Ministry to Seniors (MTS) also developed other programs and trained parishes in their implementation. Since we knew that a one shot, four hour volunteer training was insufficient to sustain a parish outreach to the homebound ministry, we used several strategies to address the issue of on-going training and preparation of the parish volunteers including:
On-site one-on-one training of the parish coordinators who were responsible for the operation of parish programs. We developed a training manual that covered particulars on recruiting volunteers, identifying the homebound, matching, record keeping, supporting volunteers, and more. And later we partnered with Fordham University’s Partners in Healing program to bring special training programs, with more spiritual emphasis and advanced listening skills to our veteran volunteers.
A quarterly reporting system and annual evaluation was devised to publish statistics and anecdotes on parish service in a newsletter distributed to all 400+ parishes in the Archdiocese. This also served as an alert to staff when problems or concerns were reported.
Ministry to Seniors staff held regional meetings for parish coordinators on a regular basis to provide ongoing support, sharing, information and training. MTS also modeled Volunteer Recognition Events, by honoring parish coordinators with awards, luncheons and gifts, Parish coordinators were encouraged to hold similar volunteer meetings and recognition events in their own parishes.
We learned that our volunteers provided real services, especially in rural areas where they transported patients long distances for dialysis or cancer treatments. From their stories and from listening to volunteers at meetings, we knew that many volunteers derived deep satisfaction from visiting. Many developed close friendships with those they served. Volunteers had been asked to serve as pallbearers at the funerals of those they visited. Others had noticed that the visiting program had bridged the gap between peoples of different colors and cultures, as they ministered to one another. And other volunteers had uncovered potentially life threatening situations and referred them to professional staff for intervention.
During this busy time in the late 90’s and even after 2001, we developed other models for parishes to serve their older members, notably Senior Link, Caregiver Support & Respite and Senior Spirituality Groups. Our programs were recognized nationally with a 1999 Daily Points of Light award, as well as other honors.
Senior Link was designed as a parish-based information and referral/advocacy program to help seniors and their families access needed entitlements/benefits and services in the community. Training and ongoing support were provided to program coordinators, mostly parish staff but also volunteers. Caregiver Support & Respite was provided through a six week workshop series based on Dr. Richard Johnson’s video course “You and Your Aging Parents” and follow-up support groups. Later we introduced the Powerful Tools for Caregiving (PTC) program in the New York area, an innovative approach to empowering caregivers to care for themselves. These caregiver services were implemented in our rural counties through funding from Older Americans Act Title IV and private grants.
Senior Spirituality Groups offered older adults opportunities for spiritual growth through faith sharing, reflection, prayer and discussion activities. Meeting on a regular basis at parishes and community facilities, the groups helped participants to see God’s presence in their life experiences. The group facilitators received training and ongoing support from Ministry to Seniors.
Looking back at this “golden age” of my career at Catholic Charities, I feel very blessed and grateful for the wonderful, talented people who worked so hard to serve the elders of our parishes. Not only my staff and colleagues at Charities but also parish staff, coordinators and volunteers, as well as the seniors themselves. It is amazing how much good people can do, with the help of the Lord. It was a privilege indeed to work with them and serve them.
Showing posts with label career. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career. Show all posts
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
My Career in Aging: Ministry to Seniors
Just realized I never finished the story of my career in aging (see Career on sidebar). The next installment is about my most satisfying experience at Catholic Charities as Director of the Ministry to Seniors Program.
Ministry to Seniors was the New York Archdiocese’s response to parish social ministry efforts to minister to the frail, homebound elderly and their caregivers. It grew out of a task force in the late 70’s to address the “graying” of the Archdiocese and which resulted in Catholic Charities’ Department of the Aging. See Blog 2/8/08.
Ministry to Seniors worked with parishes to enable them to meet the needs of seniors and their families in effective and Spirit-filled ways. Five different program models were developed that parishes might adapt to minister to the well elderly, the homebound and their caregivers:
Ministry to Seniors helped parishes recruit volunteers, conducted on-site training of parish staff, coordinators and volunteers, and provided on-going support, training and technical assistance. In 1997, 56 parishes had programs affiliated with Ministry to Seniors with over 525 volunteers providing nearly 30,000 instances of service to over 1600 homebound persons and their caregivers.
