Meryl

    From a Catholic girl with Greek roots to girl-scouting, to Hollwood, to 
becoming a Certified Dental Assistant to English horseback riding in her 70’s, 78 year old Meryl Burkhardt has had a lifetime of experiences. “I’d still be riding if I owned a horse!” she says.

    Yet, possibly the most challenging and formidable experience in her life happened to her this year when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

      Not only did she have to manage her own illness, but she has had to look after her husband who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Fortunately, she was not alone in her fight against cancer, and Faith in Action was there to help her whenever she needed it.
   
      “I personally would not have been able to cope without Faith in Action” she says. Meryl’s radiation treatments were in Seattle, and she no longer is able to drive on highways to get to them. Faith in Action volunteers have been driving her up to Seattle every day for 3 weeks so that she could receive her treatment.

      “Without your organization” she says, “I would have had to take a taxi every time I had a radiation treatment in Seattle. That would have cost me about $100 every time. That was a $100 I could not afford. I would have had to deny my cancer treatments.”

    When Meryl was younger, she’d offer to give rides to the elderly in her own neighborhoods. She admits though, that initially asking for the help herself was hard. “I was active when I was young” she says. “I used to volunteer at a senior home… I guess I’m not used to asking for help – but I didn’t really have much left.”

      She says this about her volunteers: “I’ve had several volunteers and they couldn’t have been nicer – caring, thoughtful, warm... I am very grateful. Not one soul that drove me forgot to make me feel good – made me feel good, warm, just great. They offered support in a way that was not condescending or embarrassing for me, but in a very genuine and humble way.”

    Fortunately, Meryl’s battle with cancer has reached an end and she recently had her last drive with Faith in Action to receive her last radiation treatment. “Everyone along the way had been so helpful and kind.”

    She feels thankful to have Faith in Action nearby. “My sisters live in St. Louis and they were amazed when I told them about Faith in Action and the services they provide; there’s no such thing near where they live and they are amazed.”

    Faith in Action is here to serve clients like this because of donors like you. On her behalf, and the behalf of all our clients, thank you!

"Marketplace"

Welcome to today's Friday Focus. Usually you get the chance to meet a Faith in Action client in these posts. Today, though, I wanted to focus on a report I heard on NPR recently.

The program was "Marketplace", and it stated that  5% of the population consumes more than half of our nation's health care costs. The report identified these people - they are "elderly, poor and have trouble taking care of themselves". It also said that they were characterized as having multiple chronic health care conditions.

In other words, they'd look a lot like our clients. Our clients are elderly, and nearly three-quarters of them are below the federal low-income standard. So many of them have multiple disabling chronic health care conditions that we had to modify our database so its reports could list four or more per client.

Are our clients, though, really among these high spenders? According to the data underlying the radio report, the disabilities of the high spenders mean that they have difficulty managing their health. Without regular medical care and monitoring, they wind up in the emergency room and in crisis, over and over again.

This is where our client diverge from the profile. With our help, they get to their health care appointments. A look at the ride calendar for next week shows: an eye exam, a heart medication check, a blood draw and x-ray diagnosis, a pick-up from the kidney center, a visit with a psychiatrist, a pacemaker check, a ride for cancer treatment, and more - all sorts of ways that our clients' health care is being monitored and treated every day.

While I can tell you many reasons of the heart to support Faith in Action, here's a reason of the pocketbook. One of the best ways we can lower health care costs is helping our big health care spenders be smaller spenders. It's not complicated. A friendly face, a helping hand, and a ride to the local doctor's office - that's what it takes. It saves money, and it saves lives.

Faith in Action does not get funds from the federal government, the State of Washington, or King County.68% of our funding is from individuals like you. 

You make it possible for us to serve elders in need, in our community. Thank you so much for your support of Faith in Action.

Mary

Mary lives in a pleasant suburban home in Issaquah. She is the sole caretaker of her husband who has Alzheimer's. While fending for her husband has been difficult, she has been able to cope.

Then she got a diagnosis of cancer. Suddenly, everything went topsy-turvey. She's used to being the one who is providing care, not giving it. She's suddenly faced with even more things to overcome.

She contacted Faith in Action because she knew she couldn't do it alone.  She needed help sorting out all the resources out there. As a household, there's enough money to hire some paid in-home care, but she can't afford to pay for everything. Sitting down with our client services coordinator and assessing what Faith in Action could do for her, what other agencies could do for her, and what a private care company could do, was really reassuring, as she embarks on this next chapter of her life.

Your donations make this help available to the elders in our community. On their behalf, we thank you for your support.

