We Can’t Let Her Just Fade Away

A scholar…an artist…a teacher…a patron of the arts and now she’s in her late 80’s, diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s and living alone. The disease had already taken its toll, changing a once gregarious lady into a paranoid, frail person whose fear drove even friends and neighbors away.

One caring friend suggested to a caregiver that they contact SW Suburban Center on Aging to help provide the necessary socialization services. She refused the services and even food.. She was almost unapproachable. A supervisor from AgingCare Connections called PeopleCare to see if we could possible help by providing transportation for her to get to the doctor. We did that, and it turned out, much more.

It seems our lady loved Riverside and the sensitive staff from PeopleCare. After a number of visits the trust built and we were able to arrange with AgingCare Connections to deliver meals to us and we in turn brought them to her each weekday at lunch.

But it was not only a meal. Each person stayed with her …alked … reminisced…and tended her needs. We even got involved in helping a caregiver pay her bills, assigning a caregiver/house keeper on weekends and acting as a liaison with relatives and SWSCoA who were in the process of arranging a legal guardianship so she can obtain proper full-time live-in help and medication to help control the depression.

After a long haul, her housing situation was finally resolved and she has a roof over her head thanks to PeopleCare, Southwest Suburban Center on Aging, the Public Guardian’s office and a good hearted neighbor. The arrangement meant that she could continue to live in her own home and have her bills paid by the Guardian’s office. Sometimes it just takes people who care.