Creating ‘circles of care’

“The new program connects older adults to volunteers, who help with supportive services such as assisted transportation, light chores, simple yard work, meal preparation and isolation prevention,” Bookmyer said. “The Good Neighbor event was sort of a soft kick-off of the program and was part of our launch to attract volunteers and begin to identify older adults who need a helping hand in The Dalles and Mosier communities.”

Karen Brown Wilson, founder of the Jessie F. Richardson Foundation, decided to create the Circles of Care program after talking with a friend about the benefits it could provide to the community, Bookmyer said. Circles of Care has been in development for under a year and has gotten support from Britta Wilson, program coordinator for Volunteers in Action, she added.

“Our strategy for starting the program was to talk to the community and older adults and ask how this could function, what are the biggest needs in the community, and what are strategies to help address some of those needs,” Bookmyer said. “The progression has been incredible to see, mostly because it does feel like the way that we’ve built it has been collaborative and supported by community members. Scott McKay at the senior center, I’d like to give a big shout out to him because I honestly don’t know if we would be where we are at without him and his support.”

In the program’s inaugural event volunteers helped cut and remove a fallen tree on an elderly man’s property. The wood was stored and will be used as firewood later in the winter.

“Taking what otherwise would be a stressful situation and bringing some relief to that person was really rewarding, and I think all the volunteers felt that,” Bookmyer said. “The volunteers were really excited to make such a difference. It’s a seemingly small task, but it travels far. I think as young, able-bodied individuals it’s hard to conceptualize something like yard work being really challenging. But as you get older and your energy level changes and your body changes it becomes impossible for some to do, both financially and physically.”

Another elder helped by the program was Louise Sargent of The Dalles. Sargent had a loganberry bush that needed trimming in her back yard.

Sargent recently had surgery, which prevented her from trimming the bush herself.

“Without discipline loganberries are worse than blackberries. They take over very rapidly,” Sargent said. “I would either have to hire somebody to come in—and I don’t have a lot of money—or my husband and I would have to finish it.”

To show her appreciation, Sargent made raisin oatmeal walnut cookies for the volunteers.

“(Circles of Care) is great opportunity for high school kids to volunteer and do their community service hours,” Sargent said. “They were nicely guided, co-working with a couple of adults. That was a very good thing. They worked well together. They just took that problem on, stepped right into it and started cutting away.”

Volunteers helping the elderly enhances the sense of community and reduces loneliness, Sargent added.

If interested in volunteering for Circles of Care, contact Gracen Bookmyer via email at gbookmyer@jfrfoundation.org or by phone at 541-397-0724.