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Seniors

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Seniors

Seniors

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Adams, 55, said he understands seniors more than most people. He has had personal experience with struggling to find someone to help his aging mother with simple things around her home and to take her to her appointments, as well as someone his mother could trust.

“I pay (a caregiver) $25 an hour, but what she does is priceless, because they built a bond, and I don’t know what I would do without her,” Adams said of the woman who helps him with his mom.

Adams services Oakland County residents in Southfield, Eastpointe and Oak Park. He can be reached at (313)-415-0274.

To get services from the Macomb County Office of Senior Services you must be 60 or older and live in Macomb County. The services are offered free of charge, but donations/contributions are appreciated. Director Sheila Cote said there are currently only three part-time workers handling the tasks requested through the Handy Helper program. Due to the popularity of the program and limited funding, they are only able to provide a limited number of services, and the programs are waitlisted. There are currently 150 people on the list for handyman services and 100 people desiring spring/ summer yard cleanup, which runs through the end of June. Cote said that they are doing their best to get through the entire list by the end of the month. However, those who do not get yard service this season will be put at the top of the list for fall yard cleanup.

“Our mission is to support seniors so that they can age in place and stay in their homes longer. And a lot of times they just need a little extra help,” said Cote. “They need somebody to fix a few things around their house or make it more comfortable for them.”

Cote said seniors are often so thankful for the volunteers who help them to maintain their homes and yards.

“It makes them feel so good that their yard looks nice. It really boosts their spirits when their house is looking nice. A lot of seniors worry about that. They can’t get to the lawn like they used to. They can’t trim their bushes. They can’t clean their yard. So, they feel self-conscious and upset that they’re not able to do that. So, when we’re able to send a team out there to do it, it just does wonders for their spirit.”

IVS and the Macomb County Office of Senior Services both provide “friend” services as well. IVS will send a volunteer to a seniors home as a “friendly visitor” to provide companionship, and the Office of Senior Services has “Friendly Callers” who will contact a senior via phone a couple of times a week to simply check in on them.

“It’s a much-needed program,” Cote said. “Our goal is to assist seniors to live independently and age in place, but, unfortunately, the funding isn’t enough to do that with every senior in Macomb County, so we try our best to get to everybody, but, unfortunately, it’s a funding issue. There just isn’t enough funding to meet the need at this time.”

A limited number of volunteers greatly limits the number of people who can be serviced. According to Curro, the number of volunteers working for IVC has dropped dramatically since the pandemic. She said they used to have approximately 600 volunteers, whereas today they have around 350.

“As much as we publicize services, we can’t help anybody if we don’t get the volunteers,” said Curro. Cote stressed that they appreciate the large organizations who volunteered their time to help with yard clean up this season, but they can always use more volunteers to be able to get to all those who are on the waiting list.

“The population is still continuing to age, so there are more people with these types of needs,” said Curro.

For more information on IVC, to obtain services or volunteer with IVC, call (586) 757-5551 or visit IVCinfo.org. To obtain services or volunteer with MCOS call (586) 469-5228 or visit.

Many other cities and communities throughout Oakland and Macomb Counties have home chore programs and offerings. To find out what your community has to offer, contact your city offices or senior center.

Places such as IVC are part of the National Volunteer Caregiving Network — a coalition of caregiving communities throughout the nation. If your city does not have any offerings, you can go to Nvcnet work.org to find additional resources.

Bites Bucket includes: Chicken Bites and Choice of 2 Sides (sides: shack potatoes, french fries, onion rings or cole slaw)

Super includes: 12 pcs of Chicken, Slab of Ribs and Choice of 2 Sides (sides: shack potatoes, french fries, onion rings or cole slaw)

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