This episode kicks off the Caregiver Conversations Funder Series with a deep dive into the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation’s approach to strengthening caregiver support across Southeast Michigan and Western New York. Kristie King and Antonia Harbin Lamb sit down with Program Officer Misha Stallworth West, who shares how the Foundation is investing in both family and paid caregivers, supporting system-wide infrastructure, and challenging traditional philanthropy models. Through personal insight and institutional perspective, Misha outlines how the Foundation is working to shift culture, build community-based capacity, and elevate caregiving as a public priority.
Guest: Misha Stallworth West, Program Office, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation
Hosts: Kristie King and Antonia Harbin Lamb
Topics Covered
Resources Mentioned
The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation
Caregiver Conversations Podcast: caregiverpodcast@miseniors.org
Senior Regional Collaborative
Neighborhood Legal Services – Elder Law and Advocacy Center:
Kristie: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Caregiver Conversations, the podcast where we center the stories, strategies, and strength behind caregiving. I'm your host, Kristy King, executive director of the Southeast Michigan Senior Regional Collaborative,
Antonia: and I'm your co-host Antonia Harbin Lamb staff attorney with the Elder Law and Advocacy Center and program manager of Great Lakes Legal Mediation division.
Today marks the beginning of a new series on caregiver conversations, our funder series. In this series, we're highlighting the philanthropic leaders who are helping shape the future of care and wellness for older adults and their caregivers.
Kristie: So something a little bit different, Antonia. We're gonna be talking about some funders and how they support this work.
We're kicking things off with someone who brings both personal and professional insights to this work professional. Please welcome Misha Stallworth West Program officer at the Ralph C. Wilson Junior Foundation. Misha leads the foundation's investments to support caregivers of older [00:01:00] adults across Southeast Michigan and Western New York.
Misha, we are excited and honored to have you here today. Welcome to Caregiver Conversations.
Antonia: Thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here. So let's start with your personal caregiving story. You supported your great, great aunt. And all four of your grandparents, how has that experience shaped you, um, in your work in philanthropy?
Misha: Yeah, so I came into philanthropy three and a half years ago now and transitioned into this work from community programming and organizing and, um, family and, and just all of the things that really make my village and make me who I am. Um, so there are lots of things I bring into this work that I think are unique from, um, someone who may have spent their entire career in philanthropy.
But as it relates to caregiving specifically, you know, oftentimes when we're talking to service providers, the broader community. [00:02:00] And you say, um, we're thinking about caregivers of older adults, we're thinking about caregivers. The picture that comes into folks' mind is usually a spouse or an older child who has moved someone in with them that has, you know, dementia or Alzheimer's.
Mm-hmm. Like it tends to zoom in into this like, very specific portrait of a caregiver experience. Um, and none of my experiences looked like that. And none of my, um, friends' experiences have looked like that. So I'm really passionate about making sure the diversity of caregiver experience is recognized and that our services and systems, um, can meet folks where they are truly.
So, you know, my earliest experience was actually elementary school, maybe even a little younger. Honestly. Uh, my grandmother. Would travel to San Diego to take care of her aunt, who lived alone, had some home health support, um, did not have a lot of income. I, of course, it's elementary school, so I don't know all the details, [00:03:00] but I know that I would travel with her and usually the house was not kept up.
To the standard that we would, so we would clean things, clear out the fridge. Usually her nails were too long and you know, her hair was not as clean as we would've liked. So we would go through all of those things while also spending time with her. And of course, we could only get out there every so often.
So that long distance. Caregiving experience is my earliest experience. And then with my grandparents, I have, uh, I had a, uh, my grandma Rachel, um, had dementia also, did not have a lot of income for most of her life. Um, was in a nursing home. I. So a lot of what I was doing was going to nursing home every week, making sure she had what she needed.
You know, I've got the MSW in my family and it doesn't matter that it's in community organizing. They still want me to do case management.
Kristie: Yeah. Person-centered care always. Right.
Misha: So I'm always in the meetings with the other social workers going, yeah, I know. Some of [00:04:00] that, but actually I area about neighborhoods
Kristie: and people.
Misha: Um, so yeah, it, you know, it's, it's, it's the long distance. It's the nursing home. It's the, uh, I had another set of grandparents who took care of each other, but also we're in emergency rooms, and it's my dad and it's my brother, and it's the whole ne, you know, it always looked a little different. Like I said, it never looked like someone lives with me.
