About a decade ago, Joyce Gottlieb began noticing changes in her mother, Bessie Ledbetter — a former English professor at Johnson C. Smith University. The signs became clearer when Joyce discovered a stack of legal pads at her mother’s house, filled with notes referencing Alzheimer’s disease.
“I think my mom knew something was wrong,” Joyce recalled, “and understood that she could possibly have the disease.”
A formal diagnosis followed, and she quickly became responsible for every corner of her mother’s life — medical, legal, financial and overall well-being.
Learning as She Went
“The journey catches you completely unaware,” Joyce said. But personal connection helped guide her first steps.
“I was fortunate to have a personal relationship with a sorority sister who was a medical professional working with the senior population,” she shared. “She guided me through the initial steps to access the proper medical professionals to diagnose and treat my mother’s symptoms and helped me learn about the disease.”
Practical planning made a difference, too. “My mother prepared for the future and obtained long-term care insurance,” Joyce said. “Having the ability to access in-home care, continue my employment and know she is cared for was a major relief.”
Turning Awareness into Action
Joyce found her own community at an African American Support Group offered through the Alzheimer’s Association. “I truly felt as though I had a family of support — that I was not alone,” she said. “I could share my experiences with newcomers, listen to others, provide insights, encouragement and support. The facilitators were uplifting and resourceful, and they skillfully managed our group with compassion, care and respect.”
She brought that same spirit back to her own workplace, inviting Alzheimer’s Association educators to lead annual lunch-and-learn seminars and inviting colleagues to be part of Walk to End Alzheimer’s. “The sessions were always full, and participants were appreciative of the opportunity to learn about the disease,” she said.
A Fighting Spirit
Even while living with Alzheimer’s, Bessie faced — and overcame — a battle with cancer, drawing on the same resolve that had always defined her. Joyce recalled how her mother endured weeks of treatment without a complaint or resistance.
“I was happy to ring the bell with her at the end, and I was deeply impressed by her resilience,” she shared.
That fighting spirit never left her. One memory stays with Joyce above all: overhearing her mother say quietly to herself, “I am a fighter.”
“I realized she understood what was happening to her, and she was ready for the fight, with God as her strength and shield,” Joyce said. “Today, I honor my mother’s fighting spirit in the manner in which she displayed it — with grace, poise and dignity.”
Bessie passed away with Alzheimer’s in 2023, surrounded by her family’s love. “We experienced a great sense of satisfaction in a job well done, caring for the life of a woman who always gave of her best — to the college students whom she taught, her church family, her sorority, her family and the community at large,” Joyce reflected.
Carrying the Mission Forward
Today, Joyce continues her mother’s fight by leading a Walk to End Alzheimer’s team made up of her sorority sisters of the Alpha Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
“Working with the membership of our chapter in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease gives us a powerful collective voice,” Joyce said. The team, called AKA – Let’s Not Forget!, is guided by its shared motto: Clarity. Capacity. Cure.
“We recognize that this disease disproportionately affects more people of color, and more women than men. So, this is a fight we are poised to engage in,” she said. “Mother was a member of this organization, which makes it very special to me.”
While older Black Americans are TWICE AS LIKELY as older Whites to have Alzheimer’s or another dementia, research hasn’t yet identified the cause. Higher rates of cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) disease may play a role. Some studies indicate that after correcting for overall health and socioeconomic status, these differences disappear.
Almost TWO-THIRDS of Americans living with Alzheimer’s are women. MORE THAN 60% of Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers are women. More specifically, over one-third of dementia caregivers are daughters.
This year, Joyce and her teammates set a goal of raising $19,290 in honor of the Alpha Lambda Omega Chapter’s founding in 1929. They have already raised over $23,000 in support of Walk to End Alzheimer’s!
On October 24, Joyce and her AKA sisters will walk once again at Charlotte’s Romare Bearden Park, continuing a mission she has led for more than a decade, in honor of her mother’s memory and in pursuit of a cure for the generations still to come.
Join Joyce in the fight to #ENDALZ by supporting the Walk to End Alzheimer’s nearest you! Find a North Carolina location below or visit alz.org/walk to search by ZIP code. Even if your Walk date has passed, we will continue fundraising through December 31, 2026.
Join your local Walk to End Alzheimer’s today — as an individual or with a team.
The Alzheimer’s Association hosts 17 walks across North Carolina. The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Since 1989, the Alzheimer’s Association® mobilized millions of Americans in the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk®; now the Alzheimer’s Association is continuing to lead the way with Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Together, we can end Alzheimer’s.
Walk to End Alzheimer’s 2026 dates in North Carolina:
| Alamance County | 9/26/26 |
| Asheville | 10/3/26 |
| Charlotte | 10/24/26 |
| Fayetteville | 10/24/26 |
| Gaston/Cleveland/Lincoln | 10/10/26 |
| Guilford County | 10/17/26 |
| Henderson County | 10/3/26 |
| Iredell Co. & Lake Norman | 9/26/26 |
| Jacksonville | 9/26/26 |
| Moore County | 9/19/26 |
| Mount Airy | 9/19/26 |
| New Bern | 10/17/26 |
| Rowan-Cabarrus | 10/3/26 |
| Unifour | 10/24/26 |
| Triangle (Raleigh-Durham) | 10/3/26 |
| Wilmington | 10/31/26 |
| Winston-Salem | 11/7/26 |
