gosh, we need to do something to get some more caregivers out there.’” The impact Marketing and outreach support specialist Rose Berg said the nonprot typically works in under- served communities with larger Spanish-speaking populations. This January, the organization is part- nering with Northeast Early College High School, Manor Senior High School and Summit Christian Academy in Cedar Park.

Facebook: Memory Caregiver Academy of Austin www.mcaaustin.org

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