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