Ogden, June 30, 2025— DayBreak Senior Services has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Alzheimer’s Association Center for Dementia Respite Innovation (CDRI) to enhance the quality and availability of dementia-specific respite care for people living with dementia and their caregivers in Northern Utah.
DayBreak Senior Services is one of 41 recipients chosen to receive grant funding from more than 200 applicants across the country. Funds will be used for
- Creation of a Therapeutic Sensory Garden
- Interior Enhancements to Meet Capacity and Improve Participant Engagement
- Hiring a Licensed Professional to Lead Structured Programming
“We are proud to be recognized on a national level for the work we’re doing here in Northern Utah,” said Morgan Bégin, Director of DayBreak Senior Services. “Every day, we see the emotional and physical toll that caregiving can take. This funding allows us to reimagine how we support people living with dementia and their families, through meaningful program engagement, therapeutic spaces, and community-based care.”
DayBreak Senior Services provides the only dementia-specific senior day program in Northern Utah, serving families across Weber and Davis counties. We provide a safe, engaging space for individuals living with dementia as well as older adults who benefit from added support, structure, and social connection. Our program offers therapeutic activities and personalized care while giving caregivers the respite they need. With more than 60 percent of caregivers reporting emotional strain, this support is essential. Thanks to this new grant, DayBreak will expand its programming, improve its environment, and increase capacity, bringing meaningful relief to more families in our community.
In conjunction with the grant, DayBreak Senior Services will also receive online training and ongoing technical assistance from the CDRI to ensure respite services are dementia-capable and to support sustainability. The CDRI will also collect data and evaluate the impact of these innovative projects from all grant recipients to inform public policy.
“We congratulate DayBreak Senior Services on its grant and look forward to working with its team to help enhance respite care services for local dementia caregivers,” said Sam Fazio, Ph.D., vice president care and support programs and research, Alzheimer’s Association. “We intend to gain insights from each respite program we fund, ultimately developing a catalog of programs, tools and resources that will be easily accessible to interested caregivers and care providers”
The Alzheimer’s Association created the CDRI in 2024 after receiving a $25 million grant from the Administration for Community Living (ACL), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Over the next four years, the CDRI will provide $25 million in grant funding to local respite providers and organizations to enhance the quality and availability of respite care nationwide. Visit alz.org/cdri to see the full list of this year’s grant recipients.
Funding disclosure
This project is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $13,261,685 with 75 percent funded by ACL/HHS and $3,285,728 amount with 25 percent funded by non-government source(s). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
