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.

Volunteers transform Joe's home

Joe, one of our clients, is confined to a wheelchair. He is very low income, living only on social security. His wife recently moved to a nursing home. Joe’s home was extremely cluttered. Possessions were stacked from floor to ceiling, and the doors would barely open. His garage was jam-packed with old, unused, or broken items.

Joe declared that he was ready to deal with this problem, and Faith in Action recruited a group of volunteers from Microsoft to help him sort through and discard most of these items. They also dusted, cleaned, and vacuumed.


Let's see what happened that day:

Bedroom "Before"

The Bedroom "After" - and two of the volunteers who worked on this room

Living Room "Before"

Volunteers hard at work - not just sorting through possessions, but also dealing with dust and debris on the floor

Living room "After"

Knick knacks "Before" - can you see the thick layer of dust?

Volunteer handwashing the knick knacks

Knick knacks "After" - they now sparkle!

Garage "before"

 

Reviewing items with Joe

Garage - almost "after" - just a few boxes left...!

Family Room "before"

Family Room "after"

The 20 yard container being filled

By the end of the day, fitting it all in is a challenge! We were lucky it did not rain, and we could use the driveway to sort and stage items into piles for keeping, donating, and discarding.

Our team of volunteers - and the extra truck Jim rented, as the 20 yard container was not large enough

Imagine being disabled, stuck in a wheelchair, and feeling overwhelmed by your dirty and cluttered home. Before the project, Joe said to me, “I’m kind of depressed these days, with my wife in the nursing home, and me left alone here”. You could believe him. His living environment was oppressive, unhealthy, and unsafe.

Now, things are different: our volunteers made an enormous difference in Joe's living environment. Joe's gratitude to our team of volunteers is immense. He has called repeatedly, telling us that their work has lifted his spirits, and inspired him to do additional work on his own, cleaning and tidying. He is no longer facing a project so huge, it was too overwhelming to even begin.

From here, Faith in Action's next steps are clear. First, the volunteers the day they worked found evidence of a rodent infestation. We already have a volunteer handyman scheduled to come in and install traps in the attic and other spaces next week.

Second, there's still work to be done to make the home safer and healthier. The carpet is torn, creating a tripping hazard - we need to find funds for replacement flooring. We still need to reduce dust and dirt. And then painting the most stained walls would make a huge difference in how the home feels. We are actively recruiting donors and another group to do additional heavy housework, and then make the most critical of the repairs and improvements that are required.

So, while this project is not complete, the work of the volunteers has still transformed Joe's living environment. We are proud of these volunteers, and join Joe in gratitude for the work that they did.And we want to thank Joe, for being willing to admit that the problem existed, being willing to deal with it, and allow strangers into his home to help.

Finally, we also want to express our gratitude to Faith in Action supporters Tracy Fitzsimmons, Lon Lindo, and Ruth Petersky who contributed funds to pay for a 20 yard container, dumping fees, and supplies. The Microsoft volunteers also donated to the project. Joe paid for some of the costs, too.

Thank you so much - donors, volunteers - you make such a difference in the lives of others.

Dolores

Two years ago, Dolores had cancer, and needed transportation to chemotherapy. The social worker at the hospital called Faith in Action to see if our volunteers could take Dolores three times a week for her treatment. Dolores was eventually matched with two volunteers - one who took her to her chemotherapy appointments and then later her radiation treatments; another did the light housekeeping that she could no longer manage.

 

Dolores survived her disease thanks to her treatment, and her matches with her Faith in Action volunteers came to an end. While Dolores recovered enough to do her own light housework, heavy housework is still hard for her. When Faith in Action had a group volunteer project last winter, staff contacted Dolores to see if she was interested in having a small group help her with the more difficult chores she can not manage on her own.  A group of older teenaged girls came to her house to make it sparkle, from scrubbing floors and baseboards, to getting on step ladders to dust the tops of her picture frames and ceiling light fixtures.

 

I visited Dolores when the teens were there, and I noticed that she had a computer. I asked her if she used it very much. She said that she occasionally had her granddaughter over, and would pay her to give her computer lessons. But these visits were few and far between, and Dolores would forget what she had learned. Back at the office, I found out that Dolores had mentioned wanting a volunteer to help with using the computer in her initial home visit, even when she was so ill with cancer.