Training of volunteers at the parish level was seen as key to what Ministry to Seniors could offer parishes. We wanted to prepare these volunteers to be effective ministers to an aging, vulnerable population that was growing at an unprecedented rate and which had many unmet needs. A study funded by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation in the 80’s and conducted by Fordham’s Third Age Center found that an average parish is comprised of 25% seniors aged 65 and older, more and more of whom are frail and need assistance to continue residing in their homes. According to the National Council on the Aging, in 1996 the 65+ age group was 33.9 million or 12.8% of the U.S. population. And the older population is getting older. In 1996, the 85+ age group (3.5 million) was 31 times larger than in 1900, while the 65-74 age group (18.7 million) was eight times larger. By 2030 there will be about 70 million older Americans, twice the number in 1996 and 20% of the population. Fordham’s study showed that the first place seniors and their families turn for help is often their parish or faith community. Our mission was to help parishes meet this challenge.
Because of the tendency of most parish volunteers to be “overcommitted” timewise and averse to structured training, we designed a simple bare bones four hour basic course in outreach to the homebound. Over seven years, this basic training evolved as follows to cover four areas.
Challenges of Aging: This overview was usually done by a local professional in the field of aging, usually a health care professional or gerontology professor, and gave volunteers a knowledge of the aging process, the difference between normal and abnormal aging, and exposed several “myths” about aging. If the critical area of spirituality of late life was not within the expertise of the speaker, Ministry to Seniors’ staff provided a brief discussion of this topic. On some level the team recognized this deficit in the outreach training. We began to offer more in-depth treatment through presentations on Spirituality of Aging to volunteer groups, through retreats and Senior Spirituality Days, a major conference on Senior Adult Ministry and a new training for parish facilitators of senior spirituality groups, which are small faith sharing groups aimed at older persons.
Community Resources: This component of the training was usually done by a representative of the local area agency on aging and acquainted volunteers with information on the wide range of benefits and services available to the elderly. Volunteers were trained to be sensitive to specific needs of those they visited and to alert coordinators or Catholic Charities staff if a potential problem existed.
Communication Skills: A video by Ellie Waters of Oakland University was used to demonstrate “do’s” and “don’ts” of listening to older adults. The tape is designed to give trainees an opportunity to practice their listening skills, especially attending to feelings. This was one part of the training that staff felt was never given enough time. Trainees often expressed that they would have liked more practice in this area. Since there is no real on-site supervision of the parish volunteers, we were always been concerned about strengthening and expanding this segment of our outreach training. And later we did so in collaboration with Partners in Healing of Fordham University.
Practical Aspects: This segment treated such topics as: Getting Started as a Volunteer, Conversation Starters and Boosters, Guidelines for Service Provision, Setting Boundaries, Warning Signs to Look For, and more. Volunteers were provided with handouts on all these topics and to which they could later refer, as well as the names and phone numbers of contact persons in case of questions or concerns.
In the evaluations of the outreach training, volunteers were usually very positive in rating the training day. However, less than half scored themselves more than “moderately” prepared to begin their volunteer service.
To be continued….
Ministry to Seniors was the New York Archdiocese’s response to parish social ministry efforts to minister to the frail, homebound elderly and their caregivers. It grew out of a task force in the late 70’s to address the “graying” of the Archdiocese and which resulted in Catholic Charities’ Department of the Aging. See Blog 2/8/08.
Ministry to Seniors worked with parishes to enable them to meet the needs of seniors and their families in effective and Spirit-filled ways. Five different program models were developed that parishes might adapt to minister to the well elderly, the homebound and their caregivers:
Outreach to the Homebound
Senior Link
Caregiver Support & Respite
Senior Spirituality Groups
Social Programs
Ministry to Seniors helped parishes recruit volunteers, conducted on-site training of parish staff, coordinators and volunteers, and provided on-going support, training and technical assistance. In 1997, 56 parishes had programs affiliated with Ministry to Seniors with over 525 volunteers providing nearly 30,000 instances of service to over 1600 homebound persons and their caregivers.
Training of volunteers at the parish level was seen as key to what Ministry to Seniors could offer parishes. We wanted to prepare these volunteers to be effective ministers to an aging, vulnerable population that was growing at an unprecedented rate and which had many unmet needs. A study funded by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation in the 80’s and conducted by Fordham’s Third Age Center found that an average parish is comprised of 25% seniors aged 65 and older, more and more of whom are frail and need assistance to continue residing in their homes. According to the National Council on the Aging, in 1996 the 65+ age group was 33.9 million or 12.8% of the U.S. population. And the older population is getting older. In 1996, the 85+ age group (3.5 million) was 31 times larger than in 1900, while the 65-74 age group (18.7 million) was eight times larger. By 2030 there will be about 70 million older Americans, twice the number in 1996 and 20% of the population. Fordham’s study showed that the first place seniors and their families turn for help is often their parish or faith community. Our mission was to help parishes meet this challenge.
