Caring for the Caregiver By Gerri Howard
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ven before the onset of COVID-19, Nadine Roberts Cornish was creating a community around caregivers. Her ability to encourage them to break out of the isolation they often feel, and find support and solace with experts and others in similar situations, inspired her to create The Caregiver’s Guardian in 2009. With an eye on nurturing caregivers, Roberts authored her second book, Prayers in My Gumbo: A Caregiver’s Recipe for Peace, where she invited 40 caregivers from across the country to help demonstrate the power of prayer and create peace in their journeys through a collection of prayers. Her first book, Tears in My Gumbo: A Caregiver’s Recipe for Resilience, focused on the five steps of conscious caregiving which includes: Helplessness, Recognition, Process, Acceptance and Surrender. A native of New Orleans, Roberts has embraced caregiving with an analogy to a bowl of Gumbo. There are many ingredients necessary for that perfect Gumbo – many people eager to help and taste - and for caregiving, there are many people who are on this journey. The caregiver needs to feed their soul – just as gumbo is that comfort food that soothes the soul. This passion Roberts now shares with thousands of people, comes from the lessons she learned while being a caregiver herself. She embraced those 15 years of caring for her mother and ironically, launched her Gumbo Series on her mom’s birthday which happens to be National Gumbo day. As we mark National Caregivers Month every Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – November 2020
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November, Roberts seeks to inspire caregivers to not journey down this road alone and to know that every occasion has both happy and sad experiences. This year, especially given how COVID-19 has placed so many people in a caregiving role, she is launching the 10*10*30 campaign designed to raise awareness of the caregiver in your life. The campaign encourages all of us to support those people we know who are in this role by performing 10 acts of kindness and helping put 10,000 books in the hands of caregivers during the 30 days of November. “Caregivers operate in the confluence of love and loss when they take on the care of their beloved,” says Roberts, “They need something as bold and nurturing as a recipe of Gumbo to sustain them in their work, to create resilience when they feel like collapsing under the weight of their task and uncertainties.” Just like Gumbo is seasoned with that secret sauce of LOVE, the 10*10*30 campaign is an opportunity to express gratitude and love to the many people who need it the most. . Editor’s note: Nadine Roberts Cornish is a transformational speaker, a certified senior advisor, gerontologist, and caregiver coach. Join her free weekly zoom call and learn more about the Caregivers Guardian and the 10*10*30 campaign by visiting www.tcgcares.com.