For Their Thoughts® Foundation was born from lived experience. Once upon a time, I could not tell you the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia, and I certainly had never heard of frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). That all changed for me, when I was 23 and things began to be “off” with my mother.  Like too many families, the diagnosis came in pieces as one family member after another shared a story about Mom forgetting to put noodles in the lasagna, forgetting how to spell her own name, or just not being the “take charge” mother she always was.  

She was eventually diagnosed with FTD at just 56 years old. One month later, our grandmother began to show the same symptoms. The presence of the same symptoms in both family members  could not be ignored, and in 2008, less than two years after the progranulin (GRN) mutation was discovered, a GRN mutation was confirmed as the cause of symptoms in both my mother and grandmother. The diagnosis was GRN-FTD.  Our family suddenly found ourselves responsible for navigating a terminal brain disease we knew almost nothing about. We learned on the fly while also coming to terms with the genetic risk we all now faced.

But neither of those were the hardest factors; it was the isolation.

I would come to learn that people didn't stay away because they didn't care; they didn’t know what to do. And that perception changed everything for me.

That gap is where For Their Thoughts works today. We advocate for the dementia community to bring hope and relief to families impacted — helping communities better understand dementia through immersive education and storytelling, while helping families navigate the realities of care through practical resources and direct financial relief.

We exist to be that “someone to help point the way.”

How For Their Thoughts can help:

• Care for the Caregivers Relief & Roadmap Grant. Eligible unpaid, live-in family care partners caring for a loved one with dementia may receive up to $1,000 in financial relief, along with individualized resource navigation designed around their family's needs. Applications open this fall. To be notified, please send us a quick message and put “notify me” in the body.
• reTHINK Dementia Interactive Experience: Housed in the lobby of the theatrical production, UnRavelledu and open to the public. Stop by and gain an inside out perspective of common but lesser talked about symptoms like language, motor and behavior changes, reflect on FTD caregiver stories, leave advice for others, or leave armed with an FTD roadmap.
  
  • Philadelphia Oct. 8  – 11, 2026
  • NYC Oct. 23 and 24, 2026
  • Coming in 2027: Boston and Nashville
  • Tickets and Details here*

*Note, you do not need to see the play to stop by the lobby.

“I can't change what happened to my family. But I can help make sure the next family doesn't have to navigate what comes next alone. That's what For Their Thoughts is here to do.”‍

— Betsy Hall, Founder, For Their Thoughts Foundation

Learn more:

Care for the Caregivers Relief & Roadmap Grant

Get Notified when grants Re-open