And the issue is dementia, Alzheimer's.
Kristie: I think it's interesting how we think about the spectrum of caregiving and how when we are impacted by caregiving, that those early experiences really do play on who we are as people. Mm-hmm. Really how we are as individuals, how we interact, um, how we move forward, how we even engage in our own work.
You know, professionally and personally, how we think about experiences. I think that's very interesting. Yeah. If you really, really look at it.
Misha: Yeah, I, I think so too. And I, and I think also the [00:05:00] hard thing is when you are, you know, doing the act of providing care for someone. And you take that role seriously, you take that responsibility seriously.
Then of course, the thing you center is, am I doing it well?
Mm.
Misha: Have I taken care of what this person needs? Um, you know, they, you see maybe their autonomy decline, their ability to do things for themselves, decline. And so now you're like, well, if I don't do it, their whole quality of life is relying on me.
Mm-hmm. So I have to focus on that. And then we, in philanthropy, we in service end up being the ones saying, well, let's take a step back and think about you for a second. Um, and so even when we're trying to center caregiver voices, we also in some ways have to bring to them the invitation to think about something other than the care they're providing.
Mm. To think about what they're going through. You know, it, it impacts your, your family. Right. I, when my grandmother got sick, my grandma Stallworth got sick. Um. [00:06:00] And, you know, my grandfather's involved, my dad's involved, my brother's involved. Okay. So what's my brother and i's relationship been like for the last 15 years?
Mm.
Misha: And what's his relationship with my dad been like for the last 15 years? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And where do I play in my general family with my grandparents and, you know, who's the favorite? Mm-hmm. Who's, what are the dynamics at play? Right. So you go in and you do the groceries, and you do the things, and then on your way there and on the way back, you're on the phone with these people trying to manage all these other relationships and dynamics.
Kristie: Yep.
Misha: And then you're exhausted.
Kristie: Yep.
Misha: Right.
Kristie: That's emotionally exhausting, just managing relationships without having to do with the caregiving piece of it all. Right?
Antonia: Right. Well, you really. Kind of gave us some insights, but are there any other lessons or any other insights that you've gained through your experience and how that is informed your foundation of where you work now, what you are doing now?
Is there anything else that you'd like to add to that or, I don't know [00:07:00] that there are any other
Misha: specific lessons that are unique to the experience I've had. With my family and with the folks that I've helped and other folks in my village that I've helped take care of. Um, I think one of the lessons of my life has been the importance of multi-generational communities and the importance of avoiding, slicing and dicing our communities by age.
Hmm.
Misha: Um, and then we're slammed back together in times of crises, but the system itself doesn't already support and see us as a unit. Um, you know, so I've been very, um, privileged, very blessed in my life to always be in a multi-generational environment. Mm-hmm. My, I have siblings that are 10 years older than me.
My parents are older than most of my friends' parents. I had my grandparents for most of my life. Mm-hmm. You know, I've, I've, this has always been. My [00:08:00] world. Um, but then when you, you know, wanna go to a program at the library, or you wanna talk to a doctor, that's not, it's not designed that way. It's not set up for the many different people across age.
They, it's set up to say, well, if you're zero to five, then you need this. And if you're 65 and older, then you need this. And that's over there and this is over here and it doesn't make sense. And I think we see, um. The way in which it really has a negative impact is really harmful to community. When we think about the caregiver at the center of it,
Kristie: I was just thinking about when you, you know, when we talk about separating out the generations and we think about even the system structure of we have a community center, then we have a senior center.
Yeah. Then we have a daycare center. Right? Well, and then the youth center. And then the youth center. So how about put 'em all together because those. That they get together are just so life-changing, right? Yeah. And they impact everyone. 'cause a senior that can connect with [00:09:00] that want to be around or are around little kids actually is great for them.
Misha: I mean, and even more basic than that, like, um, a three month old doesn't take themselves to daycare. Mm-hmm. You know what I mm-hmm. Like, they're just literally people attached to every mm-hmm. Part of this. Right. Who then are running around to 50 different places. Yeah. Right. When
Kristie: we could all just be in one.
In one place.
Misha: Yeah.
Kristie: And so when we think about those structures and we think about the work that the Wilson Foundation does, what are some of the priorities or a high level view of the Wilson Foundation's priorities when it comes to your caregiving and looking at those systems and those structures?
