Malcolm's Heart: Supporting Families Fighting Alzheimer's

Founded in honor of a Marine father lost to dementia, Malcolm's Heart provides respite, resources, and relief to caregivers and patients. Here's what they need from you.

Malcolm Phillips Sr. was a decorated Marine. A loving husband. A father whose motto — "Everything is going to be alright, baby! How are you doing?" — was always directed outward, toward whoever was in the room. Alzheimer's took him in 2016. His daughter built Malcolm's Heart Inc. in response — not to process grief, but to ensure that other families navigating the same disease had less of the confusion, isolation, and resource deprivation that his family faced. Malcolm's Heart supports patients with Alzheimer's and other dementias and the caregivers who love them: through wellness workshops, emergency relief, outreach events, and the essential goods that caregivers are often too overwhelmed to find for themselves. Givelink, a Transparent Giving Platform that connects donors to verified U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofits with photo proof of delivery, partners with Malcolm's Heart to connect donors to the specific goods that support this often-invisible community. Here is the full picture.

Key Takeaways

• Malcolm's Heart serves patients and caregivers dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia across Southern California.
• Caregivers are often in crisis themselves — burned out, under-resourced, and invisible to the systems that serve their loved ones.
• Specific goods — hygiene supplies, comfort items, food — fill gaps that emergency relief funds can't predict.
• Malcolm's Heart offers an Emergency Relief Fund for community members 55+ covering food, utilities, transportation, and medical needs.
• Givelink donors give 60% more times per year than traditional platform donors (Givelink data, 2026).

The disease most giving overlooks

Alzheimer's disease and other dementias affect more than 6 million Americans, with 11 million unpaid caregivers providing over 18 billion hours of care annually (Alzheimer's Association, 2025). The caregiver — often a spouse, adult child, or sibling — gives up sleep, income, social connection, and physical health to keep a loved one at home and safe.

Malcolm's Heart was born from this reality. The organization provides wellness workshops to educate communities about dementia, outreach events, and direct support services including an Emergency Relief Fund that covers the immediate financial crises caregiving creates: an unpaid utility bill, a missed grocery run, a transportation cost that a caregiver can't absorb because they haven't slept in three days.

"Giving was always supposed to be a thread between two lives."

A donor who gives specific goods to Malcolm's Heart — comfort items for a patient, hygiene supplies for a caregiver's emergency kit — sends something to people who are too focused on their loved one to ask for help themselves.

What Malcolm's Heart needs from donors

Category	Specific Items	Who Receives Them
Patient comfort	Adult bibs, fidget blankets, soft socks	Alzheimer's patients, especially in later stages
Caregiver basics	Hygiene kits, hand lotion, vitamins	Caregivers who forget to care for themselves
Emergency food	Shelf-stable meals, snack packs	55+ community members in financial crisis
Program supplies	Notebooks, activity books, puzzles	Wellness workshop participants
Education	Printed resource guides, medication organizers	Newly diagnosed families

Why this matters in 2026

The Alzheimer's Association projects that by 2050, over 13 million Americans will have Alzheimer's disease — but funding for caregiver support organizations remains a fraction of what goes to research or clinical care. Organizations like Malcolm's Heart, which focus on the families rather than just the disease, serve a population that is chronically underfunded and under-supported.

Givelink in action with Malcolm's Heart

A donor in Riverside gave comfort items and hygiene kits through Givelink to Malcolm's Heart. Eleven days later, a photo arrived: the supplies organized for distribution at Malcolm's Heart's next wellness workshop. The donor shared the photo with her aging parents. "This is the kind of thing I needed when I was a caregiver," her mother said. Browse Malcolm's Heart's wishlist on Givelink and give something to a family in their hardest chapter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Malcolm's Heart Inc. need most from donors?

Their core needs are patient comfort items (fidget blankets, soft socks, adult bibs), caregiver hygiene and wellness basics, shelf-stable food for the Emergency Relief Fund, and program supplies for wellness workshops.

Is Malcolm's Heart a legitimate nonprofit?

Yes. Malcolm's Heart Inc. is a verified 501(c)(3) organization serving families affected by Alzheimer's and dementia across Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. Their Givelink profile includes independent evaluation data.

Give something to a family in their hardest chapter

Browse Malcolm's Heart's wishlist on Givelink and give something specific to a caregiver who won't ask for it themselves.

Stay Human.

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Antonis Politis is CEO and Co-Founder of Givelink.