Because of the tendency of most parish volunteers to be “overcommitted” timewise and averse to structured training, we designed a simple bare bones four hour basic course in outreach to the homebound. Over seven years, this basic training evolved as follows to cover four areas.
An overview of the physical, psychological, social and spiritual challenges of aging;
An introduction to benefits, entitlements and community resources for the elderly and their caregivers;
Communication skills;
The practical aspects involved in ministering to the homebound.
Challenges of Aging: This overview was usually done by a local professional in the field of aging, usually a health care professional or gerontology professor, and gave volunteers a knowledge of the aging process, the difference between normal and abnormal aging, and exposed several “myths” about aging. If the critical area of spirituality of late life was not within the expertise of the speaker, Ministry to Seniors’ staff provided a brief discussion of this topic. On some level the team recognized this deficit in the outreach training. We began to offer more in-depth treatment through presentations on Spirituality of Aging to volunteer groups, through retreats and Senior Spirituality Days, a major conference on Senior Adult Ministry and a new training for parish facilitators of senior spirituality groups, which are small faith sharing groups aimed at older persons.
Community Resources: This component of the training was usually done by a representative of the local area agency on aging and acquainted volunteers with information on the wide range of benefits and services available to the elderly. Volunteers were trained to be sensitive to specific needs of those they visited and to alert coordinators or Catholic Charities staff if a potential problem existed.
Communication Skills: A video by Ellie Waters of Oakland University was used to demonstrate “do’s” and “don’ts” of listening to older adults. The tape is designed to give trainees an opportunity to practice their listening skills, especially attending to feelings. This was one part of the training that staff felt was never given enough time. Trainees often expressed that they would have liked more practice in this area. Since there is no real on-site supervision of the parish volunteers, we were always been concerned about strengthening and expanding this segment of our outreach training. And later we did so in collaboration with Partners in Healing of Fordham University.
Practical Aspects: This segment treated such topics as: Getting Started as a Volunteer, Conversation Starters and Boosters, Guidelines for Service Provision, Setting Boundaries, Warning Signs to Look For, and more. Volunteers were provided with handouts on all these topics and to which they could later refer, as well as the names and phone numbers of contact persons in case of questions or concerns.
In the evaluations of the outreach training, volunteers were usually very positive in rating the training day. However, less than half scored themselves more than “moderately” prepared to begin their volunteer service.
To be continued….
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
A Busy Week in the World of Aging
It's been awhile. I've been so busy with my "part time" retirement job that I haven't written the next chapter of my life as a Gerontologist. But who says I have to go in chronological order? Since I am still working in the field of aging, I will tell you what I did all day last week as Executive Director of the New York Citizens Committee on Aging, a very small advocacy organization that's been around for almost fifty years.
Last Monday a week ago, I arrived at my tiny office in the lobby of a high rise senior housing building at about 8 a.m. I checked the phone messages and e-mail messages and mail messages and found several responses from people who wanted to come to our big meeting the following Friday. Since we were having a Board meeting that evening, I next had to prepare the agenda, including my report on our fundraising and programming activities. As a small organization, we are in a constant struggle to raise funds and a lot of my time is spent researching foundations and writing proposals. Oh yes, the mail had one or two checks for dues - hurray!
At that point the treasurer arrived at the office and I was glad to have the company. She usually stops by on Board meeting days to do the financial reports, so we talked about expenses and income for awhile. After she left I made copies for the meeting - you can see I wear many hats - and worked on our membership lists, which constantly need to be updated.
The big project of the week was a Program Meeting on Friday, which featured the Director of the NYS State Office for Aging. He would update us on the proposed NYS budget and how it would affect seniors; in addition we wanted to learn of progress on NY Connects in NYC, our one-stop-shop system for informing seniors and their families about long term care options in their locality. So I prepared a reminder flyer about the Meeting for my assistant to send out to all our constituents - the dozens of aging service agencies, advocacy organizations, academic institutions and just plain citizens interested in aging issues.
Before the Board meeting I met with our president to brief him on the agenda. At the meeting, we set up sub-committee meetings on Public Policy/Program and Development, which would need preparation and notification to members. The meeting was over at 7:30 p.m. I missed my train and got home at 9 p.m. A long day! Next day I went into the office later, spent a few hours briefing my assistant on the work for the week and was happy to hear we were getting a good response for our Friday meeting. Then I was off to the Manhattan Borowide Inter-agency Council on Aging meeting to hear a presentation by the head of the NYC Department for the Aging about their modernization plans. Luckily I took the subway home since a building collapsed next to the commuter railroad tracks in Harlem and the trains were offline, literally, for hours.