Misha: For us, we think about the unpaid family caregiver, and we also think about the direct care worker, um, or the way we, we always say paid caregiver and family caregiver.
Mm-hmm. Um, and when we say that direct care worker, that paid caregiver, we're thinking about the home health aides. Mm-hmm. We're thinking about the CNAs, we're thinking about the patient sitters in a hospital setting. Um, and so we really think about [00:10:00] those folks that. Spend most of their time on the activities of daily living, on the transfers, on the, on the feeding and things like that.
And a little less about, you know, the licensed nurse or the rn. Mm-hmm. You know, they're, they're involved, but we really try to get down to that like very, very hands on. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Role. Um. And so, uh, uh, on the family caregiver side, we're thinking about how we expand resources. We're thinking about how we strengthen networks.
Um, the way I tend to think about things is if we know that. There are a hundred million caregivers in this country. Um, and if we zoom in on Detroit for a second and we know that a quarter of the population is 55 and older, then it's not hard to extrapolate that. You know, probably one in four people, we look around this room.
Mm-hmm. Somebody is involved in the care of an older adult. Yeah. You know, 1, 2, 3, older adult. Right? Mm-hmm. Um, and so, uh, and [00:11:00] so the way I think about this is how do we. Improve the fabric of our communities so that they recognize and integrate and include caregivers in a more meaningful way. Um, so I'm really interested in how workplaces can adjust their policies to better support folks who are in caregiving roles.
I'm really interested in how. Hospitals and health systems are using electronic medical records to see people and to communicate better and more effectively. Um, really interested in, um, how the community hubs, mm-hmm. The src, um, you know, are able to be sustained and strong and hold together the network of organizations that are doing this work so that there's better collaboration, better communication.
Um, so it's, it's yes, you know, make sure there are more respite programs when we say mm-hmm. Expand resources and strengthen a [00:12:00] network. But you know, more broadly than that, it's not enough to just stand up a new program here, a new program there. We need to make sure that across the board people see, recognize, and integrate.
Systems. Uh, yeah. Systems, yeah.
Kristie: Am I a caregiver getting people to really recognize that they are caregivers? But I have a another question that came to mind. You know, with Wilson, how do you all set those priorities? How does that become a priority of Wilson? Making sure we're changing systems, making sure that we're looking at.
Caregivers and across the spectrum, so to speak. How does Wilson come to that?
Misha: That's a long story. The short of
Kristie: it. Well,
Misha: well, okay. So the Ralph C. Wilson JR. Foundation is a, is a limited life or a spend down foundation. So, um, Ralph Wilson, uh, who owned the Buffalo Bills, sold the team, the profits of that were put into this foundation when he passed away.
And so the minute the foundation started, there was a clock [00:13:00] ticking toward us closing our doors in 2035. And so when we think about establishing strategies and priorities, there are really phases in the life of the foundation, initial phases that are kind of like testing, figuring things out. How are we gonna set course in these different portfolios?
Um, another phase that's about building these relationships and trying to mm-hmm. You know, dig a little bit more deeply. So in some ways. The priorities themselves have been set and will be set for a while, uh, probably through the end. But how we are responsive within them is what shifts year to year. Um.
But, but still not by much. Mm-hmm. Um, so I, it's kind of, to me, it's kind of hard to,
Kristie: so he kind of set those priorities on what was important to him. He kind of demonstrated that
Misha: not even, wow.
Kristie: Not
Misha: even, so what he did was, um, select life trustees from his community, including. Um, his [00:14:00] wife mm-hmm. And other folks that were close to him.
Um, and then we also have a board that, um, where community folks cycle on and off to the, to the committees. Mm-hmm. So there's a finances committee. Program committee. Um, those life trustees were the folks that established our portfolio. Like our, so there's caregivers, there's, um, young adults and working families.
Mm-hmm. Which is our, uh, workforce development. There's parks and trails, youth sports after school. Early childhood.
Mm-hmm.
Misha: Um, economic development and entrepreneurship. Mm. So they set those categories.
Kristie: Okay.
Misha: Staff over the years have been responsible for determining the direction we go within those categories.
Kristie: Gotcha.
Antonia: So, Misha, how are you measuring impact across the regions you serve? How does that work? Are there any specific success stories or promising initiatives that you can share with us? [00:15:00] Oh, measuring success. Measuring success, yes. Um, sustainability. Mm-hmm.
