In her memory lane

High school senior Mia-Alani Matsubara has created an organization dedicated to helping those coping with Alzheimer’s — one encounter at a time.

To forget, or to be forgotten. Which would you prefer? 

For Alzheimer’s-affected individuals, it’s both — a disconcerting and saddening reality that left high school senior Mia-Alani Matsubara ruminating over a single question: What if a single conversation or a single interaction could transform the trajectory of someone’s life — or rather, their minds? 

For 17-year-old Matsubara, a curiosity for unraveling the secrets of the unknown drove her to discover that age should not confine an individual from making an impact by addressing one of the nation’s most pressing diseases. Ignited by a passion for the intricacies of the brain, she spent her sophomore summer conducting research at Georgia State University, where she was confronted with the staggering statistics on Alzheimer’s and its disproportionate effect on minority women. The liminal feeling she was left with in knowing that Alzheimer’s lacks a beginning or end, a cause or a cure — coupled with her first-hand experience of watching the progression of Alzheimer’s in her family — resulted in her resolve to create something that could not only uplift others but individuals like herself. 

In 2023, Matsubara founded a nonprofit called Forget Me Never Foundation (FMNF) with a simple mission: improve people’s experience with Alzheimer’s, one connection at a time. FMNF empowers the youth of Nevada to donate their time to improving our Alzehimers-affected population’s memory and mental functioning by facilitating connections between volunteers and seniors through an immense supply of mind-stimulating activities, crafts, and the power of conversation. By enhancing connections through weekly visits to memory care facilities and awareness discussions at women’s clubs, cross-generational bonds are built — teaching individuals of all ages something new, and radiating the importance of compassion, conversation, and connection. 

For the seniors, FMNF provides an opportunity to reinvigorate their memories, which Sandra, a resident of Heritage Springs Memory Care Facility, says “brings [her] so much joy” — underscoring the need for “more people like you ladies [Matsubara and her volunteers] in the world.” 

For the volunteers, FMNF offers a chance to witness the abundance of wisdom seniors can impart — proving how simple interactions with individuals who are forgotten by their families, friends, and society can have a resounding effect on hearts. 

For the memory care staff, FMNF delivers relief as they witness light return to the seniors’ eyes. 

The unfortunate reality of memory care facilities is that the needs, repeated questions, and confusion that many seniors are inflicted with significantly outnumber the available caregivers. However, FMNF aims to ease this burden by creating a symbiotic relationship between youth, caregivers, and seniors that the director of Heritage Springs, Monica De La Torre, views as an extraordinarily beneficial “service” for which she is “highly grateful.” 

Thus far, FMNF has partnered with four senior care facilities: Heritage Springs, Atria Seville, Sweet Valley Home Care, and Graceful Grove; and women’s clubs like the Mesquite Club. 

Aside from being featured in publications by The Recorder magazine and articles by the National Society of High School Scholars, Matsubara and her team desire to increase awareness about their work to encourage youth volunteering which will foster a new generation of advocates who understand the importance of addressing the Alzheimer’s epidemic. 

What started as a personal mission has flourished into a movement to impact lives in ways that Matsubara could never have imagined when she began. With every visit, every connection, and every memory created, she and FMNF prove that even the smallest actions can trigger ripples of change and that age is no barrier to societal betterment.