Meet Chris Borders - DSNW's Volunteer Coordinator

Photo courtesy of Chris Borders

Written by Aria Nguyen 

Updated 5/22/26 at 4:47 pm

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Each person who walks through Dementia Support Northwest's doors—including staff and volunteers—has a personal connection to the journey. Whether it was knowing a neighbor, helping a friend, or caring for a parent or spouse, in some ways dementia finds its way into people’s lives.

For the most part, becoming a dementia advocate does not come with a grand plan, but happens through quiet moments, strong embraces, and by working through tough situations. 

Dementia Support Northwest (DSNW), is fortunate to have found compassionate people who are using their unique journeys with dementia to help the local community.

Chris Borders, Volunteer Coordinator for DSNW, is one of those individuals who is using her personal experience to help others through similar situations. 

After Borders’ husband, Keith Borders —who went by Corky—was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, Borders connected with DSNW. 

“I actually contacted Leslie [Jackson] right before Covid, and then all the support groups split up,” Chris said. “After Covid I got back in touch with her because I needed support.”

As the disease progressed, Borders said she returned to the Caregiver Support Group and started attending other programs offered, such as The Breakfast Club—a dementia-friendly event previously hosted at the Denny’s in Bellingham, WA. 

After her husband's passing, Chris reconnected with the organization looking for more involvement.

“I always came from a job that was really responsible,” she said, “I was a business owner for 13 years, a director of audiology for 20 before that…so I’ve always had a higher responsibility job and I felt like I needed that [volunteering] to get me out of bed again.”

Borders states she could not have gotten through her journey without DSNW, which drove her to become their Volunteer Coordinator.

“I feel like when you’re blessed, you have to give back, and I feel like I’ve been blessed,” she said.

Borders, the youngest of seven children, grew up in Kelso, Washington. She met Corky in high school.

“We [both] played the saxophone. He was the first tenor and I was the second tenor in the Jazz Band and the Concert Band,” Borders recalled.

Once graduating from high school, Borders attended Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington,   while Corky went on to attend Western Washington University (WWU) across the state in Bellingham, Washington.

“So after the first semester of being separated from him, much to my parents’ dismay, I transferred to Western,” Borders said.

Borders went on to graduate, then earned a master’s degree in Audiology from WWU, and later earned her doctorate degree in Audiology at A.T. Still University (ATSU) in Mesa, Arizona. 

In 1986, Borders and Corky got married. Corky would not have a wedding until he graduated from undergrad. 

“It took him seven years to get his stupid bachelor’s degree for various reasons,” Borders chuckled. “He graduated in December and we got married in January.”

After getting married, Borders and Corky relocated to Ballard, Washington in September, 1986, where she worked at the Hearing, Speech & Deaf Center for over 18 years. Borders started off as a staff Audiologist, then grew to be the director of Audiology.

“At one point I was running the Parent-Infant program for a short amount of time, the Speech and Hearing Program for a short amount of time,” she explained. “I did a lot there in 18 and a half years.”

In 2005, Borders decided to open her own private practice, Eastside Audiology, in Issaquah, Washington.

Over the years she spent there, Borders became actively involved in the Kiwanis Club of Issaquah, dedicating her time to community service, even earning “Kiwanian of the Year” three times, she said.

In 2018, Borders sold her private practice, and relocated with her husband and young daughter to Bellingham, Washington.

“I did that for 13 years, and then Cork was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and we always thought…we always knew all roads would lead back to Bellingham,” she said. 

Borders now brings her professional background, and direct experience as a care partner for someone living with dementia, to DSNW.

As the Volunteer Coordinator, Borders recruits volunteers for the various DSNW and Amy’s Place programs, along with serving on different committees, planning and hosting events and more. In her free time, she said she likes to garden, see her grandson and travel.

Having gone through her own dementia journey with her husband—Chris Borders is appreciative of DSNW’s services and encourages others to take the time to volunteer for DSNW.

“It gives you so much personal gratification to be able to volunteer and know what you’re doing is needed,” she said.

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To learn more about Chris Borders, click here.

To learn more about volunteering with DSNW, click here.