Six
Seniors, Changing Lives*
LSS Senior Companions
and Foster Grandparents make huge contributions to the quality of
community life in Minnesota. Here are six stories of seniors who are
changing lives every day as they work with frail seniors and school
children.
Bringing Hope to
Clients with Alzheimer's Disease
As a 20-year-old woman, Evelyn Forbrook worked as a telephone operator
and lived, as she describes it, "on the old ladies' block." Every neighbor
was either widowed or never married and "they spoiled me to pieces," she
admits. That experience and close relationships with her older relatives,
led to a genuine love for older people. As an LSS Senior Companion in
Willmar, Evelyn relishes the opportunities she has to reminisce with her
clients about their lives.
Such interest is
especially valuable in Evelyn's interaction with a client who has
Alzheimer's disease. Though her client may not remember her from one visit
to the next, Evelyn provides the woman with one of the only remaining
opportunities she has to relive long-ago memories that remain so fresh
while recent events slip away. Evelyn's presence three days a week - and
that of a nurse one day a week - enables the woman to remain independent.
In addition to checking that her client takes her prescriptions, Evelyn
brings her special holiday dinners and treats that they share. "I see such
a bright future for her," says Evelyn, "because she has someone to come in
and check on her."
Supporting Senior
Recovery Efforts
"Either gentle persuasion or you bulldog them." LSS Senior Companion
Everett "Hap" Raduechel does whatever it takes to guide his clients toward
sobriety. As one of three Senior Companions at the Senior Recovery Program
of Ramsey County, Hap spends more than 20 hours per week visiting with
clients to get them to understand the benefits of sobriety vs. the misuse
of alcohol. Three days a week Hap meets with clients at the program and
one day a week he goes to the homes of those who are physically
disabled or "who are hoping to get sober but haven't made up their minds
yet."
Hap says it is
gratifying to keep pushing until his clients grasp the power that
alcohol has over them. As a recovering alcoholic, Hap knows the agonies of
alcoholism and that people often form their own friendships with alcohol.
"You can sit there all you want as long as you have a drink in your hand,"
Hap explains. With the tools he's gained through personal experience and
as a Senior Companion, Hap befriends his clients and becomes "their
steering wheel to sobriety."
Providing Guidance
and Support
Senior Companions do "what friends do for friends" to help adults with
special needs remain as independent as possible. LSS Senior Companion
Carol Steffl has become a close friend and advocate for her client,
Denise. Denise is a 35-year-old woman who is borderline developmentally
disabled. Denise's husband is also developmentally disabled and, together,
they are parents to two teenage sons with normal cognitive abilities. When
Carol and Denise met through SMILES Center for Independent Living, in New
Ulm, Denise was struggling with how to parent her 15-year-old son, who was
taking advantage of the situation. Carol has helped Denise develop her
parenting skills, enabling Denise to be more assertive with her children
and create consequences for their behavior.
In addition to the
challenges presented in parenting teenagers, Denise has made financial and
buying decisions that have resulted in significant credit card debt. As a
former county financial worker, Carol helped Denise organize her bills and
manage her debt. After 18 months with Carol, Denise has established a
monthly budget and is better able to manage her family's expenses.
Building Bridges Between Cultures
When Albert and Irena Fine arrived in the United States from St.
Petersburg, Russia in 1993, they found many aspects of their surroundings
new and unusual. Employed as an English interpreter in Russia, Irena
served as the family's translator, while Albert's driver's license helped
the family (which included their daughter and her family) get around the
Twin Cities. Thankful for all that the United States was offering, Albert
and Irena felt as if they "should do something to thank this country for
all it did for us," Albert says, adding, "We wanted to see American life
on the inside - not only to look at it but to be a part of it."
Today, Albert, a former
geologist, has seven years of experience as an LSS Senior Companion - an
opportunity that he says, "fits me like a glove." With American and
Russian clients through Minneapolis' Jewish Family & Children's Services,
Albert - often with Irena - spends up to 20 hours per week helping clients
navigate the challenges of daily life. For his American clients, that may
mean providing companionship and taking the clients on errands. For his
Russian clients, Albert's responsibilities include preparing for U.S.
citizenship and dealing with documentation. "It's a very rewarding and
important experience," Albert explains.
Educating the
Children of New Immigrants
Lorraine "Grandma Lori" Swedzinski says she is "in a different world"
when, as a Foster Grandparent, she helps children enrolled in the Head
Start program through the Family
Literacy Program in the
southwestern Minnesota community of Ghent. The program's goal is to
prepare the children - some of whom are Somali, Hispanic, Nepali, and
Oromo (from Ethiopia) - for kindergarten. In addition to basic academic
skills, staff and Foster Grandparents help the students develop their
English skills. At its core, the program believes a child's parents are
his or her most important teachers; therefore, the program's teachers and
LSS Foster Grandparents reinforce concepts in the classroom that can be
carried into a child's home environment.
Grandma Lori joined the
Foster Grandparent program two years ago because she admired other Foster
Grandparents who were involved in the program. Today, she spends three
mornings a week interacting with three- to five-year-old children, doing
everything from reading and counting, to making crafts and playing games -
all with the goal of educating. " The children are so sweet and loving,"
Grandma Lori says. "Some of them can't speak English but they know
Grandma!"
Supporting Battered
Women and Their Children
The Brainerd-based Women's Center of Mid-Minnesota is an emergency
shelter that provides support and advocacy for battered women and their
children. It serves as a temporary home for the women until they can get
their lives back on track after they've left abusive situations. While the
women are at the Center, they can go to court, get counseling, find
housing, and seek employment. During 2003, the Center served 118 residents
and 167 children.
Three LSS Foster
Grandparents - Bernice Raskinski, Gudrun Johnson, and Margaret Balog -
work in the Center's playroom/nursery where they interact with the
children by making crafts, playing games, and helping the children develop
non-violent behaviors. Each Foster Grandparent volunteers for 20 hours
during the week, covering different shifts so the children always have
someone to whom they may turn. According to staff members, the Foster
Grandparents have a calming effect, not just on the children but
on the mothers and the staff as well. Their presence allows for wonderful
intergenerational interaction and enables the mothers to feel a sense of
security in leaving their children while they take steps to take control
of their lives.
*Printed with
permission from the Senior Corps, Robert M. Jackson, State Director,
Corporation for National and Community Service. Written by Carrie Smith.
