Caregiving is an expression of love. It can also be demanding, emotional, exhausting, and sometimes isolating.
For a few hours, we invite you to step away from the responsibilities of caregiving and into a space created with you in mind.
Come breathe. Come connect. Come learn. Come be encouraged.
You spend so much time caring for others. This is an opportunity to receive some care, too.
Why We Created This Symposium
The National Caregivers Month Symposium grew from what we witnessed and learned through the Living Love Connection Memory Care Café pilot.
We listened to care partners share stories of love, responsibility, grief, exhaustion, resilience, and hope.
And one message became clear:
The person providing the care needs care, too.
Caregiving can become so focused on appointments, medications, decisions, and the needs of a loved one that caregivers can lose sight of their own well-being.
We wanted to create something different—not simply another conference filled with information, but an experience centered on the care partner.
• A place to pause.
• A place to be heard.
• A place to find helpful resources.
• A place to connect with people who understand.
• And a place to remember that you do not have to walk this journey alone.
A Vision From Rev. Arleen King
Rev. Arleen King’s vision is to help create communities of care, connection, and belonging where care partners and families feel seen, heard, supported, and connected.
The Memory Care Café pilot showed us what can happen when people have a welcoming place to gather and share their experiences.
The Symposium expands that circle—bringing together care partners, families, professionals, community organizations, and resources while keeping the caregiver at the heart of the experience.
When we care for the caregiver, we strengthen the entire circle of care.
Take a moment to honor your caregiving journey—where you have been, what you have learned, and the strength that has carried you this far.
Release
Create space to acknowledge some of the grief, stress, expectations, and emotional weight that caregiving can bring.
Renew
Reconnect with yourself, discover resources, build relationships, experience moments of joy, and leave encouraged for the journey ahead.
What You’ll Experience
This is more than a day of presentations. We are creating opportunities for learning, reflection, conversation, connection, music, mindfulness, storytelling, and community.
Your experience will include:
Inspiration and Education
Hear from knowledgeable presenters and people with lived caregiving experience.
The Care Partner’s Journey
Listen to real stories of caregiving, resilience, navigating resources, and finding strength along the way.
Interactive Breakout Experiences
Choose experiences designed around areas such as grief and loss, storytelling, guided meditation, reflection, and caregiver support.
Music and Connection
Experience the power of music to bring people together, create joy, and remind us that we belong.
Community Resources
Meet organizations serving care partners, older adults, people experiencing memory changes, and their families.
A Shared Meal
Enjoy lunch and time to connect with other participants and community partners.
Gratitude Experience
Add your voice to a collective expression of gratitude and encouragement.
Lunch Provided
Take time to pause, connect, and share a meal with community.
Who is This Symposium For?
The Symposium welcomes:
• Dementia and memory care partners
• Family care partners
• Individuals experiencing memory changes
• Family members and friends supporting a caregiver
• Healthcare and senior-service professionals
• Community organizations and service providers
• Faith and spiritual communities
• Anyone who wants to better support care partners and families
You don’t have to be an expert in caregiving to belong here.
You simply need a desire to connect, learn, support, or be supported.
Whether you are new to caregiving or have been on this journey for years, there is a place for you here.
Meet Our Presenters
Dr. Charles Windon
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Windon will help set the tone for a day centered on understanding, encouragement, and the caregiving journey.
Sharon brings decades of personal caregiving experience. After caring for her mother for 16 years and later caring for her mother’s eldest sister, she transformed her experiences into service to others.
Today, she facilitates an Alzheimer’s caregiver support group and helps care partners discover resources, connection, and encouragement along their journeys.
Throughout the day, participants will have opportunities to connect with community organizations and resources supporting care partners, individuals experiencing memory changes, older adults, and families.
Community Partner
The National Caregivers Month Symposium grew from what we witnessed and learned through the Living Love Connection Memory Care Café pilot.
Alzheimers Association
We will feature additional community and resource partners as they are confirmed.
Come Be Part of the Experience
Whether you are currently caring for someone, have walked the caregiving journey before, support care partners professionally, or simply want to learn how to better support someone you love—there is a place for you here.
• Give yourself permission to take these few hours.
• Come meet people who understand.
• Come discover resources you may not have known were available.
• Come share a meal.
• Come experience music, reflection, learning, and community.
• And perhaps leave feeling a little lighter, a little more connected, and a little more renewed.
Come Reflect. Come Release. Come Renew.
Saturday, November 14, 2026 10:00 AM–2:00 PM
East Bay Church of Religious Science Oakland, California
