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March 30, 2001/Nisan 6, 5761, Vol. 53, No.26
Regaining independence
Transportation programs benefit volunteers, elderly
LEISAH NAMM
Assistant Editor
By providing transportation, Experience Corps allows seniors to socialize. Above, Edith Barsky and Reva Kirschner play mah jong at the VOSJCC Senior Center.
Photo by Leisah Namm |
When the elderly are no longer able to drive, those who do not have family nearby often remain isolated in their homes.
When released from hospital visits, many are soon readmitted because they have nobody to help them through the recovery period.
Some choose to avoid follow-up doctor's appointments rather than use public transportation.
Two years ago, the City of Phoenix was selected to test a pilot program called Experience Corps for Independent Living, which addresses these issues.
Through this program, Philip Pearl and 33 other volunteers transport clients to doctors' appointments, pick up medical prescriptions and offer companionship.
Five to six days a week, Pearl, 78, spends hours in his car taking care of his clients' transportation needs - driving them to doctors' appointments, aiding them with grocery shopping, picking up medical prescriptions and whatever else they need. He loads them into his 2000 Toyota Corolla - which already has 28,000 miles on it - plays the music of their choice and tells them jokes.
"Phil is a personalized service," says Sandy Reichsfeld, director of senior adult services at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center.
When Pearl began working with the Experience Corps, he first made phone calls to clients of the VOSJCC senior center's Meals-on-Wheels program (the center's kosher food home delivery program) to offer his services.
Reichsfeld says it was incredible because a lot of elderly people never leave their homes. For many of them, the only socialization they had during the day was when the Meals-on-Wheels driver dropped off their food.
"They were afraid to go outside with a stranger, but (Phil) made them feel welcome and he did all these things for the people," Reichsfeld says. "A few of them felt comfortable enough to let Phil bring them here (to the senior center) so they could have the socialization that they needed."
Before the Experience Corps program began, seniors relied on public transportation.
Reva Kirschner, 80, used either the city bus or Dial-A-Ride to get to the VOSJCC senior center everyday.
Dial-A-Ride, along with Reserve-A-Ride, is a low-cost transportation service in the city of Phoenix which picks up clients at their residence and delivers them to their destination. However, clients who use these services often wait two to three hours for a ride.
Kirschner, who has been a widow for more than 13 years, lives near the former site of the VOSJCC on 17th and Maryland avenues and used to walk there to partake in its programming. But since the senior program moved over a mile away to Montebello Avenue, she had to find a new way to get there.
When she used Dial-A-Ride, she had to call at least two hours in advance for a pick-up and often waited for more than two hours to return home.
"Otherwise, I would have to walk to that city bus (stop)," Kirschner says. "It's a bad crossing for an old lady with bad arthritis, and then when it leaves me off, I still have a long walk to my complex."
Pearl now drives Kirschner to and from the senior center each weekday so she can participate in the center's activities. He also drives Helen Deitsch to the senior center regularly. After trying city transportation in the past, Deitsch notes that "he's on time, which is important. I don't want to wait for somebody, and I don't want them to wait for me."
At Kivel Campus of Care, independent living apartments in Phoenix, residents depend on Experience Corps volunteer Donna Fuller to drive them to doctors' appointments.
Before this program started, several seniors chose to skip doctors' appointments rather than facing the city's streets alone, says Sophia Chemirs, Kivel housing service coordinator and the site supervisor for Experience Corps.
"The bus is too much" to deal with; more than half of the residents are unable to walk to a bus stop, get on the bus without help and make the necessary transfers, says Kate McAllister, Kivel housing director. Since Kivel is a HUD-subsidized property, residents don't have money to pay for cabs, she adds.
Although Dial-A-Ride or Reserve-A-Ride offers transportation to medical appointments, the extended waiting period can be strenuous.
After going through a medical procedure or test and not feeling well, imagine having to wait two to three hours for a ride home, McAllister says. "Can you imagine - at their age?"
The age of residents ranges from 62-100 at The Kivel Campus of Care independent apartments.
The services available to them by other city agencies do not compare to the "hands-on, personalized service that Donna can provide," McAllister adds. "She has become like a family member to them."
The Experience Corps filled a huge void when it came to Kivel, McAllister says. "This is such a necessary service."
Fuller, 59, "will take people with every kind of illness (and) ailment to hospitals, clinics (and) the VA (hospital)," McAllister notes. Fuller also makes drugstore rounds to pick up prescriptions. This is especially beneficial to the residents, since one of the neighborhood drugstores started charging $6 for prescription delivery.
All Experience Corps services are free.
"There is a very high percentage of people who live at Kivel in the independent apartments that have no family," McAllister says. "They have to rely on us.
"The service (Donna) performs is so essential."
