FRIENDS OF SENIORS SEEKS CARING VOLUNTEERS

 

FRIENDS OF SENIORS SEEKS CARING VOLUNTEERS

Susan Davidson – Executive Director, Friends of Seniors

 

A 95-year-old woman, alone all day, craves the sound of a human voice, other than her own.

A 70-year-old woman, taking care of her 92-year-old mother, could use some respite.

An 81-year-old man cannot afford a taxi-cab to take him to a doctor’s appointment five miles from his home.

A 65-year-old man who normally drives, but just had hip replacement surgery cannot drive to the grocery store or to his physical therapy appointments.

All these people live in Dutchess County. They could be your parents, your grandparents, your friends, your neighbors or you.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 57,062 Dutchess County residents are aged 60 and over, an 8% increase since the 2000 U.S. Census. Ten percent of those residents are aged 85 and over.

Granted, most of the Dutchess County seniors live independently and can still drive their own cars. They are able to get to the many programs Dutchess County Office for the Aging offers the older adult community: eight Friendship Centers, 13 Brain Games sites, 22 Exercise locations, 12 Senior Picnics, and the Senior Walking Program, which meets on Tuesdays, 9:00 a.m. at the Walkway-on-the-Hudson. Call 486-2555 for more information about these programs.

What about those who do not and/or cannot drive anymore, and whose priority is not a Friendship Center or Brain Games, but to get to a necessary M.D. appt. or to get to a grocery store to buy food? What about those seniors who do not and/or cannot drive anymore, who built our community, who worked, paid taxes, and raised their families in Dutchess County, and find themselves alone without assistance?

There is assistance.

Friends of Seniors is an independent nonprofit (501©3) that has provided a basic support system to the older adult community since 2004. We have five services, which include: non-emergency medical transportation; grocery shopping for those who have no relatives in the area and no means to get food; visiting services; telephone reassurance; and respite for primary caregivers.

Our program is volunteer-based, which means volunteers provide all five services free-of-charge.

As a start-up program in 2004, we had approximately 10 volunteers and 10 clients. In 2007 we had 19 volunteers providing assistance to approximately 35-40 clients per month. In 2016, 90 volunteers drove over 97,110 miles and provided 1,488 hours toward our other services to 334 individuals. Many received multiple services. This year, the 85 volunteers have already driven 75,625 miles and provided 1,750 hours toward our other services, assisting 275 individuals.

In the towns of Lagrange and Pleasant Valley, we also run a van service for shopping for Lagrange/Pleasant Valley senior residents only. The van goes out Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The requests for all our services increase every day. We cover nearly every town in Dutchess County. We drive seniors from the Town of Red Hook, from the City of Beacon, and all points in-between. We are now at a point where meeting the requests for services is beyond the volunteer base.

 WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS!

The Friends of Seniors philosophy is the volunteer is the boss! The time that the volunteer puts into the organization is up to the volunteer. Most of the volunteers are retired and do not want to be tied down to a “job.” If an individual can commit to one or two days a week that would be wonderful. Once a month is fine! Give us an idea of your availability, and if we ask you to assist someone and you’re not available, we move on to the next. No pressure! Volunteers are reimbursed .30/mile and have additional insurance under an umbrella policy.

Please visit our website: http://friendsofseniors.biz for more information and/or send an email to friendsofseniors@hotmail.com or call 845-485-1277.

Author: Harlem Valley News