Catholic Charities is prepared for the ever-growing population of older adults whose needs are individual and changing year after year. Our Elder Services programs are designed to assist, empower, and help seniors adjust to lifestyle changes, while always maintaining their dignity. Many of our programs offer interaction with other adults, younger children from our child care programs, a caring volunteer, or a health care professional. Some of our programs also offer outlets for creativity, including music therapy and craft days. Additionally, we have programs to provide counseling, outreach, advocacy, information and referrals, as well as service coordination families and caregivers. When older adults are unable to leave their home to attend our programs, we go to them. Homebound adults and those in retirement communities and nursing homes can find companionship, supervision, and medical attention.
ALWAYS BEING THERE
Dotty Duval is the Program Manager and Coordinator of the Grandparents as Parents program of Catholic Charities of Merrimack Valley. This past April, the 11 year-old program received The American Cardinal’s Encouragement Award. The award comes with a $10,000 grant that helped the program provide its clients with a confidential help line, financial advice, and referral information on other available services and support groups. We recently spoke with Dotty about the program and its future. What services are provided by GAP? It’s a program to support grandparents raising young children. Many are elderly or retired, and living on fixed incomes. We offer four support groups every month and people can come
grandparents can face when raising a young child. What are some factors that can lead to these situations? Many factors can lead to this, substance abuse, domestic violence, parents abandoning children or being incarcerated without anyone to care for their kids; it’s a huge societal issue. Forty years ago we weren’t dealing with the substance abuse issue we see today, there are a lot of issues today’s families have to deal with. What are some of the challenges the GAP program faces? There is no state or federal funding for this program, we basically run on a shoestring budget. I do have a handful of very
GRANDPARENTS AS PARENTS to as many, or as few, as they like. We also offer recreational activities where grandparents raising their grandchildren can meet other families living in a similar situation, almost like a networking group. In December we always do a big Christmas party for the families. We have a DJ, Santa Claus shows up, there are presents for the kids, fruit baskets for the grandparents, and a pot luck dinner.
dedicated volunteers who help me put together the newsletter, help make phone calls and do some of the office work, remind our clients about upcoming meetings or events and so on. These dedicated volunteers really help keep the program running. It’s by their work, the grace of God, and Catholic Charities commitment to the program that we’re still alive.
What issues would a grandparent find more difficult to handle than a younger parent? A lot of these kids have behavioral issues, they need special education in school, and the concept of special education is new to a lot of these grandparents. They didn’t have it when they were raising their own children. Plus, they may not have as much energy as they did when they were younger. And when planning for retirement many didn’t count on raising a child at their age. There really is a whole myriad of issues that
What would you like to see in 2009 for GAP? How would you like to see the program grow? A huge need we have right now, especially serving the Lawrence community, is to hire a part- time person to run a support group for Spanish speaking families. There was a Spanish speaking group that was pretty much forced to dissolve because we didn’t have a Spanish speaking person to run the meetings. There is a huge population of Spanish speaking grandparents raising their grandchildren but because of the language barrier we can’t offer them as many services as we would like.
Elder Services Programs Adult Day Health Our goal is to improve quality of life of the elderly and provide respite to caregivers. Our services are utilized by families who may need to give up employment in order to care for their elderly relative; by elders who need regular monitoring for health issues; adults who may not be eating properly; and adults who enjoy daily activities and companionship. Participants attend between two and five days per week from approximately 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Labouré Center 275 W. Broadway, South Boston (617) 268-9670 Elder Social Services This program provides comprehensive social services to assist elders as they adjust to illness and aging, and empowers them to access services such as Meals on Wheels, medical visits, or homemaking services. Elders who participate will CROSSINGS | www.ccab.org | 34
ultimately be able to advocate effectively for themselves, improve the quality of their lives, and increase self-esteem and problem solving skills. The program is offered free of charge. Labouré Center 275 W. Broadway, South Boston (617) 268-9670 Foster Grandparents This Somerville-based volunteer program connects caring elders with children. In a school setting, the elders tutor students from pre-school age through high school. The participants of this program, both the senior citizens and those they tutor, benefit from the positive interaction and intergenerational friendships. Greater Boston Catholic Charities 185 Columbia Rd., Dorchester (617) 506-6600
Grandparents As Parents (GAP) The GAP program reaches out to those rearing a second family at a time when they are dealing with their own issues. We offer a confidential help line with access to information and referrals, group support, and informational workshops and seminars. The program offers assistance with legal, financial, housing, and health care concerns, as well as child care, education and respite care. Merrimack Valley Catholic Charities 70 Lawrence St., Lowell (978) 459-3242 Companions to the Aging In our Companions to the Aging program, we hope to some of the loneliness that comes from being elderly and alone whether homebound, in a retirement facility, or in a nursing home. This is the only program in Lynn that provides free visitation service to the homebound. Companions visit weekly
and provide pastoral support to those who desire it regardless of faith. Any elderly person living in the communities of Lynn or Salem is eligible for this program. Catholic Charities North 55 Lynn Shore Drive, Lynn (781) 593-2312 Elder Outreach Program The Elder Outreach Program provides social support, telephone reassurance, short-term supportive counseling, home visitation, assessments, outreach, education, and consultation free of charge. In Catholic Charities South, the program is offered to those living in the Plymouth County area. In South Boston, the program is offered to those living within BHA-funded elderly housing in South Boston. Catholic Charities South
686 North Main Street, Brockton (508) 587-0815 x246 Labouré Center 275 W. Broadway, South Boston (617) 268-9670 Friendly Visitors Friendly Visitors provide companionship to lonely elders at home, in nursing homes, and in assisted living facilities. Supervised volunteers visit an isolated elderly or handicapped person for a minimum of one hour per week. Our services are provided in Brookline, Dedham, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and West Roxbury. The program accepts referrals from area churches of any faith, area hospitals, concerned families and neighbors, human service agencies, and visiting nurse associations. Greater Boston Catholic Charities 185 Columbia Road, Dorchester (617) 522-4200
Public Health and Wellness Public Health and Wellness Program, established by the Ray Tye Medical Aide Foundation, allows frail elders who no longer qualify for insurance reimbursement to receive home nursing visits for wellness education. The goal of this program is to permit elders with chronic diseases to remain living at home. It is free of charge. Referrals are accepted from physicians, family members and patient self referral as well as from our Visiting Nurse Service. Grandparents Support Group Part of the Family Intervention Counseling at Laboure Center, this support groups is offered regularly to grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Labouré Center 275 W. Broadway, South Boston (617) 268-9670
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