Misha: Yeah. All that. I mean, so 30,000 foot level. Again, we close our doors in 2035, and I think it's really important to set the context that.
Because so little philanthropic funding goes to aging specifically. Like, you know, the reports are out from, like, there's a philanthropy institute at Grand Valley University. They're like one of the only philanthropy programs if you wanna get a degree. And, and they do a lot of research. So there are reports that are out that are like funding and, um, aging is increased by 200%.
And it's like, cool, cool, cool. But it was like 5% mm-hmm. Of all funding to begin with. So. You know, 200%. Okay, so 15% now. Mm-hmm. Like, you know, and then when you compare it to the way other, um, funding priorities get dollars, like kids, for example. Mm-hmm. So anyway, if, if we know that there is very little philanthropic, very philanthropic dollars going to aging [00:16:00] and then.
We set the priority of caregivers, of older adults, so like a niche within a niche. Mm-hmm. The minute we came online, we became the biggest funder in this area. Wow. So that also means that I work with a high level of awareness and, um, and, and cogni cognizance, that if I set a table, convene a table on this subject.
There's a lot of influence that comes with it, and there's always the possibility that folks will be taking up the subject or taking up the priority in response to what we are doing and not necessarily organically as it relates to like their internal priorities and directives. Um, I'm saying all that because when I zoom all the way out and I think about us closing our doors, one of the biggest measures of impact for me is that, um.
Across community caregivers continue to be a priority for the different entities that are there for the major, um, influencers, for the major, for the, you know, other funders, whomever like. [00:17:00] We will have been suc. One of the ways we will have been successful is if when we go away, the folks who serve caregivers aren't scrambling for support and dollars and scrambling to try and figure out a new collaborative.
Um, so that's one big thing I. That I think about across this work that I think is also like really maybe even the most critical thing, because we don't wanna create vacuums, we don't wanna put an influx of resources and then take them away, and then everything falls apart.
Kristie: I think one thing that's, that's, that's interesting is that my experience has been, um, not having to count widgets.
And I think that's important in the work of, um, in, in doing community work because, um, as a person that's been doing program development for a number of years and building community, it's always kind of been you get the money. I said I was gonna serve 250 people, well talk on it. I was only able to reach a [00:18:00] hundred because it took me six months to build the relationships in the community to get where I needed to be.
And then now I'm. Feeling the stress because, oh my God, I didn't reach this and da, da da. Mm-hmm. And so how do you, how have you all gotten away from that? Has it been that you all look from that HireVue and look at how do we really help the community, these organizations build capacity, organizational capacity, structural capacity, versus how many people did you serve?
Where did you serve 'em? Did you reach the communities? How do, how do you all make sure that's consistent? And I'm gonna say that's my experience. But if I had to guess, it's probably the same experience that other grantees have, have had also in the area. The other areas that you've, that you've touched on.
Misha: Yeah. I mean, it's, it's different portfolio to portfolio. Mm-hmm. Right? So if, um, a grant goes to like the Detroit figure skating, um, organization, it's a little easier to say mm-hmm. This is how many kids learn to figure skating. Right, right. Than it is with, with the, with our [00:19:00] caregivers work. So it's not that no one counts in that way.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, but I think with our work. And especially on the family caregiver side, because there's more of that on the paid caregiver side. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. There's, there's more quantitative evaluation that we're doing on the family caregiver side. It's exactly what you said, Christie earlier. If we already know that one of the biggest barriers is people identifying as a caregiver to begin with, then that means everyone we work with is gonna struggle to get folks through the doors.
Mm-hmm. So why would we even start there? Yeah. As a metric of impact quality. Seem, you know, the, the individual impact, how that individual's life changed, um, is a lot. And we also think about like, do more caregivers in the community who do understand the position they're in. Know who to pick up the phone and call if, if, if there are phone calls that can be made.
Yeah. Like we we're, we're doing something, we're doing something meaningful. Um, and then on our respite work, we think [00:20:00] about hours of respite delivered as opposed to necessarily numbers of people coming in and out the door. Mm-hmm. Um, especially knowing that respite has a greater impact when you're consistently, um.
