COURTESY RAMONA HOLLOWAY

Charlotte radio Host Ramona Holloway (right) with her mother Wheezy, who died last year of dementia complications. Holloway is hosting the annual Family Dance Party June 11 to raise awareness and funding for the Alzheimer's Association Western Carolina Chapter.

Charlotte radio host Ramona Holloway will honor her mother who died from dementia at the annual Family Dance Party in Charlotte on June 11 from 1-5 p.m. at Symphony Park, 4400 Sharon Road.

Holloway, who serves on the board of directors for The Alzheimer’s Association Western Carolina Chapter in Charlotte, hopes the event will bring generations together to make a difference in the lives of those affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Dance contests will include at least one child and one adult family member competing to win the $500 top prize. Tickets are $10 and proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. Tickets available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/family-dance-party-tickets-329808735807.

Holloway created the event for parents and kids to support families affected by dementia and allow children to use their talents and skills to benefit charity.

“A lot of the families of dementia look a lot like us and families of dementia have a very special struggle,” said Holloway, co-host of the “Matt and Ramona Show” on Mix 107.9 FM. “African Americans are less likely to place their loved one in a facility. That means the support that we need as caregivers at our homes is humongous.”

Holloway’s mother Wheezy died from dementia complications last year and Holloway shared on air with listeners her tumultuous journey as caregiver.

“Even now going through my mom's stuff I have found so many notes like ‘next door neighbor [is named] Kenny, [the] dog [is named] Cooper,” she said. “I've found so many little notes that I know she left to try to remember something or someone,” she said.

In 2018, she created the Family Dance Party in partnership with Jamison Realty and Ally Financial to raise awareness and money for Alzheimer's and dementia that affects 55 million people worldwide. Dementia is a group of conditions caused by the impairment to at least two brain functions such as memory loss and judgment, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Alzheimer’s disease, a common form of dementia, accounts for 60% to 80% of all cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With Alzheimer’s, a person may have trouble remembering recent events such as a conversation from a couple of minutes or hours ago.

Later on in the disease, it may be difficult for the person to remember memories that occurred a long time ago along with trouble walking and talking.

African Americans aged 65 or older are twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia compared to whites and Hispanics.

Risk factors include age, family history, race/ethnicity, head injuries, and untreated chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking.
According to the CDC, common signs that could point to dementia are:

• Getting lost in a familiar neighborhood

• Using unusual words to refer to familiar objects

• Forgetting the name of a close family member or friend

• Forgetting old memories

• Not being able to complete tasks independently

If dementia runs in your family, inherited from a parent or found in a sibling, you are at a greater risk of developing the disorder.

Having a first degree relative diagnosed with Alzheimer’s increases a person’s risk of developing the ailment by 10% to 30% the CDC reports.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, research does not clearly explain why the illness is more common in African Americans.  However, data indicates that an individual with a history of high blood pressure or high cholesterol are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

As Holloway cared for her mother, she had the support of two other women from a peer group whose mothers were also diagnosed with the deadly disease and lost their battle in 2021.

Last year, Vicki Moore, 54, lost her mother Joyce a few weeks before Wheezy Holloway died.

In 2020, Moore’s mother was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a disease in which abnormal deposits of protein are produced inside the brain causing hallucinations and changes in thinking, movement, and behavior.

“She had this little shuffle step and I’m like ‘ma what are you doing? Where [did] that come from?’ The muscle stiffness, all of that, Moore said.”

She added that it was “heartbreaking” to see her mother go through the changes.

“It is overwhelming but when you are the caregiver and you have to do this day in and day out, you can't think about the emotional part of it because this person, this is your mom. You get one. That’s it,” she said. “And her care is in your hands. So, it was overwhelming. It was exhausting. It was heartbreaking. It was confusing. It was frustrating. We were angry. My sister and I had one or two meltdowns with each other.”

In 2017, JaTonya Steele’s mother Mary was diagnosed with the same form of dementia, which first started off as Parkinson’s disease.

“She had several bouts of the aggression and had to be hospitalized several times,” Steele said, with tears welling in her eyes at the memory. “I had to learn how to restrain her and I later found out how I could tell if she was slipping or personality had changed [when] she was getting ready to come at me.”

Prior to the diagnosis, Mary Steele was completely healthy and had no family history of dementia.

With the epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease expected to grow over the next 30 years as more African Americans age, it will more than double to 6.9 million people.

If you think a family member may be experiencing symptoms of dementia, encourage your loved one to go see a doctor, find a provider you trust, and have a family meeting to gather documents such as health care directive, durable power of attorney for health care, and estate plan.

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