Free Caregiver Groups & Memory Cafes - Minnetonka, MN
Senior Community Services runs caregiver support groups and memory cafes across the western Twin Cities metro for people caring for an older adult or someone with a cognitive diagnosis. With groups in more than a dozen communities plus virtual options, this is one of the broadest caregiver support networks in the region — and it is built around the premise that caregivers need somewhere to trade stories, advice, and humor with people who already understand.
What to Expect
Two formats run side by side. Caregiver Support Groups are a safe place to trade experiences and practical advice, facilitated by a Licensed Social Worker experienced in supporting caregivers and familiar with local resources. Memory Cafes offer respite and support at the same time: a creative activity such as art, music, or gardening is facilitated for the person with memory loss while a caregiver support group runs concurrently. Caregivers can join the activity or step away to the group. In-person support groups meet in Bloomington, Chanhassen, Delano, Eden Prairie, Edina, Elk River, Minnetonka, Monticello, Plymouth, Richfield, Rogers, St. Michael, and Waconia, with virtual options including a virtual Alzheimer’s Adult Child group. Memory cafes run in Minnetonka (separate beginning-stage and middle-stage groups), Prior Lake, St. Michael, Plymouth, and Carver.
Who This Group Is For
Groups are open to those caring for an older adult or someone with a cognitive diagnosis. The caregiver or the care receiver must live in the service area, which covers Carver, Hennepin, Scott, Sherburne, and Wright Counties. The separate beginning-stage and middle-stage memory cafes matter — the needs of a family early after diagnosis are genuinely different from those further along, and being grouped accordingly makes the room more useful.
Why Peer Support Works
Dementia and elder caregiving tends to shrink a person’s world: outings get harder, friendships thin out, and the caregiver’s own identity narrows to the role. Memory cafes push directly against that by giving both people somewhere to go together, which removes the respite problem that keeps many caregivers home. And a facilitated group led by someone who knows the local service landscape does double duty — emotional support in the room, and accurate information about what help actually exists in your county.
How to Join
Call 612-770-7005 with questions or to register. A minimum participant cost-share contribution of $5.00 per meeting is encouraged but not required, so no one is excluded by cost. A downloadable flyer listing every location is posted on the Senior Community Services website. The main office is at 10201 Wayzata Blvd, Suite 335, Minnetonka, MN 55305 (952-541-1019), with a satellite office serving Wright and Sherburne Counties at 11800 Town Center Dr. NE #200, St. Michael, MN 55376 (763-416-7969). Services are supported in part by a Live Well at Home grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services and funded under contract with Trellis and the Central MN Council on Aging through the Older Americans Act.