Participating in it. Mm-hmm. And also has an impact when you just know it exists. Right. You know? Right. So if so, so I know it's out there. I feel better. You know what I mean? Um, I go, I went this month, I go, next month I'm gonna have a different level of impact than the person who went this month. It maybe comes back in six months, but it doesn't mean that it's less valuable what happened with that person.
Mm-hmm. It's just different. So we think about those hours of respite.
Antonia: I have a question that's a little bit, um, came to me as you were speaking about identifying as a caregiver and from the grant funder perspective. Is it important that a caregiver identify as a caregiver? 'cause I am seeing now that there are.
It's kind of loosening in [00:21:00] terms of the restrictions that we're talking about, what the impact is and the qualitative quantitative measurements. Those things are kind of seem like they're, you know, loosening a little bit. So I just wondered, is that an important identification to give these types of services?
I don't know. I mean,
Misha: I don't, I can't, I can't, I mean, I can't speak for other funders. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Um, for, for, for me, um, as the person who, you know, leads the charge Yeah. On this work, I. And as somebody with a community organizing background mm-hmm. Like common language is important. Yeah. Common language is how we get folks to the table.
Mm-hmm. So I don't really care what you call yourself mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. In your life. Right. But this is the word we have. It's an imperfect word. So, but let's use it and make sure people know about it so that we can get folks in the door. And then from there, dude. Do whatever makes it for you
Antonia: your
Misha: life. I don't care.[00:22:00]
Antonia: Yeah, no, I just, you know, it's just always, we're always talking about identification as a caregiver and how it's so difficult for people to understand that they are caregivers and Yeah. I just wondered, is it, does that make the dollars flow or is it just, you know. Is it just really a word at this point?
I mean, just, just, just wondering.
Misha: Well, I think, I think when we think about like the services that are tied to government funding, yeah. That's a different question. Right? Okay. 'cause just the way that money flows is always attached to certain Right. Labels. Um, but in terms of thing like private dollars, right?
I honestly, to me, it's very similar to race, right? I identify as black. Some folks say foundational black Americans, right? Some folks say African American, right? Some folks, you remember when the census changed and I think it was 2010, they added Negro on there. 'cause they said, oh, there are some older folks who still identify that way.
Mm-hmm. [00:23:00] You call yourself what? You feel good? Mm-hmm. Calling yourself. Mm-hmm. Right. But at the end of the day, we have been socialized enough to know that if the program says black, African American, whatever. Right. Whichever way you call yourself, you know it's for you. Right. And to me, that's the hump to get over it.
Okay. Socially, when it comes to caregiving.
Kristie: Okay. So we talked a little bit about you. You mentioned a little bit about. Um, some stats. So you've used the RAND stat statistic, you know that common statistic of over 105 million people in the US identify as caregivers. Some capacity goes back to what you said, Antonio, how we identify.
Mm-hmm. Who sets that? Um, but that's a, a huge number. That's a powerful number that moves us all. Why is it important for funders and leaders to understand that caregiving shows up in many forms and at many levels of intensity? We've kind of talked about it a little bit, but you know, really focusing on the levels of caregiving.
You know, if it's a student caregiver, if it's kinship care, if it's direct and direct, all of those things. Why is it important that leaders really [00:24:00] zero in on that?
Misha: In my opinion, you know, again, we we're talking about a, a community. So if we're, if we're talking about that many people involved in the care of an adult, so the RAND study specifically says 105.6 million people are, uh, responsible for the care of another adult.
Um, and they, so they, they're not even factoring people mm-hmm. Who are also taking care of kids. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But we know that a lot of people are taking care of more than one person at a time, right? Mm-hmm. Um, so if it's that many people, if there are. 300 million people in the country, I think, and 105.6 are responsible for care of an adult.
Mm-hmm. So again, you walk into the room and you go 1, 2, 3, 3. Yep. Caregiver, right? So now let's zoom in on that person. Uh, that person may have a full-time job. That person may also have a newborn. That person may have just started, uh, driving, [00:25:00] um, an older adult to appointments or to pick up things. Uh, that person may have just been faced with a cancer diagnosis themselves.
There's so many, our lives are so complex. Um, that starting with just what are the different ways that you're engaged in someone's care? I. To me means that we as leaders, um, and as folks who are trying to be responsive to the needs of community, can do it in a way that is more rich and that acknowledges and respects the complexity of our lives instead of continuing to try and slice and dice us and stick into boxes.
