Learning > Adult Services > Hidden Gem: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment – Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Action Coalition

Hidden Gem: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment – Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Action Coalition

by

December 5, 2025 by Tiah Frankish

Monica Maly is the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) Program Coordinator at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment office. Monica and her team have answered some questions below to help librarians around Colorado learn about their organization, resources, and services.

Below you will learn about the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Coalition and their potential to help you serve the adults in your community.  Resources and ideas are peppered throughout the article, but they will be listed for your convenience at the end.

Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment Logo

Tell us who you are and what you do at your organization

Monica Maly is the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) Program Coordinator at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Her primary role is to assist in the implementation of our ADRD State Plan and facilitate our ADRD Action Coalition. 

The ADRD State Plan is a 5 year plan with the goal of creating a strong public health approach to ADRD with a focus on risk reduction, early diagnosis, prevention and management of comorbidities and avoidable hospitalizations, education and support of Coloradans living with or care for a loved one with ADRD.

How can your organization partner with a library to offer resources or programming to the local community of library visitors and users?

The ADRD Action Coalition has been working on offering educational opportunities and resources to libraries to reach community members. 

  • The first resource is the monthly, free, Educational ADRD Flyers. The flyers are intended to help raise awareness of ADRD, caregiving supports and services, and help direct members of your community to available resources. Our goal is to provide accessible and flexible resources to reach as many community members as possible in ways that best fit the community’s needs. 
  • The second goal is the Community Education Partners (CEPs), which is an education initiative providing three (3) options to engage: host, lead, and/or spread the word. This is a partnership with the ADRD Action Coalition and the Alzheimer’s Association.
    • CEPs will utilize the Alzheimer’s Association’s trainings either virtually or in-person, including Dementia Education:
      • Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease/Dementia
      • Ten Warning Signs
      • Healthy Brain Empowered Caregiver: Communications, Challenging Behaviors, and Legal/Financial Management. 
  • The third resource is the Mile High United Way 211 ADRD and Care Partner Resource Repository where resources from across the state are available to community members. 
  • Lastly, the Action Coalition shares educational opportunities and resources through our ADRDAC Quarterly Newsletter.

What needs or challenges can your organization help libraries address for their communities?

We can help with providing education about ADRD and related topics, connecting folks to resources in their communities and at the state level, and help bridge the gap between community based organizations and health systems. We have presenters all over Colorado and will do our best to accommodate in-person presentations as we are able.

What regions – cities, counties, areas – of Colorado does your organization reach? 

We reach all regions, cities, counties, and areas in Colorado. We are seeking involvement in our ADRD Action Coalition from folks who have experience or interest in rural health, ADRD, older adult health, and/or care partners. Email Monica if you want to participate in the ADRD Action Coalition, but remember you do not have to be a member of the Action Coalition to have education programs done in your library. 

Do the services or resources from your organization cost any money to the participant?

No, all services and resources are free!

Do libraries have to provide any funds or apply to any grants to work with your organization?

No, libraries do not need to provide funds. 

We do offer annual mini-grant opportunities for organizations to apply to, but an application is not required to work with our organization.

The 2026 “Enhancing Education on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) for Populations Who Experience High ADRD Burden” mini-grant application is now available.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is now accepting applications for mini-grants to support community education on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Grants of up to $5,000 are available for Colorado organizations to create and share tailored educational resources with communities experiencing high ADRD burden. Projects may focus on risk reduction, early detection, care resources, or support for care partners. Applications are due December 31, 2025. We encourage all eligible entities to apply. Previous mini-grant projects and resources can be found here.  

Learn more and apply here. The deadline to apply is December 31, 2025.

For questions regarding this funding opportunity please contact Joanna Espinoza Robbins, ADRD Program Manager, at [email protected].

Do libraries have to provide any staff, volunteers, or training in order to run your programs or provide resources or services with your organization?

No, we provide presenters and trainers as needed. 

Let’s say one of our librarians, directors, or staff contact you and says, “We want to bring your organization to our community!” What will the next step look like?

Email Monica! ([email protected]) She is  happy to meet with folks via Zoom or converse over email to share more about our educational opportunities and resources. She can also talk about different ways to bring our offerings to your libraries. 

How can people reach you?

Email is the best way to reach Monica, [email protected].

***

Not every resource or partner that we highlight will meet the needs or fit in with the mission of every library or community that will read this post. Furthermore, no single interview can include every available opportunity to work with the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Action Coalition.

Condensed List of Resources:

Tiah Frankish
Latest posts by Tiah Frankish (see all)