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 The assessment team member who did Patty's initial home visit for our program noted that Patty was very withdrawn during the visit, perhaps because of her anxiety.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!