Meet Jordan Maedgen | Dance 2 End Alz HTX founder and committee member

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jordan Maedgen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jordan, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My (Jordan) mother passed away from what was thought at the time to be early onset Alzheimer’s. With more information available now, we believe it was Frontotemporal Dementia. She was only 49 when her symptoms began. As I entered my 40s I began sharing my concerns for my own health and was connected to multiple other women that shared a similar familial experience. We have each taken personal steps to safeguard our own brains, but we wanted to do more. We each felt pain and devastating from losing our loved ones, but we still wanted to support research and awareness. We decided to create fun and enjoyable events to raise money for our cause. We’ve had enough sorrow, so why not celebrate our current lives and create good at the same time.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Our charity, Dance 2 End Alz HTX is a fun-loving and light hearted approach to raising money for brain disease research. We want people to enjoy our events and learn more about prevention and hopeful treatment options in the future. We hope people are engaged at our events and truly come to enjoy themselves while spending time with friends or family. We try to think of social outings a large group of people would want to attend.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I think Houston is such a wonderful city! We have amazing medical talent, stunning arts and culture options, food to satisfy a variety of palettes and people that are welcoming and warm. I love that we are a hub for medical advancement. There are brilliant minds working daily to find a cure for Alzheimer’s and FTD and Houston leading the way along side some highly notable medical centers. I think educating our citizens on the importance of exercise, healthy foods and brain rest is key. Thankfully Houston provides all of that in almost all pockets of the city.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I copied the idea of a Dance Party for Alzheimer’s from actress Kimberley Williams Paisley of Knoxville, TN. I read her book, Where the Light Gets In and recognized that both of our mothers experienced the same disease. Once the idea of a Houston version was formed, I reached out to several friends I knew that had a family member with dementia. Many of them were on board to help out and further connected me to others. Our committee consists of Meredith Winczewski, Ashley Welscher, Robin Schlosser, Annabelle Arnold, Christine Roe and Lizzie Doyle. All of these women are valuable for the total success. We each have various skill sets and combined we are effective and organized.

Website: https://www.dance2endalzhtx.com

Instagram: @dance2endalzhtx

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Facebook: Dance2endalzhtx

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Image Credits
Samantha Colquitt (seated photo of 5)