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Glen Hinshaw and Laird Landon come from wholly different backgrounds. Hinshaw spent his life looking out for wildlife as a wildlife officer in the most rural parts of Southwest Colorado. Landon came from the academic world and big business, after growing up in La Jolla, California. They both ended up in Montrose, bearing the same burden — caring for Glen Hinshaw, who is confined to home care hospice, signs the articles of the new Support For Caregivers Foundation as a found directors, while Laird Landon looks on. (Michael Cox/Special to the Montrose Daily Press) wives who were terminally ill with brain failure. Their tenure as caregivers was measured, not in weeks or months, but in years. 

In late July, that shared burden became an asset as the two friends conducted a signing — of the newly minted Caregivers Support Foundation — that was as poignant as it was triumphant. This is the story of the document signing and how Hinshaw, now a victim of dementia and other maladies himself, continues to direct his energies to helping others deal with what he and his friend experienced as caregivers. 

Hinshaw is at HopeWest in-home hospice care and was unable to attend the ceremonial signing that established the support foundation. Laird, his brother in arms, brought the signing to him. From his hospice home Hinshaw signed the articles and became a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Caregiver Support Foundation, a non-profit entity. Hinshaw and Landon met at a support group for caregivers. 

Both men found themselves lost along the painful and exhausting journey they shared. They began talking and sharing experiences. Long coffee shop conversations, emails, and telephone phone calls brought them to realize that they were but two members of a much larger band of brothers and sisters – tens of thousands of caregivers to spouses, family members, and friends who cared for people suffering with dementia, Parkinson’s, or other terminal brain diseases. 

“I had written a couple of books and had the idea to write another one with my friend Laird,” Hinshaw recalled. Hinshaw, recently diagnosed as a dementia patient, said that he and Landon, an author, retired professor, consultant, and public speaker, hatched a plan to offer help to the lost souls in the caregiver army. “We thought it would be valuable if caregivers could share their experiences with others,” Landon said. “Caregiving is isolating, and most friends don’t understand how to help. We grieve every time our loved one loses a function or important memory. 

Glen and I help caregivers understand that it is normal to feel overwhelmed and that they are not alone.” The pair, armed with notepads and tape recorders, began to collect the stories of caregivers with whom they had come in contact during their caregiver support group meetings. 

As they worked, it was painfully obvious that there was plenty of material for a book. After nearly two years of collection, condensing, writing, and editing, the book became a reality. The book “Caregiving, Journey to a New Horizon,” came off the Amazon press in 2020. The critical acclaim was instant. “Here is a great resource with real stories and relevant help that is very encouraging,” said Robert Fry, founder/chaplain of Hope Unlimited. Other thinkers, support professionals, and caregivers echoed the sentiment. Caregiver Laurie Jones said: “This book is a treasure to have when you feel up against the wall with all those difficult decisions.” 

As the book began to circulate, Landon and Hinshaw began to help individual caregivers who were facing roadblocks and burnout as their tasks drained more and more of their energy, time, and money. The team’s work caught the eye of Region 10. Not only did Region 10 give them their first support group, but it also recently awarded them a grant to add more videos to their YouTube channel: Real Care for Caregivers. Landon pointed out in one of the Caregiver Support videos: “You reach a time when you can’t do it all.” 

To ensure that their work continues and helps more and more caregivers, Landon and Hinshaw organized the Caregiver Support Foundation to coach and support caregivers. The foundation also makes it easier for folks to support their work financially. “We have had some people offer financial support, but our LLC was not a good channel for receiving funds,” Landon said. “I am, of course, excited that we came together to create something new — something to help caregivers,” Landon said. He added that Glen’s condition was the catalyst. “We are so fulfilled and rewarded that we have been able to help others.”

Both men recognize the fact they won’t always be able to contribute. “Glen will be less able to help, given his condition, and even though I am healthy at 76, I will not be able to continue my pace forever. I hope the foundation can become a way to continue our work and grow its contribution to caregivers,” Landon said. The foundation will be guided by a five-member board of directors and a larger board of advisors from many disciplines. 

Besides Landon and Hinshaw, there are three other board members, Ronda Steenburgen, Cheryl Jennings and Bill Bottomly. Steenburgen is a veteran caregiver herself, as well as having been an occupational therapist for 45 years. She also served on a school board for eight years and on the advisory council for Region 10. She serves on the board of Sharing Ministries. She brings hands-on experience with end-oflife care through a hospice agency. 

“For three years I was caregiver to my late husband, who had brain cancer, until his passing at 46. I also cared for my parents after they moved to Montrose and their health began to deteriorate. That lasted five years. In those days there was no support for caregivers,” Steenburgen said. She added that her association with Hinshaw and Landon expanded her dedication to helping caregivers. 

Jennings, of Montrose, jumped at the chance to serve on the board of the new foundation. “Why would I do this? Because I have walked in the caregivers’ shoes for several years. I continue on that path even though my husband is in a critical care facility,” said Jennings. She, too, knows the terror, the exhaustion and the feeling of utter helplessness that a caregiver experiences. “It is time for me to give back with the wisdom of my experiences, though it is hard to relive them,” Jennings said. “If I can make even one caregiver’s journey a wee bit easier, then I feel the need to step forward and do it!”

Bottomly said he became a caregiver without knowing what he was doing. His wife was changing and not for the better. They both assumed her behavior was part of the aging process — that is until an MRI in 2009 told the real cause. It was a silent ischemic stroke. Caregiving expanded to lifestyle management to prevent more strokes. “Even though we lived a healthy and active lifestyle, and she had no indicators of strokes, it became obvious that she was never going to get better,” said Bottomly. The damage from the first stroke caused continued deterioration. 

Dementia set in and eventually Bottomly found himself in an unsafe 24/7 monitoring and treatment regimen. It became time for placement in the Colorow Care Center in Olathe, where she has been since 2018. Bottomly sees his wife regularly, but, he said, “In our 41 years together through 2018, this was the most difficult and important decision I had ever made.” 

“Caring for someone with dementia is a roller coaster journey with no instructions on how to hang on or get off,” he said. “I was fortunate on my journey to find the people in the support group I meet with now, during a time when I needed them the most. Without them I would have probably continued to attempt to provide the care my wife needed, while at the same time grinding myself down physically, emotionally, and mentally.” Bottomly brings a wealth of clear-eyed experience to the foundation. “Because I know what caregivers are going through on their journey, I want to continue providing what assistance I can to them as long as I can, and I am happy to be a part of this new foundation. I look forward to the future and fruits of our labor.” 

The foundation will focus on teaching others how to organize support groups. The book “Caregiving, A Journey to a New Horizon,” and the growing number of caregiver videos on the YouTube channel will continue to be resources for caregivers. The 

CaregiverSupportFoundation.org website is under construction. The Caregivers Support Foundation will operate out of Montrose. The foundation email is CaregiverSupport@iCloud.com. Caregiver Support videos are available online by searching for Real Care for Caregivers in the YouTube search window. Michael A. Cox is a Montrose-based content provider.