Sheila

Sheila lives in a small home in the Snoqualmie Valley. Like many of our clients, she lives solely on social security and disability payments, which means her income is just over $8000/year. Initially she called Faith in Action for help getting to medical appointments. While she would qualify for Access, Metro's transportation program for the disabled, Access can't serve her because there's no place on her rural road for the van to pull over or turn around.

When Laura, our client services coordinator, did a home visit with her, more needs were uncovered. The wood steps to her home were rotten and needed repair; her deck was covered with slime and was slippery; her garden needed a major clean-up; and she could not keep up with her housework.

Since that initial visit, Faith in Action sent out a volunteer handyman, and her steps are now repaired. A team of volunteers did a deep clean of her home; rearranged some furniture for her, and got started on the yard. The Sammamish Rotary Club will lend Faith in Action a power washer, and now all we need to do is find a volunteer who can use it to de-slime her deck. And, she's gotten those rides to the dentist that she so desperately needed, and is no longer in pain. I just looked on our phone log, and can see that she's finally getting her eyes checked, too, next week.

Sheila's a deeply religious woman. Her interests listed on her intake sheet specify singing hymns and reading her Bible. She has called us several times to thank us and God for the volunteers we have sent her way. "Praise the Lord all day long!" is one of her favorite phrases.

We also thank our volunteers, for their service - and thank you, too, for your support of Faith in Action. Caring people like you, and all our supporters, improve the lives of isolated elders like Sheila.

Jean

Jean lives in an apartment in downtown Issaquah, with her little dog, "Apple", who is the apple of her eye. She came to Faith in Action through the recommendation of her neighbor, who is also a Faith in Action client.

Jean doesn't drive any more, and needs rides to medical appointments. While she lives close to the market such that she can walk there, she can't carry back anything heavy, or very many groceries at a time. She also is having difficulties keeping up with her housework. Her apartment is small, but it could use a good cleaning and airing out. It wouldn't take much to make it feel fresh, and sparkling again.

Jean doesn't have family, except for a sister in another state. There is no one here who can help her - exceptFaith in Action.  Jean is hoping we can match her to a volunteer for shopping and housekeeping, and then she will be calling us for rides for medical appointments.

Your donations mean that we can recruit volunteers that can help low-income seniors like Jean. Thanks to you, they can live in health and dignity. On their behalf, we thank you for your support.

City Church

I just finished working with a group from City Church this afternoon. This group of young adults do volunteer work consistently, a couple of hours at a time, two to three days a week, all through the year. They are always on the hunt for projects they can do together. Quite often, they end up doing work like "Adopt a Highway", but they prefer to do activities where they get an opportunity directly help others.

This was their first time volunteering for Faith in Action. They helped an elderly couple that, because of illness and disability, had gotten very far behind on their housework. It's not that their house had anything gross or rotten -- we do run into those situations. Rather, everything needed a thorough dusting, thorough wiping, through vacuuming, in every single room of the house.
At first they were tentative, but soon they fell into all that needed to be done. Paper towels were broken out with many bottles of window cleaner, and they washed the windows. We went through an entire carton of swiffer dusting cloths, reaching up to light fixtures, lintels, and picture frames that probably haven't been dusted in years. Then, three vacuums were going at once - the one I brought from home had its chamber emptied of dust and pet hair at least three times that I know of! The group worked very hard for the two hours that they were at the house.

I wish I could tell you that by the time the two hours were over, that  the house was perfect. Unfortunately, the scope of what needed to be done was so immense, that isn't true. But these volunteers made a real, palpable, breathable, difference. The next time they come out, they'll be able to spend another two hours wiping and dusting and vacuuming. Each time, the house will be that much more of a healthy and hygienic living environment for the elderly couple that lives there.

At Faith in Action, we are looking forward to building a strong partnership with City Church's volunteers. We have a few rather daunting projects - major shrub trimming, heavy housework like the group did today - that aren't for the faint of heart or limb, and could use the energy and focus of a relatively large group of people in their 20s. And the volunteer tasks that we can offer them brings them the human contact that they are looking for. Our elderly clients will benefit - but so will these volunteers, who can see the faces of the people they are helping, and they can know that they are putting their faith in action.

 

We can find, screen, and deploy volunteers like these, because of your support. Thank you, on the behalf of the frail and disabled elderly we serve.

Phil

Do you remember Phil from a previous Friday Focus?  He was getting rides to kidney dialysis in Snoqualmie through a Faith in Action volunteer.

Since I wrote that email, we have two more kidney dialysis patients looking for transportation. Unlike Phil, who lives in town, these two people live in much more remote locations - one lives in a trailer park near Tiger Mountain, the other lives in May Valley. Unfortunately, because of their inaccessibility, Access will not serve either of these two locations. Right now, both dialysis patients are dependent on their elderly spouses to take them. Unfortunately, in both of these cases, the elderly wife or husband really is not capable of driving safely any more, because of limited eyesight and slow reaction time. Issaquah Hobart Road and May Valley Road have relatively high speeds and are poorly lit - it is often dark in the late afternoons during this time of the year, when a patient is finished with dialysis.