Independent living
The primary focus of the Experience Corps for Independent Living is "hospital recovery," says Dorothy Kelly, Senior Companion Program supervisor for the City of Phoenix.
Phoenix was selected as one of six cities for a two-year pilot project through Corporation for National Service, a federal agency. The city, which supports and manages the program, was selected to pilot this project because of "our successfulness in the Senior Companion Program for 26 years," Kelly says.
The Experience Corps is under the umbrella of the city's Senior Companion Program, a program that assigns companions to seniors who need ongoing assistance.
After discussions with agencies, social workers and discharge planners, it was determined that a gap existed between people leaving the hospital and going home for recovery. "There were a lot of (people) returning to the hospital for the same problem because there was nobody there at home to help them through the recovery period," Kelly explains.
Volunteers provide a variety of services: transportation to doctors' appointments and grocery stores or doing the grocery shopping themselves; picking up medical prescriptions; offering companionship; and, in one case, doing light yard work.
"Volunteers are very diverse in what they do," says Michele Verilla, Experience Corps program director for the City of Phoenix.
Many of Kivel's residents are able to retain their independence because of this program, says Chemirs. Since it provides a way for them to get to their follow-up doctor's appointments and maintain their health, it prevents them from requiring a higher level of care.
Although the main mission of Experience Corps is providing help during the "hospital to home" transition, Fuller's "situation is unique (at Kivel) because it's still fulfilling our mission of maintaining independence," Verilla says. "Even though they're living here in this apartment, those extra things are still allowing them to remain independent."
'One helping the other'
Currently, the Experience Corps has 34 volunteers and serves about 100-200 seniors per month.
Volunteers who work at least 15 hours per week receive a $200 tax-free monthly stipend and a 34.5-cent per mile mileage reimbursement. Volunteers use their own vehicles.
The cost to have one volunteer in the community is an average of $3,500 per year, says Kelly.
"That cost is so cost-effective when you consider that if (the client) went into a nursing home or if they have to go to long-term care, you're talking about $40,000 a year."
Kelly cites the national rate for seniors entering nursing homes is 10 percent and in Phoenix, the rate is closer to 5 percent to 6 percent. "We're making an impact," she says.
Volunteers must be 55 or older to receive the stipend, and there is no income eligibility.
Those under 55 still receive a mileage reimbursement, but not a stipend, as the program also helps retirees supplement their income. "Some of these folks, they're doing it to stay active and involved themselves, but they're also relying on that extra little bit of income," Verilla says. "They're on fixed incomes themselves, and as long as they're still mobile and can do it, it's one helping the other."
Pearl, who is a member of Jewish War Veterans, Post 210, drives up to 40 miles each day while volunteering. He works at least 15 hours per week, but often works, without pay, more than his allotted hours. "People are there, they need help and I help them," he says. "I'm just a guy who can't say no."
Fuller, who volunteers three days a week, says Experience Corps keeps her alive.
She started volunteering after being diagnosed with a terminal disease. "I was sitting at home, and I knew what was coming," she says. "I knew I wouldn't live if I stayed at home."
Because of program restraints, Fuller can only be reimbursed up to 15 hours per week, although she puts in many more hours of her own time, including driving some of the residents to a casino on Sundays.
"If Donna was here Monday through Friday, she would be busy Monday through Friday," McAllister adds.
"She's limited by our program in how many hours she works, and she definitely uses those hours up during the week," Verilla says.
"I was thinking ... what would happen if Donna wasn't here," McAllister says. "The answer is that people would not follow through with medical appointments, (and) depression would set in. ...They would slide down physically very fast. The impact here is unbelievable. I can't stress that enough."
She adds that "panic sets in" when Fuller calls in sick.
Esther Prival, 86, a resident of Kivel, says Fuller takes her to the doctor and for blood tests. She says that on the days Fuller doesn't work, the residents are "lost without her."
However, Fuller says she receives more from the residents than she gives.
"They thank me, and every day I forget to thank them for what they've given me," she says.
In need of funding
Since funding for the pilot program runs out this fall, Experience Corps is in danger of being canceled as early as September.
Funding goes to paying the volunteers the monthly stipend and mileage reimbursement, explains Verilla. "Once we run out of money, that's why the program will most likely end because a lot of these folks that are volunteers for us rely on this stipend and their mileage money to supplement their incomes because they're on fixed incomes."
Verilla and her staff are in the process of applying for several grants but as of press time had not received any. If they obtain funding, they would also like to add additional volunteers.
Pearl makes a plea to government agencies, foundations and the community at large:
"We really need your help. We're running out of money. ... We're helping a lot of the seniors who desperately need help in Phoenix. ...They have nowhere to turn if we run out of money, unless we do this totally at our own expense - and most of us can't afford to do that - and we really need help from you."
To contact Experience Corps, call Verilla, 602-256-3352.
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