How I Finally Found the National Council of Dementia Minds
VS
And Why This Video Feels Like MiM in Motion
After months of combing through the dementia-support landscape, I finally stumbled on the National Council of Dementia Minds. And yes, I’ll say it — I hate the name. But the mission? Absolutely on target. They’re the first national nonprofit in the U.S. governed entirely by people living with dementia. The part that floors me? I didn’t even know they existed until this week. If I didn’t, I’m betting most of you didn’t either.
And how did I find them? Through filmmaker Michelle Memran’s work. Michelle’s documentary The Rest I Make Up showed me the power of lived experience to keep creativity alive through dementia. That approach — honoring what remains instead of mourning what’s lost — is exactly how I built MiM.
Then I found this NCDM video, and it hit me square in the chest.
It’s not another pity-party reel. It’s not wringing hands over how “sad” dementia is. It’s not shuffling people to the sidelines like they’ve expired the moment the doctor says the word. It’s lived experience. It’s agency. It’s voices refusing to be reduced to symptoms.
And yet — this video has only 23 views in three months. The NCDM YouTube channel? Ten subscribers. That’s not just underexposed — that’s invisible. Which says as much about the stigma around Alzheimer’s and dementia as it does about the algorithm. People don’t click what they don’t want to face.
That’s why MiM exists. When my husband Tim was diagnosed, we weren’t given a plan to preserve who he is. We were handed a list of what to take away — his keys, his independence, his routines. That’s what passes for “support” in the system. The assumption is: diagnosis = decline = done.
MiM fills that gap. We create daily structure, purpose, and connection with — not for — people living with dementia. We give the mic back to the people who should have been speaking all along.
This week, I also “met” Emily Snyder of Borealis Ventures, who helped me think through the seed funding process for MiM. Talking with her, I realized this isn’t just my fight — it’s part of a movement. Michelle’s work, NCDM’s mission, and MiM are all pulling in the same direction: away from stigma and silence, toward visibility and dignity.
So here’s my ask:
Watch the video.
Share it.
Tell someone why it matters.
Because the only thing worse than a dementia diagnosis is being erased by it.