By Julie Randolph, Care Coordinator

In the Netflix film, Hillbilly Elegy, there is a poignant scene of an older adult, played by Glenn Close, accepting a home delivered meal from a Meals on Wheels volunteer. The older adult asks for more food but is denied, as the delivery was reserved for her alone. She then proceeds to plate more than half of the meal for her grandson.

As a Care Coordinator, I imagined the volunteer asking more questions and reporting the concern to the agency.

I was screaming in my mind that WE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT. No, we cannot feed grandchildren, but we can advocate for resources to meet needs.

We spend a significant amount of time in Care Coordination identifying needs. As was the case with the character in the film, information is most often not forthcoming. If you are an older adult in need or know of another individual in need, please contact Senior Services to be connected with resources and/or a Care Coordinator, and let us hear the need and build a plan to meet it. Most often, you will hear “we can do something about that”.

If you find yourself in a position of having more than enough, we can help you bless others with your surplus.

Are you skilled with tools and have experience making home repairs?
Please call to learn more about volunteering to assist older adults with minor home safety modifications. We also have a donation closet that requires consistent replenishment of very specific items that many of our clients need, such as laundry detergent, Ensure, Boost, and Depends. Several individually tailored Christmas baskets were filled by generous souls who listened and met needs again this year. Seeing that extension of compassion is an indelible memory to us.

I can imagine it occurring year round.

As the saying goes:
When you have more than you need, build a bigger table, not a higher fence.
That is why we are here.