Northern California Conference
Helping Hands Caregiver Resource Center By Colleen Bond
Offers Respite and Compassion
Respite: take a break, get some rest, do something enjoyable, refresh the spirit.
F
Center participants David, Janet, and Monica display their artwork.
self-worth. Jerry, who has suffered multiple strokes, has attended since opening day. “This is my home and these people are my family,” he said. “I always want to be here.” While their loved ones are at the center, their caregivers get a much-needed break. “This place means everything to me!” said Don, the husband of a participant with a progressive dementia disease. He told staff: “I honestly don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here.” Helping Hands is the only licensed community adult day program available in Nevada County and five surrounding counties. The Penn Valley church supports the center in multiple ways, including providing room and some operational costs, but most of the money needed comes from donations or grants. Penn Valley church members
PHOTO: JAMES BOND
or more than a decade, the Penn Valley church has operated an outreach ministry of compassion and respite—the Helping Hands Caregiver Resource Center, an adult day program. In a culture where it’s considered the norm to place aging loved ones in a long-term care facility, those living at home with their family care partner often fade out of sight from society as they become isolated. At the same time, their caregivers are often prone to discouragement, depression, isolation, and increased illness. Statistics have shown that as many as 60 percent of those caring for a loved one at home will die before the one they care for. The center seeks to help meet the needs of both the dependent adults and their caregivers. Three days a week, participants in the program spend six hours at the center with caring and competent staff members. They engage in many types of games that improve memory and cognitive ability, join in exercise groups to improve or maintain balance and mobility, socialize with peers and form meaningful friendships, and share a family-style vegetarian meal. Participants take ownership of their day and often gain much needed
Last fall, the Penn Valley church’s Helping Hands Caregiver Resource Center celebrated its 10th year of respite care ministry by hosting a community event attended by more than 200 supporters.
believe that Jesus wants them to be his representatives to minister the way He did. “When we reach out and meet the needs of the most vulnerable people in society, we are doing God’s work,” said program administrator James Gleason. “We become His hands in caring for the infirm, the invisible people all around us.” For more information about the center or to learn how to start a compassionate respite ministry, call 530-432-2479 or visit www.nchelpinghands.org.
Working
for the Harvest MAT THE W 9:38
Notice of 2018 Constituency Meeting of the Northern California Conference Notice is hereby given that a regular session of the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is called to convene at the Lodi Fairmont church in Lodi, California, on Sunday, September 30, 2018, at 9 a.m. The purpose of this meeting is to receive from the officers and department directors of the Conference reports pertaining to the work carried on within its territory since the last conference session; to elect for the ensuing session officers, department directors, the Bylaws Committee, and the Conference Executive Committee; and to transact any other business that may properly come before the delegates in session. Each church is entitled to one delegate for the organization and one additional delegate for each one hundred members or major fraction thereof. James E. Pedersen, President Marc K. Woodson, Executive Secretary
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