On Thursday, my assistant and I were busy with last minute preparations for Friday's big meeting, which I am happy to report was a success. Eighty people came to hear the state of the state budget as it affects older New Yorkers. It was overall good news in a budget deficit year and showed promise that the new director, a former advocate himself, was moving ahead with innovative ideas. We also had a presentation from one of our younger Board members on Enriched Social Adult Day Care, a program we have long fought for and which was in the governor's budget. However, seeing what has happened this week in New York with our governor, what will happen to the budget is anyone's guess. In New York, it's never a dull moment.
Last Monday a week ago, I arrived at my tiny office in the lobby of a high rise senior housing building at about 8 a.m. I checked the phone messages and e-mail messages and mail messages and found several responses from people who wanted to come to our big meeting the following Friday. Since we were having a Board meeting that evening, I next had to prepare the agenda, including my report on our fundraising and programming activities. As a small organization, we are in a constant struggle to raise funds and a lot of my time is spent researching foundations and writing proposals. Oh yes, the mail had one or two checks for dues - hurray!
At that point the treasurer arrived at the office and I was glad to have the company. She usually stops by on Board meeting days to do the financial reports, so we talked about expenses and income for awhile. After she left I made copies for the meeting - you can see I wear many hats - and worked on our membership lists, which constantly need to be updated.
The big project of the week was a Program Meeting on Friday, which featured the Director of the NYS State Office for Aging. He would update us on the proposed NYS budget and how it would affect seniors; in addition we wanted to learn of progress on NY Connects in NYC, our one-stop-shop system for informing seniors and their families about long term care options in their locality. So I prepared a reminder flyer about the Meeting for my assistant to send out to all our constituents - the dozens of aging service agencies, advocacy organizations, academic institutions and just plain citizens interested in aging issues.
Before the Board meeting I met with our president to brief him on the agenda. At the meeting, we set up sub-committee meetings on Public Policy/Program and Development, which would need preparation and notification to members. The meeting was over at 7:30 p.m. I missed my train and got home at 9 p.m. A long day! Next day I went into the office later, spent a few hours briefing my assistant on the work for the week and was happy to hear we were getting a good response for our Friday meeting. Then I was off to the Manhattan Borowide Inter-agency Council on Aging meeting to hear a presentation by the head of the NYC Department for the Aging about their modernization plans. Luckily I took the subway home since a building collapsed next to the commuter railroad tracks in Harlem and the trains were offline, literally, for hours.
On Thursday, my assistant and I were busy with last minute preparations for Friday's big meeting, which I am happy to report was a success. Eighty people came to hear the state of the state budget as it affects older New Yorkers. It was overall good news in a budget deficit year and showed promise that the new director, a former advocate himself, was moving ahead with innovative ideas. We also had a presentation from one of our younger Board members on Enriched Social Adult Day Care, a program we have long fought for and which was in the governor's budget. However, seeing what has happened this week in New York with our governor, what will happen to the budget is anyone's guess. In New York, it's never a dull moment.
Friday, February 22, 2008
My Career in Gerontology: Assistant Director
My next position with Catholic Charities was Assistant Director of the Department of the Aging. The department grew out of a task force in the late 1970’s to address the “graying” of the Archdiocese. Under the leadership of a former deputy commissioner in NYC’s welfare department, a staff of 20 persons was responsible for reaching out to the 400+ urban, suburban and rural parishes of the New York Archdiocese.
I joined the department in 1981, as director of its city and state funded Recreation Program for the Elderly, which provided technical assistance, trips and teachers to parish senior clubs. (See February 6th blog - What I did all day as a Gerontologist.)
In 1987 I became Assistant Director of the department. My job responsibilities included: overseeing a NYC funded senior center and homemaker program in the South Bronx; supervising the Grants Program, the Recreation Program and the regional field workers who provided consultation and technical assistance to the parish outreach programs to the homebound. Supervision is not my strong point and I worked very hard, taking advantage of every training opportunity to hone my skills.
When I left Catholic Charities after 25 years of service, I felt that what I would miss most was the people I worked with. However, over the years, we did have a few characters that kept me on my toes as a supervisor. Much of my time was spent guiding the workers, helping them set goals and reach out to the parishes, encouraging the parishes to begin programs to reach out to their homebound elders or convincing them that we could help their volunteers with training from our staff. It is amazing to me how hard it was to get parishes and volunteers to accept free training. In those days, we even had a “carrot” to dangle before them, small grants to help them get started.
In the early days of the department, we struggled to come up with a mission statement, goals and objectives. As you can imagine, several hours a week were given to staff meetings, not much fun.
