|
Welcome to the Delaware County
LEGACY CORPS!
According to the national survey by AARP and the
National Alliance for Caregiving, nearly 23 million households are currently
home to a caregiver, most often a woman who is taking care of someone 50 or
older. Some 43% of these caregivers are over 50 themselves - 13% are
over 65.
Caregiver
Assessment
Do you provide unpaid care to a family member, friend, or
neighbor who has an illness, disability, memory loss, or injury? If you
answered yes to any of these questions, you are a caregiver! Are you feeling
overwhelmed, constantly worried, tired, sad, easily irritated, and/or
extremely stressed? You are not alone and there is support available. If you
would like to learn more about resources, tools, and supports available for
caregivers, please answer the following questions to get connected to the
right starting place.
1. Are
you over the age of 18 and caring for an older adult (age 60+)?
2.
Are you over the age of 18 caring for an individual (any age)
with Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder (e.g., dementia, traumatic
brain injury, mild cognitive impairment, chronic traumatic encephalopathy)?
3.
Are you over the age of 55 and living with and caring for a
child (not biological) under the age of 18?
4.
Are you over the age of 55 and living with and caring for an
adult (can be a biological child) aged 18-59 with a disability?
If
you answered Yes to any of the questions above, you are eligible for
the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP). The goal of the NFCSP
is to support family caregivers so they may continue to carry out their
caregiving roles and responsibilities. The program can provide services such
as caregiver counseling, information and assistance, caregiver training,
respite care (a break from caregiving), and much more. If you would like to
learn more about how this program can assist you, please contact Delaware
County Office for the Aging at (607) 832-5750.
If you answered No to all the questions above, or you
are not interested in learning about the resources available through the
NFCSP, there is still help available to you through the Any Care Counts -
New York (ACC-NY) Campaign which recognizes and supports the millions of
unpaid caregivers across the state! Through ACC-NY you can discover your
caregiver intensity score by taking the ARCHANGELS
Caregiver Intensity Index (CII).
It takes just 2 minutes to complete. You will find out
whether you are “in the red," "yellow" or "green," and be connected to
trusted resources.
Do you prefer to search resources on your own? Visit the
NY Connects Resource Directory. NY Connects links individuals of all
ages and their caregivers to long term services and supports and provides
one stop access to free, objective, comprehensive information and
assistance.
Our Legacy Corps of Volunteers offer respite for
the caregiver and afford our senior populous the ability to enjoy their
independence as long as possible. The volunteer offers a variety of
services in meeting this goal. They might transport the care recipient
to a doctor or physical therapy appointment, take them grocery shopping,
assist in doing errands, make a meal, offer light housekeeping or
just offer socialization to that special person. They may read to
them, work a jigsaw puzzle, listen to music, or visit over the family album.
This all assists the caregiver by giving them a little free time or time to
do the things they need to do for themselves.
We are excited to announce our partnership with
organizations like the Heart of the Catskill Humane Society (HCHS) to make
pets available for foster care to those lonely at heart. We anticipate
a program in the summer months with the ARC of Delaware County to offer more
socialization for shut-ins and the ARC consumers by going to the park and
musical events (just to name a couple) with the use of their handicap
accessible vehicles. In the
fall we hope to kick off the "Adopt a Grandparent" program for students of
the communities high schools who will visit with our seniors and do some tasks
around the home such as gardening or snow shoveling which would offer them
an opportunity to get to know their "grandparent".
The Legacy Corps is a Title III-E program for
caregivers. We offer our volunteers $0.20 per
mile to assist in deferring the cost of gas. We also provide a monthly
training on subjects such as Alzheimer's disease, proper ways to lift, health
care issues like high blood pressure and cholesterol, CPR and AED training,
mental health disorders, understanding Medicare Part D and supplemental insurance
and a gamut of others. A monthly issue of the Legacy Corps newsletter
is circulated to our volunteer advisory board, and all the caregivers we
serve.
How Can I Help
If you would like to become a volunteer, we
would love to have you. We presently do not have any volunteers in
many of the towns in Delaware County including Bloomville, Harpersfield,
Stamford, Grand Gorge, Roxbury, Margaretville, Arkville, Downsville, and
Hancock. Please contact the Office for the Aging at 97 Main Street
• Suite 2, Delhi, NY 13753 or by calling her at 607-832-5750. Email
contact can be made at
delctylegacycorps@gmail.com. Our volunteers are subject to a background
check and then given trainings so they are comfortable assisting others.
They will learn how to recognize agitation, how to work
with an Alzheimer's or dementia client, how to spot elder abuse and many other
topics.
I Can't Be A Volunteer
But I Still Would Like To Assist.
Telephone contacts are very important as well as notes to
a person that is shut in. We'd like to activate our "help" line once again
which is a call in number so someone can listen to the person on the other
line when they need a listening ear.
I Would Like To Contribute
To This Program.
Monetary contributions are greatly appreciated.
Please make checks or money orders payable to
"Delaware County Legacy Corps" and send to:
Delaware County Legacy Corps
Office for the Aging
97 Main Street • Suite 2
Delhi, NY 13753
We hope you will visit us often to read the
monthly newsletter and see what's new in the
Delaware County
Legacy Corps. Thanks for visiting!
|
