PRESS ALERT | August 2025
AACY and Advocates Charlie and A.J. Poole Featured in National Outreach for PBS Documentary Caregiving
The American Association of Caregiving Youth (AACY) and longtime advocates Charlie and A.J. Poole were recently featured by Well Beings/WETA in the national outreach campaign for Caregiving, the new PBS documentary executive-produced by Bradley Cooper.
Charlie and A.J. were children when they began caring for their grandmother, who lived with Alzheimer’s. Their experience inspired them to speak out for the over 5.4 million children and teens in the United States who provide care for family members. Today, they continue their advocacy through speeches, media interviews, and volunteer work with AACY.
The Well Beings outreach video captures the Poole brothers’ body of advocacy work to date, including their speeches at the Brain Bowl in Boca Raton and at the AACY Caregiving Youth Conference. Their journey, together with the mission of AACY, is now part of the national educational and social media campaign surrounding the film, helping start conversations and letting other young caregivers know they are not alone.
AACY is also represented in the Caregiving film through Jacob, a student in the Caregiving Youth Project, whose story is one of three youth caregiver segments included in the documentary. His perspective anchors the role of Caregiving Youth within the film, while the outreach campaign expands that representation through the voices of Charlie and A.J.
Other partners highlighted in the outreach include Hope Loves Company, the Rhode Island Department of Education, and the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and its Hidden Helpers initiative. Research from the Caregiving Youth Research Collaborative (CYRC) was cited in the official press release and helped inform the film’s content.
AACY is proud to be part of this national effort to bring visibility to caregivers of all ages and is a national outreach and engagement partner in the project alongside leading organizations working to support caregivers.
Caregiving premiered nationally on PBS on June 24 and is now streaming on PBS.org and the PBS App. More information is found at https://wellbeings.org/
