Volunteer Caregivers have been providing help for senior citizens throughout Linn County since 1983. Their assistance has helped countless elderly residents maintain their independence in their own homes.
Currently the staff, made up mostly of volunteers, transport patients to their appointments, help with errands and even make daily reassurance calls to their elderly patrons.
“This part of our service is to make sure that our seniors 55 and over can feel comfortable and safe in their own living environment,” said Suzanne Driver, executive director.
Inspired by their work, Samaritan has awarded Volunteer Caregivers Social Accountability grants for the past eight years. This year the grant focuses on the transportation services. With this funding, the organization provided rides to doctor appointments, banks and even grocery shopping.
“The funding that Samaritan gave us is just absolutely awesome,” said Driver. “The grocery and shopping assistance that we were able to provide to people with this last funding was great.”
Samaritan funds also helped with items for many homebound seniors including incontinent supplies.
“We get the supplies,” said Driver. “It’s just that we have to have the people that are willing and able to deliver to these seniors because many of them are literally housebound.”
Besides providing transportations for seniors, the caregivers also assist the elderly with home repairs, yard work and check ins that they refer to as reassurance calls. Upon request the volunteers make calls to check in on clients, sometimes these calls are daily and sometimes a few times a week.
