At the end of 2010, AGE of Central Texas (AGE) recognized that in order to support older adults and their family caregivers, specific caregiving education was needed. Already offering several resources for caregivers, AGE envisioned providing tools to manage the day-to-day challenges of caregiving – so that the family caregiver and care receiver would both thrive.
AGE was diligent about their selection, seeking a candidate qualified to develop such a program. By early 2011 Faith Unger, a retired public school educator, brought AGE’s vision to life by creating the CaregiverU program to provide support and resources to family members and friends caring for an older adult.
A caregiver herself, Faith cared for her spouse, Bob, for many years and attributed her extensive knowledge of caregiving to him. Faith retired in January 2023, and fellow educator Dianne Preston stepped in as the new Program Director of CaregiverU.
CaregiverU operates as a collaboration of several non-profit agencies and community organizations that join together to empower, strengthen, prepare, and equip families and persons that are caring for an older adult. CaregiverU offers 6 different courses in Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop counties – presented both in-person and online, and offered multiple times a year at no cost to participants.