A dialysis patient requires six trips a week, every week, for the rest of the client's life. It takes a lot of volunteer time to meet the need of just one person - but the volunteer's service can mean the difference between life and death . We are actively recruiting a host of drivers to serve these two people. If you know of someone who might be interested in helping us, please let us know. Please call the office at 425-369-9120 or email us at info@faithinaction4seniors.org.

Thank you for your support of our work, and for your interest in our clients.

Patty

Patty lives in an apartment in downtown Issaquah. She is chronically mentally ill, and is matched with a regular volunteer who takes her to a clinic where they can monitor her medication.  With these consistent and regular visits, is able to manage her condition pretty well. And like many of our clients, she calls our office when she has occasional doctors' visits for other health concerns.

Patty came to our program through the recommendation of a friend, another elderly client. The assessment team member who did Patty's initial home visit for our program noted that Patty was very withdrawn during the visit, perhaps because of her anxiety. And when Patty first would call our office to request a ride, you could hear the hesitation and discomfort on the phone.

Now, a year and a half later, Patty has come out of her shell. When she calls for ride, it feels more like she is asking a friend for help. And her volunteers are her friends - not just connecting Patty to the health care she needs, but providing a human connection she otherwise might not have in her life.

Since Patty became a client in February 2009, Faith in Action volunteers have given her 238 one-way trips, totalling over 2500 miles. The quality of her life, through the access to the physical and mental health services she needs, and the social contacts she has made, has been transformed. Your support of Faith in Action has made this transformation possible.

Mary and Robert

Mary and her husband Robert bought a mobile home in 1978, and put it in on a small wooded lot on the Plateau. Robert retired, and then passed away, but Mary has continued to live in this home. Sammamish has grown around the property they bought so many years ago.

Mary first started Faith in Action just so she could occasionally get help with her yard work. Her vision has gotten worse and worse, though, as she has aged, and she can no longer drive. A neighbor was taking her shopping from time to time, but the neighbor has a new baby in the house, and ended this informal help. Her "sandwich" generation daughter, who lives in Shoreline, has her own kids and full-time job to attend to, and can only take off so much time to help her mom.

Like so many of our clients, Mary is caught between what she needs, and her sense of independence. Mary signed up for a match with a volunteer to take her shopping, but then reconsidered. She thought that maybe her daughter would be able to take her regularly. But then, after the first time they give it a try, the daughter, stressed out and under time pressure from other obligations, rushed her through the grocery store, and then something was forgotten from the shopping list. Mary felt guilty for asking her daughter to help yet again, and at the same time perplexed about how she was going to get back to the store to get the item she wanted - or cope without it.

So Mary called us.  She is so polite, and reluctant to put forth her request, I have to coax it out of her. Yes, she really does need help with shopping. "I hate to bother you again", she says. I tell her what I know to be true, from so many of the conversations I have with our volunteers - our volunteers genuinely really like helping the elderly, and we would have someone patient and specially trained to work with those with low vision. The thought that this is something someone would do for fun, rather than obligation, is reassuring.

Can you join me hoping for a friendship to develop between Mary and her new volunteer? It will really help Mary if knows that she's not being a burden, but a joy to someone else. And if you would like to donate funds for training this volunteer ($25 to screen, $50 to provide basic training, and $100 for full training for working with low-vision clients), please go to our website to donate on-line, or send a check to:

Faith in Action

1121 228th Ave SE,

Sammamish WA 98075

Hermina

Hermina's adult children moved to Sammamish, and moved Hermina with them. After all, she was in her late 80s, and they wanted her close by. They moved back to California a few years later, but it's easier to pick up and go when you're middle aged than when you're elderly. Hermina had made friends here and had settled in. Hermina decided to stay. Hermina's now 90. She's pretty independent, and uses her walker only for longer distances. She lives close enough to a shopping center that she can walk there, and relies on Faith in Action mostly for transportation to her medical appointments. When the Tulalip Tribe's charitable foundation, a long-time support of Faith in Action, wanted to make a video of our work, Hermina came to mind. It's not just that she lives not that far from our office, making it easier for the filming crew. She's a bright and verbal person - a good interviewee. Hermina was a nurse for many years, and keeping active throughout her life has kept her young. Hermina is someone, with just a little help from our volunteer corps, can continue to live in her own home. Faith in Action makes the difference in keeping her living independently. And I hope we can get a copy of the video from the Tulalips, and put it up on our website, so you can see it too.

