editor @ yourmonthlypaper.com
October 2019 • ALAMO TODAY & DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 1
& OCTOBER 2019
TELECARE KEEPS VULNERABLE COMMUNITY MEMBERS CONNECTED By Fran Miller
Assistance League of Diablo Valley (ALDV) is a nonprofit member-volunteer organization dedicated to improving lives in the community through hands-on programs. One such program is TeleCare, a free service that entails a reassurance health and welfare phone call to a homebound client. The TeleCare client/volunteer relationship also promotes friendship and an opportunity for a friendly chat and exchange of ideas, as the client desires. Additionally, each December, TeleCare volunteer callers entertain their clients with a holiday luncheon at ALDV’s Community Resource Center in Walnut Creek.
WHEELCHA IR FOUNDATION DELIVER S MOBILITY FOR A THUMBS UP & A SMILE
By Jody Morgan
The Wheelchair Foundation, officially established by Ken Behring on June 13, 2000 (his 72nd birthday), has delivered 1,107,349 wheelchairs free of charge to individuals worldwide in over 155 countries who have no means of affording the wheelchair they need. In developing countries, an estimated 90% of children, teens, and adults who require a wheelchair are unable to acquire one. From the Heart, the Wheelchair Foundation’s schools program launched in 2012 by Don Routh, Josh Routh, and Bill Wheeler, introduces students in Tri-Valley schools firsthand to the enabling power of a wheelchair and connects them personally through letters and photographs to wheelchair recipients in Latin America whose lives have been positively impacted by their fundraising efforts. The gift of mobility spreads life-liberating benefits like ripples in a pond to family, friends, and caregivers multiplying the effect of each one delivered tenfold.
TeleCare volunteers gather at the annual holiday party.
Last year, 3,500 daily reassurance calls were placed to homebound clients. Every morning, Monday through Friday, trained volunteers telephone those who have requested the service. Those receiving calls may choose the approximate time and day of week they prefer. To become a client, participants simply fill out a TeleCare form, or arrangements can be made for a TeleCare member to meet the client and help complete the form. The questions are simple: name, phone number, and an
See Telecare continued on page 26
DEVELOPING WOMEN’S POTENTIAL AND PROMOTING VOLUNTARISM: JUNIOR LEAGUE OF OAKLAND-EAST BAY, INC. By Fran Miller
AnnAlia Young joined Junior League of Oakland-East Bay, Inc. (JLOEB) in order to develop as a leader and to learn about and contribute to her community’s needs alongside like-minded women. The Dublin resident has since become what she calls an ‘East Bay Citizen.’ She has helped formerly homeless children in Alameda, learned about food insecurity in Richmond, and redesigned rooms at a domestic violence shelter in San Leandro. She has helped feed hungry Oakland residents, distributed food and Christmas gifts to abuse-survivors in Livermore, and trained in Berkeley and Walnut Creek for leadership roles. Now she is president of JLOEB, where she leads the board, acts as emcee and speaker at general membership meetings, composes blogs, and endeavors to make strategic connections for the league.
See JLOEB continued on page 18
Local Postal Customer
PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit 263 Alamo CA
ECRWSS
Wheelchair Foundation From the Heart students are all smiles in Danville’s 4th of July parade. Photo courtesy of Wheelchair Foundation.
Raised during the Depression in a home with no hot water or central heat, Behring thought he knew what poverty was like until he began traveling to Africa in the 1990s. Taken to hospitals with inadequate medical supplies sometimes so overcrowded patients had to lie on the floor and schools that had no books and barely provided shelter, Behring responded by stocking his plane with humanitarian supplies each time he returned. In 1999, six wheelchairs destined for a hospital in Romania filled out the cargo of 15 tons of canned meat gathered by LDS Charities for delivery to refugees. In Road to Purpose, Behring writes: “Little did I know that these six wheelchairs would alter the direction of my life.” One elderly stroke victim exclaimed after Ken helped settle him in his new wheelchair, “Now I can go outside in my yard and smoke with my neighbors.” Ken took to heart the lesson he learned that day. “I had previously seen wheelchairs as a form of confinement. I didn’t comprehend the liberation that one could bring to those who are unable to afford them.” Trips to Vietnam and Guatemala in early 2000 confirmed the enormous need and inspired Behring to address it. One Guatemalan girl only six or seven years old
See Wheelchair continued on page 12
The Editors Serving the communities of Alamo, Diablo, and Danville
Volume XIX Number 10
Volume X Number 10
3000F Danville Blvd. #117 Alamo, CA 94507 Telephone (925) 405-6397 Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher Editor@yourmonthlypaper.com The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do not necessarily reflect that of The Editors. The Editors is not responsible for the content of any of the advertising herein, nor does publication imply endorsement.