Colorado Culture Change Coalition

04/08/2026

Let's introduce our board member, Beth Irtz! 🌷

Beth loves the work of the coalition focused on Elderhood and how elders thrive. She has been on the CCCC Board for many years and was President previously. She is a retired Nursing Home Administrator and Director of Nursing and has been in many other roles in LTC. Beth is an Eden Educator with the Eden Alternative and presented on many topics related to person-directed living and culture change in Colorado and across the US. Her favorite role is that of Grandmother. Beth loves flowers, birdwatching, kayaking, reading, sewing and being in nature. She loves to tell stories about her work in eldercare. There are so many stories that we can learn from about choices, elders being heard, autonomy, identity, meaning and purpose and how these domains are how people live across the different stages of life. Loving elders and the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team has been her way for decades now. 🌷

03/16/2026

We are so proud that two of our board members, Ruth Minnema, RN, MA and Lydia Nguyen, PhD, presented at The Eden Alternative/Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) conference last week! Thank you both for your continued leadership and dedication to advancing meaningful culture change!

03/02/2026

We are pleased to announce that Colorado Culture Change Coalition board member Lydia Nguyen, PhD, will be speaking at The Eden Alternative International Conference on how to move beyond task-based programming and toward truly meaningful, person-directed engagement.

This presentation will explore how to reimagine traditional models, embed engagement into daily routines, empower teams, and use technology to make connection, personalization, and whole-person wellness scalable and sustainable.

If you’re attending, be sure to catch this Tuesday, March 10th from 1:15-2:15pm EST!

02/24/2026

We’re happy to share that the Eden Alternative® International Conference will feature two sessions featuring our past president and current board member Ruth Minnema! Her first session is titled "Anosognosia: Understanding is the Beginning...But What's Next?" happening on Monday, March 9th from 12:30-4:45pm EST and her second session is titled "Stop the Blame" on Tuesday, March 10th from 3:45-5:15pm EST.

This year’s theme — In Unity, We Thrive — reflects the work happening across Colorado to create care environments that honor individuality, nurture relationships, and support well-being for everyone who lives and works in our communities.

This gathering brings together care partners, people living with dementia, organizational and community leaders, advocates, policy influencers, and culture change champions from across the country and around the world. It’s an opportunity to learn, connect, and return home with practical approaches that strengthen person-directed care across Colorado.

02/10/2026

Creating a care culture where everyone thrives begins with shared learning.
The Colorado Culture Change Coalition is proud to highlight organization-wide access to evidence-informed, self-paced education from The Eden Alternative®.

These course bundles support:
• Person-directed care
• Dementia best practices
• Team growth and well-being

With flexible, on-demand access, your entire team can learn together, apply learning in real time, and strengthen care culture across the whole organization.

✨ Learn more: https://bit.ly/4p4rNOE

These courses offer continuing education credit through:
• NAB
• NCCDP
• SHRM

…and exceed requirements for person-directed dementia care.

Support your workforce. Strengthen relationships. Improve outcomes.
We’re building better care, together.

02/02/2026

11/26/2025

We’re happy to share that the Eden Alternative® International Conference, in partnership with the Dementia Action Alliance, will take place March 9–12, 2026, in Atlanta, GA.

This year’s theme — In Unity, We Thrive — reflects the work happening across Colorado to create care environments that honor individuality, nurture relationships, and support well-being for everyone who lives and works in our communities.

This gathering brings together care partners, people living with dementia, organizational and community leaders, advocates, policy influencers, and culture change champions from across the country and around the world. It’s an opportunity to learn, connect, and return home with practical approaches that strengthen person-directed care across Colorado.

Early Bird Registration is open through November 30.
We encourage our Colorado culture change community to join us — let’s continue building meaningful, connected, and thriving care environments together.

Use link below to register!
https://bit.ly/4oB2G6t

07/21/2025

🌿 Colorado Nursing Homes—We Have Exciting News! 🌿
The Eden Alternative is launching a grant-funded project to help transform traditional life enrichment practices and improve quality of life in long-term care.
✔ In-person consulting & coaching
✔ 9 Best Practices as Performance Improvement Project ✔ Aligned with Colorado's VBP goals

No cost to participate—open to certified CO nursing homes with an active CCN.
📅 Letters of Support due by July 25, 2025
📩 Email Meredith at mmartin@edenalt.org or call 585-461-3951
🔗 Learn More Here.
Let’s create a new vision of daily life in long-term care—together. 💚

05/29/2025

A THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!
Shalom Park
Hover Senior Living Community
PharmcareUSA
The Eden Alternative

🗓️ Date: June 4, 2025
📍 Location: Shalom Park Auditorium
⏰ Time: 3:30-5 PM MT
🎟️ Tickets are selling fast — secure your seat now and be part of a night filled with smooth tunes and timeless vibes.
🔗 Buy Tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/jazz-event
Register for the Auction Here: https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/colorado-culture-change-coalition-incs-silent-auction

05/26/2025

Don’t miss our live silent auction featuring exclusive experiences, art, and more — all in support of Colorado Culture Change Coalition!
On-line bidding open now at https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/colorado-culture-change-coalition-incs-silent-auction
Auction closes June 4th at 4:30 pm.

PLUS: Don’t miss CCCC’s fundraiser event, featuring Live Performances by: Claire Lucas and Jake Malone!
Date: June 4, 2025
Location: Shalom Park Auditorium
Time: 3:30-5 PM MT
Tickets are selling fast — secure your seat now and be part of a night filled with smooth jazz tunes and timeless vibes.
Buy Tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/jazz-event
Use code: ElderDiscount (for older-adults/elders attending)

05/23/2025

🎤 Meet the Sound of CCCC

🎶 Live Performances by: Claire Lucas and Jake Malone

🗓️ Date: June 4, 2025
📍 Location: Shalom Park Auditorium
⏰ Time: 3:30-5 PM MT
🎟️ Tickets are selling fast — secure your seat now and be part of a night filled with smooth tunes and timeless vibes.
💥 PLUS: Don’t miss our Live Auction featuring exclusive experiences, art, and more — all in support of Colorado Culture Change Coalition!
🎶 Live Performances by: Claire Lucas and Jake Malone
🔗 Buy Tickets: https://lnkd.in/gfuDfawt
Register for the Auction Here: https://lnkd.in/guBHyTnT

Exclusive discount for the Jazz Event!
Use code: ElderDiscount (for older-adults/elders attending)

05/22/2025

🎹 Meet the band! One of the performers for our Jazz Event will be Jake Malone-Brancato playing piano as he accompanies fellow board member Claire Lucas on vocals.

Originally from Buffalo, New York, Jake Malone-Brancato is an active member, composer, and educator in the Denver music community playing a variety of jazz, pop, and classical piano professionally. He is a graduate of The State University of New York at Buffalo, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2014. Jake has experience teaching and leading adaptive lessons for adults and young students with disabilities.

Currently, Jake is the Life Enrichment Director of a skilled nursing community in Lakewood, Colorado. In this position, Jake can spread his love of music and play piano for the elders of the community. When not teaching or performing, Jake spends time composing original music for himself and for a quintet called the Jay/Sharp-Tet. Their debut album was released in May of 2022 and contains some of Jake’s original compositions. Jake’s mission and passion is to instill a love of music in students of all skill levels and ages. He believes that whoever is interested in learning music should have the ability to access this special experience.

Please try to attend this special show June 4th, from 3:30pm-5:00pm at Shalom Park. Link for tickets is below!
https://lnkd.in/gfuDfawt