Um, and so we use the RAN number in particular because. Um, to your point about how we identify, they were just asking what kinds of things do you do.
Mm-hmm.
Misha: And if you do the things, okay, you're in the count. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Misha: Um, I also love the caregiving in the US report, which looks at a higher level of intensity.
And looks at it over time. [00:26:00] So they do, every five years they do an update to the report. Um, and so they say 50 million caregivers, but that's because they're looking at a certain level of intensity and they're looking at it over time. That's fine. Two things can be true. It's just about, again, understanding the complexity of our lives.
Kristie: So when we think about the broader numbers and we think about the studies, and we think about all of the different levels of caregiving, I. What would be that 1, 2, 3, maybe system level changes in the perfect world that really would impact caregivers regardless of their identify or not? I'm gonna just, I just wanna give a, a quick example.
It is just like at the top of mind for me. So one of our interns, I had a conversation with them and they began, I asked them what did they learn, what have they learned so far? And they mentioned to me that they learned about caregiving. And I was like, well, what you learn about caregiving? We learned about respite.
I was like, well, what is respite? Mm-hmm. And then they started [00:27:00] giving an example of their own internal, um, caregiving experience in their home with their mom and how they, you know, really. Like, mom, you, you were in this position. You didn't know you needed respite, but we didn't know what respite was. 'cause no one pretty much talked to us.
We didn't probably identify, they didn't identify necessarily as a caregiver, we identify as, this is what I do because I'm the mom, I. I'm the granddaughter. This is our family. This is how we take care of it. And so having those opportunities. So for me, I just was thinking about that and thinking about, in a perfect world, what does it look like?
What was that? What would that system change be? If we had the resources to educate, to support, to do all those things, what could that look like from a systems change structure? This is big picture. I know. In a perfect. World, which we are not. Mm-hmm. Far, far from a perf
Misha: perfect world, but in pursuit of a more perfect world.
Yes. You know, um, so the, [00:28:00] uh, the thing that is always really heavy on my mind at a systems level is that you can't, as a caregiver, it's really hard to be recognized or supported without being connected to the person you're taking care of. So if you. Respite respite, for example, which is just getting a break, y'all.
Um, it can look in different, it can look like different things, but oftentimes if you want to get access to respite, that will be paid for by insurance or some other supplemental system. It is coming through it. So it would be my grandma's insurance. That would make me eligible for respite and then only if I'm listed as the primary person and tied into her life in some official way in the documents.
Um, it is very hard at a systems level to just show up on your [00:29:00] own and say, here's what I need because of this, the impact this role is having mm-hmm. On my life. Um, similarly. It also, our systems are designed for this one on one dynamic primary caregiver person who receives care. Mm-hmm. It's you two. The system does not recognize all the other people who are involved.
They don't recognize Yeah. The daughter and the cousin and the auntie, and the neighbor and the friend, um, who are all joining hands to wrap around. Mm-hmm. Right. It only recognizes that one. Person. Um, which also means that at the community level programs end up designed for the middle of the day, uh, focused on some like tabletop activity.
Usually, um, and either for you to drop [00:30:00] someone off and leave, um, or for you to do that tabletop activity together in their place. Mm-hmm. Not in your place, not in your community, and not, you know, with the other people who might be involved in your, in your family community.
Kristie: Mm-hmm. So system change is huge and it really takes us to think outside the box, right?
And I think that having a philanthropic leader, I. That thinks outside the box, I think is super important, especially as we continue to move how things change through our governmental systems, how we engage, how we talk to people, how we even develop programs in the community. I think even for me, it forces me to make sure it took a while to get out of the accountant widgets thing.
'cause that's what I was raised up on. And not, not in a negative way, but it's just the reality of our impact in the community was often demonstrated by the widgets. Um, and we know that that system level change is much bigger than that, and we began to have that conversation. But how do you then [00:31:00] transition that into something different?
So, I don't know. Um, Misha, if you wanna add anything else or Antonia?
Antonia: I do have one small deviation. Oh, just a high level question. I don't wanna throw things off too much, but I was just thinking you say that the Ralph Wilson. Foundation, the funds will end in 2035, is that right? The foundation will
Misha: close its doors in 2035.
