Melanin Minded Foundation

We know that our strength lies not only in the words we stand by, but most importantly through the actions of our initiatives. When Dr. Easter’s mother was diagnosed at the age of 55 with Dementia, his family struggled as caregivers trying to care for her. The current system for caregivers is hard to navigate and has shown to be disconnected with truly understanding the family caregiver’s struggles. Our Family Support Model realized that these systems needed to understand that by working together we could overcome the challenges of Dementia caregiving much more efficiently, and that is why we ultimately decided to create Melanin Minded.

Melanin Minded is an organization that was established with the mission to be the bridge for information, service, and support for people of color with a long-term vision to empower and equip people of color to have the optimal quality of life.

Dr. Bashir Easter has focused his career on serving the community. His focus narrowed to helping caregivers after his mom was diagnosed with dementia. He noticed that while there were services available in the community, they were difficult to access. His family struggled to find and provide his mom quality care for years. This is the driving force behind Melanin Minded.

Melanin Minded started with a focus effort to equip and empower Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia ADRD caregivers. The first focus is Navigator coaching. This is a five-point system that provides direct interventions to family caregivers, so they are equipped to provide care for their loved one. We believe these intervention services will improve the self-efficacy of family caregivers of a loved one living with Alzheimer’s Disease in Related Dementias (ADRD) Adolescents are the invisible caregivers within the African American and LatinX community. Melanin Minded  seeks to recognize the youth for their contribution to care as a personal care worker or PCW. This intervention also provides opportunities for people with dementia to remain in the least restrictive environments and thrive as contributing members of society as long as possible.

The second focus will be a dementia capable transportation service. We will be using a ridesharing app called Navigator Transportation under our company Melanin Minded to ensure effective transportation for seniors with dementia and their caregivers. Navigator Transportation will help individuals who can no longer drive, due to the progression of the disease, navigate the community and connect with resources and activities. They will continue to get to the places they enjoy.