{"id":51802,"date":"2020-09-04T00:45:32","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T06:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/walk-to-end-alzheimers-disease-will-be-sept-19\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:57:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:57:25","slug":"walk-to-end-alzheimers-disease-will-be-sept-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/walk-to-end-alzheimers-disease-will-be-sept-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Walk to end Alzheimer\u2019s disease will be Sept. 19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Teresa
Teresa Valko, of Durango, poses with her mother Evelyn Wilson who has Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Teresa is organizing the Cortez\/Durango Walk to End Alzheimer\u2019s Sept. 19.<\/span>Courtesy photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Walk to End Alzheimer\u2019s event will take place Sept 19 in Southwest Colorado, but the format will be different because of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Instead of hosting a large gathering, the Alzheimer\u2019s Association is encouraging participants to walk as individuals or in small groups on sidewalks, tracks and trails across Cortez, Durango and surrounding Southwestern Colorado communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s Walk to End Alzheimer\u2019s will be everywhere,\u201d said Teresa Valko, volunteer chair of the Cortez\/Durango Walk to End Alzheimer\u2019s. \u201cThe pandemic is changing how we walk, but it doesn\u2019t change the need to walk. This year, more than ever, we need to come together to support all those affected by Alzheimer\u2019s and other dementia.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the money raised, the Alzheimer\u2019s Association will continue to provide care and support to families during these difficult times \u2013 all at no charge \u2013 while also advancing critical research toward methods of treatment and prevention, she said.<\/p>\n

Many time-honored features of the Walk will remain, but what is new this year is that they will be shown online instead.<\/p>\n

On Walk day, an opening ceremony will feature local speakers and a presentation of Promise Flowers to honor the personal reasons participants join together to fight Alzheimer\u2019s and all other dementia.<\/p>\n

These events will be delivered to participants\u2019 smartphones, tablets and computers. To register and receive the latest updates on this year\u2019s Walk to End Alzheimer\u2019s, visit: alz.org\/walk<\/a> Participants can use a new app to track their steps and distance, follow a virtual walk path, manage their Facebook fundraisers, and access information and resources to help individuals and families affected by the disease.<\/p>\n

A new audio track is available to encourage participants along the way and to congratulate them upon completion of their walk.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our constituents are at higher risk when it comes to COVID-19 and we know that our volunteers and participants appreciate our commitment to keeping all involved healthy and safe,\u201d said Amelia Schafer, executive director of the Alzheimer\u2019s Association of Colorado. \u201cThis year\u2019s Walk will be an amazing experience and ensure the safety of the Alzheimer\u2019s community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer\u2019s disease \u2013 the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. In Colorado alone, more than 76,000 people are living with the disease and 256,000 more serve as their unpaid family caregivers.<\/p>\n

Hard hit family fights back<\/div>\n

For Teresa Valko who splits her time between homes in Durango and California, the impact of Alzheimer\u2019s hits close to home. Eight of her family members have suffered from the disease.<\/p>\n

Valko, 54, is fearful she too might succumb, because the disease can be hereditary. But if next, she plans to fight hard.<\/p>\n

In a news release, she told her story.<\/p>\n

Valko first became aware of the Alzheimer\u2019s plague affecting her family while she was a college student. Over the summers, Valko lived with her uncle and helped care for her grandmother, who was exhibiting memory issues.<\/p>\n

There had been talk of senility in family members previously, but this family full of scientists and medical professionals was adamant about getting an accurate diagnosis. During Valko\u2019s freshman year, her grandmother was officially diagnosed. Sadly, the three siblings of Valko\u2019s grandmother also were diagnosed, followed by her uncle. All have since passed away from Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe realized we were all at high risk,\u201d Valko said. \u201cI watched my mother live in absolute frozen mortal fear of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly, Valko\u2019s mom, Evelyn Wilson, began to show symptoms of the disease in 2007. She\u2019s still living in Georgia but hasn\u2019t spoken in about five years and is unable to care for herself.<\/p>\n

Since that time, Teresa has undergone genetic testing. Not surprisingly, she\u2019s learned that she has the same genetic profile as her mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo generations \u2013 100 percent of family on my mom\u2019s side \u2013 have died from Alzheimer\u2019s,\u201d said Valko.<\/p>\n

Affected family members share a copy of the APOE4 gene found to promote the accumulation of beta-amyloid proteins that cause characteristic plaques seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

To raise awareness and fundraising for treatment and a cure, Valko stepped up to the challenge.<\/p>\n

About nine years ago, she got involved with the Alzheimer\u2019s Association in California. She stuffed envelopes, answered phones, taught classes in the community, became a legislative ambassador and, eventually, was appointed to the local Alzheimer\u2019s Association chapter\u2019s board. She served as chair of the board for nearly four years.<\/p>\n

Valko was a founding member of the Women\u2019s Alzheimer\u2019s Initiative, member of the Leadership Society for Alzheimer\u2019s Impact Movement and sat on the Ventura County Dementia Friendly committee.<\/p>\n

Valko is taking the fight against the disease to Southwest Colorado and signed up to chair the Sept. 19 Cortez\/Durango Walk to End Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in this fight for a reason and won\u2019t step away because it\u2019s time to travel and play,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Valko has two powerful reasons for continuing her work with the Alzheimer\u2019s Association: her two daughters. The oldest, 22, is beginning a career in science, like her parents, after graduating from Fort Lewis College. The younger, 18, is a freshman in college in North Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s the factor that I have children,\u201d Teresa said. \u201cI have a weird guilt feeling that I have contributed to their risk. It\u2019s not a fun thing to carry around.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, if you are a resident of Southwest Colorado, expect to see Valko wearing the Alzheimer Association\u2019s purple and leading awareness programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to spend my time and energy mourning something that hasn\u2019t come to pass yet,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really hits on that \u2018fight or flight\u2019 mechanism. Are you going to rise up and fight or are you going to just let it happen. In my family, it\u2019s all fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

To start a team for this year\u2019s Walk to End Alzheimer\u2019s or make a donation, visit: alz.org\/walk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

take place Sept. 19 in Southwest Colorado<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1595,408,21,13,28,61,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-51802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alzheimers-disease","tag-charity","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-health","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88001,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51802\/revisions\/88001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51802"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=51802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}