Mercy Care of the Adirondacks seeks new volunteers
Apr. 21—LAKE PLACID — Mercy Care for the Adirondacks is recruiting new volunteers.
A Friendship Volunteer Training Program is scheduled in Saranac Lake on the mornings of May 18 and May 19.
Both mornings are required to complete the training.
Volunteers will learn about offering friendship and assistance to elders in sessions on healthy aging, spirituality and aging, community resources for elders, and COVID-19 precautions and protocols.
NEW REQUESTS
Mercy Care is experiencing many new requests from elders in the Tri-Lakes community who need friends and assistance to help them age in place more successfully, especially during this pandemic.
"Of course, we've had to be agile and innovative in how we carry out our mission and programs in this COVID-19 pandemic," Donna Beal, executive director of Mercy Care of the Adirondacks, said.
"It's been over a year since Mercy Care has held in-person events or training.
"But, we have readjusted like all other organizations are having to do."
Mercy Care connects with its volunteers through Zoom and holding in-service programs on the virtual platform.
"And basically staying engaged and active with pursuing our programs, which is the Friendship Volunteer Program," Beal said.
"We have a Parish Nurse Volunteer Program and Caregiver Friends Program. Volunteers then assist caregivers who may be caring for a loved one.
"And of course, the pandemic has inflicted isolation and loneliness on so many people including people of all ages, but particularly for elders in our community. This has really been a very challenging time for them."
Jerry Hayes, Mercy Care's board president concurred.
"The pandemic has only amplified the need some elders in our community have for the joy and companionship of a kind and compassionate Friendship Volunteer to help ease their isolation and loneliness," Hayes said.
VACCINATION REGISTRATION
Mercy Care of the Adirondacks, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, was first established in 2007 to help meet the need to ease the isolation and loneliness.
Its mission is to extend mercy to elders living in the community in order to enhance the fullness of their lives and help them age in place more successfully.
"And of course, the pandemic has only amplified that need," Beal said.
"For example, related to COVID, in early January, we sent out a survey to our volunteers.
"Once we knew the vaccine was going to be coming out and people would need to register for it and have transportation to access their appointments."
A letter and follow up was sent to all of the elders that Mercy Care assists, which is about 100 elders in the Tri-Lakes region.
"And about 25 of those 100 contacted us to say that they did need help with registering for the vaccine, which of course can be challenging," she said.
"Many people don't have internet or computers or cellphones. So, our staff was able to assist all 25 to register successfully.
"We also arranged transportation for some of those elders, who did not have a way to get their vaccination appointments. That has gone really well."
Community members contact Mercy Care asking for vaccination assistance.
"That is one thing that we don't have the capacity to meet that need," she said.
"So we work very closely with the Franklin County and Essex County Offices for the Aging to coordinate the elders that were contacting us for assistance with their offices, and they were just absolutely terrific in helping elders register for their appointments.
"As is always the case in the North Country, only by working together can we really achieve solutions and answers for people that have needs. So that was a very positive experience."
NEW PARADIGMS
About half of Mercy Care's Volunteers are enjoying in-person visits with their elder friend, following Mercy Care protocols, adhering to CDC guidelines, and using PPE (masks and hand sanitizer).
"About half of our elders are comfortable having our volunteer visit them in person," Beal said.
"Our volunteers who aren't visiting in person are coming up with innovative ways to stay in touch with the elder friend that they assist.
"So, it might be through telephone visits. It might be them dropping off a plant on their porch to let them know they are thought of. It might be helping their elder get their groceries."
The volunteer would go to the grocery store deliver them the groceries to their elder friend.
"Some of our volunteers have actually registered their elder friend for Instacart," she said.
"They put them on the volunteer's account so that the elder could decide what groceries they needed and the volunteer could facilitate them receiving that."
There are many other lovely things that the volunteers are doing for their elder friends.
"At Mercy Care our volunteers do tasks, but our main goal is to develop the relationship as a friend between the elder and the volunteer," Beal said.
"So that's the focus of our volunteer program. We find that our volunteers, the feedback we get back from them, is that they feel that they are getting so much benefit from volunteering, that their lives are fuller and that they feel a sense of purposefulness and also they are grateful for the opportunity to help people, especially during his pandemic."
"We call it the circle of mercy, the circle of friendship, that our elder friends and our volunteers enjoy."
TRI-LAKES AND BEYOND
Mercy Care seeks new volunteers to join its 100-plus volunteers helping elder neighbors age in place more successfully.
The agency receives requests for a Friendship Volunteer from elders themselves, their families, or friends, to help them with informal supports and ease their isolation and loneliness.
Mercy Care invites anyone in the Tri-Lakes region, AuSable Forks, Keene or other surrounding communities who is interested in becoming a Mercy Care Friendship Volunteer to take the training in Saranac Lake.
Mercy Care seeks to extend its Friendship Volunteer assistance program in the AuSable Forks, Keene Valley, Keene, Wilmington, and Jay communities.
"Because we haven't trained in a whole year, we're not sure what our response will be," Beal said.
"That's why we are offering our Friendship Volunteer Training Program, in person, socially distanced or for those who are not comfortable, virtually by Zoom technology.
"We just don't know what the results of our outreach will be because there is no blueprint for this."
Recruiting and training volunteers in the middle of a global pandemic is challenging.
"But, we hope that there are so many kind people in our communities that we read about everyday that are helping people in so many ways," Beal said.
"That perhaps some new people might consider becoming a Mercy Care Friendship Volunteer."
Email Robin Caudell:
Twitter:@RobinCaudell
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Mercy Care's Friendship Volunteer Training Program is free of charge but pre-registration is required.
To request registration information, please contact Sarah Kane, Elder Care & Volunteer Training Manager by e-mail at skane@adkmercy.org or by calling 518-523-5585. Volunteers of all faiths are encouraged and invited to participate.
WEBSITE: www.adkmercy.org