Expanding our services to Carnation and Fall City

We've just started expanding our services to Carnation and Fall City.

One of our new clients from this area is going blind from macular degeneration. She has COPD and is on oxygen. She is also very hard of hearing.

She gets help from her family for tasks like shopping and transportation. But she is very isolated while they are at work and school. She tried getting a ride to the local senior center, but her hearing loss made it difficult for her. She needs someone to visit with her one-on-one, in a quieter environment, and where she can see, as best as she can, the person speaking to her.

We've just started to approach the local congregations to try to find her visitor. Sometimes, all an elderly and disabled person needs is a friend.

Your support makes finding these friends possible - thank you!

Ellie

Ellie lives in what many would consider to be a nice neighborhood, so her neighbors might not realize that she her income is below the “Very Low” standard according to the federal government.  She could even be a neighbor of yours, if you live in our service area.

Ellie is in her late 80s. She has severe osteoporosis – the last time she broke bones, it was from simply turning around and leaning the wrong way. Her bones are so fragile, she is nearly imprisoned in her house. She can not make routine trips in a car. The risk of injury is too great.  Instead, she makes a shopping list for her regular assigned Faith in Action volunteer, who goes to the grocery store and the drugstore for her on a regular basis.  Faith in Action volunteers will take her in a car to get to medical appointments, but they are alerted ahead of time that she moves very slowly, carefully, and deliberately, so lots of time can be allotted to getting Ellie in and out of the car and to and from the doctor’s office.

Severe osteoporosis eventually may completely cripple. Sufferers can’t open and close drawers, can’t carry anything (even a paperback book), can break a finger turning on and off a button on a remote control. Ellie may not be able to live on her own in her home for the entirety of the rest of her life, but for now, she is able to maintain her dignity and independence, thanks to her Faith in Action volunteers.

Your support means Ellie continues to have volunteers to help her - thank you!

Mildred

Faith in Action's oldest client, Mildred, is 101 years old. She uses a walker to get around. She has macular degeneration which impairs her vision somewhat, but with the use of a magnifier, she can read. She might have these physical impairments, but she is bright and alert, and has no problem getting around her apartment and managing her life.

She's used Faith in Action volunteers only very occasionally, for getting to medical appointments when her family members were unable to help. I talked to her recently on the phone, and she told me that what she really wanted was transportation to poetry events. She's a published poet and a founder of a local poetry society. She'd love to be able to attend the meetings. This sort of transportation is not our top priority, but if you know of someone who would be willing to drive specifically for this sort of event, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Margie, at margie@faithinaction4seniors.org.

Your support makes finding these volunteers possible for the oldest members of our community - thank you!

Numbers can tell a story, too

Our clients, by the numbers

In the first half of 2010, Faith in Action served 169 elderly and disabled people in the greater Issaquah and Sammamish area. Twenty of these were new clients admitted into the program.

Disability: Of the 169 people we served, 62% use assistive devices for mobility or sensory impairment: 21% use a cane, 20% use a walker, and 3% use wheelchairs. 15% are severely visually impaired, and 7% are severely hearing impaired.

Income: Seventy-three percent of the clients served are at or below the federal low-income standard.

Sex: Reflecting women’s greater longevity in our society, 85% of our clients are women; 15% are men.

Age: the median age of our clients is 83. 58% percent of our clients are over 80 years of age. One of our clients in the 6 month period celebrated her 100th birthday!

Relationship to volunteers: 64 clients were matched with a volunteers for regular services in an on-going relationship, such as housekeeping, shopping, chores, or regular transportation to destinations such as a kidney dialysis center or for cancer treatment. The remaining 105 were in “will-call” for services.

Our Volunteers' Services, by the numbersIn the first half of 2010, our trained corps of 118 volunteers provided all of Faith in Action’s client services (except referrals, which were performed by staff). All of Faith in Action’s services are free of charge. Transportation for medical appointments and other essential destinations remains one of our key services. In the first six months of 2010, our volunteers drove our clients over 13,182 miles to essential destinations such as medical appointments. This is only 16 miles fewer than the total miles driven in the entire year in 2008! In addition, volunteers provided 623 hours in shopping and errands. Home chores, such as housekeeping and yardwork also have grown tremendously. In all of 2009, 451 hours of these chores were performed. In just the first half of 2010, our volunteers did over 532 hours! Volunteers also engaged in 158 hours of friendly visiting and computer consulting. In the two years I've been with Faith in Action, I've seen our numbers change to reflect our improved services: we are serving more people, with greater numbers and hours of services. After developing clearer criteria regarding client eligibility, our the numbers show that more of our clients are older and frailer - and more in need of services - than before.