Okay. So we are not gonna make grants and then close the doors. Okay. So the funds will probably do grant making a little
Antonia: sooner. We'll stop. Okay. Understood. Okay. But where, at the point of closing the doors, 2035, where would you see caregiving if you had to? Envision that? Like, or what would you, how would you wanna see it?
Mm. Well, what do I wanna see? Yeah. Oh, here's what I wanna see.
Misha: Um, I want [00:32:00] cranes to have a caregiver friendly workplaces list. That they independently produce every year, just like they do the other employer lists. Um, I want the health systems, like I said, to have their electronic medical record systems updated.
So that's the MyChart?
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Y'all,
Misha: for y'all out there in the world. Mm-hmm. Uh, that's like the Henry Ford MyChart that you have in MyChart. Updated so that, um, not only do you have your proxy access, but also people recognize you and see you. I. In a very, very perfect world, uh, one of these insurance partners would start a benefit that was preventative and focused on their members who identified as caregivers.
Mm.
Misha: To give them support and would design it like they do their smoking cessation and weight loss. Nice, uh, preventative programs. Uh, that's a perfect will for me and a perfect will for me. The, uh. SRC has this special program that they working on, so these community programs can, uh, get some [00:33:00] reimbursement and it is all up and
Kristie: running.
Misha: Absolutely. Yeah,
Kristie: absolutely. I don't
Misha: know how much I'm allowed to say, but that's also part of my perfect world. Yes, mines as well.
Kristie: Okay.
Misha: Yeah, sure. Yeah, that sounds good. Sounds good. And just that it's again, that it's woven into the fabric. So I realized that earlier you asked me about some things that are going on, and I didn't actually get there, but, uh, for example, next month.
Um, the culture source will be, um, launching, um, a, an expansion of the exhale respite project that is supporting arts and cultural organizations starting memory cafes as part of their community programming. So that's another example of what I mean about the fabric, right? Mm-hmm. So the DIA, for example, they already do community programming.
Mm-hmm. It's in the middle of the afternoon on weekdays, um Right. Although they did more parties with the Tiff Massey stuff, so shout out to was for that. Um, but you know, it's, you already do this. Mm-hmm. You just don't do it for these people. [00:34:00] Right. So it's really about raising that awareness, getting those folks recognized, and then supporting our community in visioning and, you know, being creative and matchmaking.
Mm-hmm. What their strengths are. Mm-hmm. What they already do. With the needs of this very diverse community, that is everyone.
Mm-hmm.
Misha: And so it benefits them. It's a mutually beneficial thing. Right. The DIA wants more members. Absolutely. They, they want more people in the doors. They want you to show, they want you to come to Noelle night.
Right. And whatever else. Right. Um, well, you're missing a bunch of people who can't.
Kristie: Mm-hmm.
Misha: Right now
Kristie: it is great to have a philanthropic partner that thinks outside the box. Yeah. Very inclusionary. Thought forward. And so with that, we wanna thank you so much, Misha, for your transparency, your insights, your leadership, this fun conversation.
Um, it's really been a powerful way to launch our funder series. So this was something different that we wanted to think through because we talked to caregivers all the time. Mm-hmm. We talked to organizations, but what about how do we get our money? Where, [00:35:00] where are these funding opportunities come from?
So we wanna thank you for kicking our series off.
Antonia: Yes. Thank you so much, Misha. And how can organizations, community leaders, or advocates connect with the Wilson Foundation and get involved?
Misha: Check out our website. We're in the middle of an update right now, so if it, if it seems a little slim, come back in in about July.
Mm-hmm. There should be more content there. This is a 10 year anniversary of the foundation, so we're at our halfway mark on the spend down, and so there actually be a lot of stuff happening throughout this year to celebrate that, where there'll be opportunities to connect with us. And, um, I'll definitely make sure I get that information to the both of you so that you can get it out to your networks.
Absolutely. Perfect.
Kristie: And to our audience, we wanna thank you all for tuning in to Caregiver for conversations. If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe. Leave us a review and share it with a friend or a fellow caregiver. For more resources and updates, follow us on social media or [00:36:00] visit www.se mirc.org.
You can also reach us at info@miseniors.org, or hey, just give us a call at (888) 341-8593.
Antonia: To learn more about Neighborhood Legal Services Michigan, the Elder Law and Advocacy Center, please visit www NLS michigan.org or call 3 1 3 9 3 7 8 2 9 1. Thank you again for tuning in, and remember, you're not alone on this journey.