 

Now, computer assistance is not a priority service for Faith in Action. We want to make sure that our elderly clients first have access to medical services, have the ability to get to the grocery store and other essential errands, and have a safe and hygienic home. Preventing social isolation is another priority. So, while we would not make it a focus to recruit a volunteer for Dolores, if one happened along, we'd make a match.

 

Five months later, a volunteer did happen along. Jack is in his early 20s, and well, maybe he's figuring out what he's doing with himself - he had dropped out of school, had moved back in with his parents, and was working at a pizza parlor at night. He felt like he should be doing more with his life. He found Faith in Action's program through a google search.

 

Faith in Action matched Jack with Dolores as her computer mentor. We got a call spontaneously from Dolores a couple of weeks ago - she just wanted us to know that she was thrilled with him. Jack emailed us even more recently - he wants to get cleared so he can drive Dolores, too.

Sometimes we have matches between clients and volunteers that feel like they're just as much for the volunteers - maybe even more for the volunteers - as for the clients. This is one of them. Will Jack find the direction that he seems to never have had, through helping Dolores? As Jack reflected in his email, "I believe that one of the few things that actually matters in this world is the effects that we have on others and what better way than to help those truly in need."

Harriet and Alfred

If you read last week's blog post, you know about how the Care-a-Van program of Hebrew High at the Jewish Community Center in Phoenix came to help Faith in Action clients June 22. Last week's entry was about one of the clients they helped and the service they did. This week's will highlight their work with our clients, Alfred and Harriet.

Alfred and Harriet have lived on a 2.5 acre property on lower slope of Squak Mountain for about 25 years. When they were younger, Alfred was quite handy in fixing up the out-buildings and maintaining the property; Harriet loved gardening, and enjoyed having enough room for growing lots of flowers and vegetables.

Age has taken its toll, however, on both of them. Alfred, now in his early 80s, has dementia; Harriet, a few years younger, has been acting as his caregiver. As Alfred's condition worsened, Harriet was rapidly becoming overwhelmed. Over several months, Faith in Action worked with Harriet, helping her connect to resources in the community so not only could he get the care he required, but her own needs could be met, too.

Their situation has now stabilized - while Alfred's dementia is severe, a professional caretaker now comes in and helps Harriet with her husband. Harriet, who walks with a cane, has qualified for ACCESS, and she can use that service to get out of the house, to shopping and other services. The couple can continue to live in the home they've been in for so many years.

The only piece missing for Harriet was her garden. While she can't do the same work outdoors like she used to, she still enjoys her flowers. A Faith in Action volunteer who loves gardening was assigned to the couple, only doing work outside. But with such a large property, a single yardwork volunteer is not quite enough, and staff identified the Twitchells as being folks who also could use the help of the Arizona teens when they were here.

The 28 teenagers divided into small groups to tackle different projects at the Twitchells'. Some washed windows. A few others powered up the pressure washer and hosed down the walk. More washed the Twitchells' old pick-up truck - while no one drives it any more, by keeping it looking clean, it appears that someone is using it regularly, and makes the couple less vulnerable as a target for crime. Other teens weeded and clipped down overgrown grass. Another set rebuilt the scarecrow. Alfred's dementia is such that he is often suspicious of strangers, but while he was seated outside, drinking lemonade, he enjoyed the teens that stopped by to chat.

It was a splendid day, with gorgeous weather, and after their hard work, the teens scattered over the grass to eat a picnic lunch. They then packed up, loaded back in their motor coach, and headed into Seattle for fun.

 
Harriet was thrilled with the work the kids did. But I think she was even more thrilled with just having all the company and commotion. The Twitchells live in a relatively isolated location - having so many visitors just made her day. "I just loved having this youth group come" she reported. "It was so fun having them here. I hope you can find more young people who are interested in helping folks like us - that would be super!"

Thank you, Hebrew High Care-a-Van teens, for working on the behalf of our clients - and thank you to all our Faith in Action supporters, who make it possible for us to arrange these kinds of volunteer projects for our youth and elders.

For more information about our programs, see:

http://www.faithinaction4seniors.org