The greatest challenge was in designing a model of a parish outreach program, that would give parish volunteers the tools that they needed to be effective ministers to the frail homebound elderly they served. We never quite knew when a parish “program” could be named as such, despite our considerable resources, including a sizable parish grants program. “Training” on the parish level varied with individual staff consultants.
I also spent a great deal of time with the South Bronx Senior Center, monitoring their budget, their case management files, and helping the director deal with personnel issues. City contracts are unbelievably mired in bureaucracy – and you know how I feel about that! We were attempting to renovate a Parish Hall in which to relocate the program and make it accessible. Despite the cooperation of my program officer at the city, there were just too many hurdles to overcome. In addition, the program was being subsidized by Catholic Charities, which was facing a fiscal crisis. We decided to give up the contract, a difficult decision indeed. It was a very dark time, trying to find another sponsor and eventually closing the center and transferring the clients to other centers and programs.
Shortly after I became assistant director, Cardinal Cooke died and John Cardinal O’Connor became the spiritual leader of the Archdiocese. We proposed an annual Mass for Older Adults at St. Patrick’s Cathedral at which the Cardinal would present Good Samaritan Awards to outstanding senior volunteers from all over the Archdiocese. This spiritual event would replace the annual Christmas Brunch at Lindy’s. And all the parishes could be invited.
What a major project this turned out to be! The entire staff was involved in organizing the event. As its coordinator, I believe that I spent most of 9 months preparing for the first Mass for Older Adults. The cathedral has a master of ceremonies, with whom I worked to coordinate the events of the day. Plus I had to work with the director of music to select the hymns and the director of liturgy to select the readings for the Mass. I learned a lot that year. Picking the awardees and getting them approved was another major undertaking. There was also the selection of gift bearers and lectors; some years we had celebrities doing the readings, which meant more approval. We needed to publicize the event, get out invitations to all the parishes, including transportation for many. Some seniors from the rural counties traveled close to three hours to get to the Mass. The first Mass turned out to be a wonderful spiritual event, despite competition from the Polish Day Parade on Fifth Avenue. Over 1500 seniors met their new archbishop. The Mass continued to be an annual event for many years until shortly before Cardinal O’Connor’s death.
One of my favorite achievements as Assistant Director was the organization of parish senior leaders and staff into support groups on a regional basis serving over 100 Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island, Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess and Ulster parishes. At meetings we provided speakers, information, technical assistance and educational materials on aging for the parish coordinators to share with their volunteers and homebound elders. This was also key to spreading the word about the importance of trained outreach volunteers. It gave parish leaders a chance to know and learn from one another.
Finally, I represented the Archdiocese on the Elderly Services Committee of the New York State Catholic Conference from 1987 to 1990. It was another step in my education in public policy, advocacy and the legislative process. I traveled to Albany several times a year, where we met with key legislators and networked with my colleagues from other NYS dioceses.
When the director of the Department of the Aging retired in 1990, during a major financial crisis, staff cuts and a re-structuring period at Catholic Charities, I became responsible for the overall operation of the department. After about one year, a decision was made to de-departmentalize the Department of the Aging, and to merge its remaining staff into another department. For me, this was both a personal failure and an opportunity to start over, with the support of new colleagues. The lesson learned was that out of great pain and loss may come hope and new growth and this lesson impacted my own personal spiritual journey. Out of a new team approach to goal setting, we chose a new name for our program - Ministry to Seniors and with new staff, we designed model programs with structured parish volunteer training and accountability components. But more about that later …….
I joined the department in 1981, as director of its city and state funded Recreation Program for the Elderly, which provided technical assistance, trips and teachers to parish senior clubs. (See February 6th blog - What I did all day as a Gerontologist.)
In 1987 I became Assistant Director of the department. My job responsibilities included: overseeing a NYC funded senior center and homemaker program in the South Bronx; supervising the Grants Program, the Recreation Program and the regional field workers who provided consultation and technical assistance to the parish outreach programs to the homebound. Supervision is not my strong point and I worked very hard, taking advantage of every training opportunity to hone my skills.
When I left Catholic Charities after 25 years of service, I felt that what I would miss most was the people I worked with. However, over the years, we did have a few characters that kept me on my toes as a supervisor. Much of my time was spent guiding the workers, helping them set goals and reach out to the parishes, encouraging the parishes to begin programs to reach out to their homebound elders or convincing them that we could help their volunteers with training from our staff. It is amazing to me how hard it was to get parishes and volunteers to accept free training. In those days, we even had a “carrot” to dangle before them, small grants to help them get started.
In the early days of the department, we struggled to come up with a mission statement, goals and objectives. As you can imagine, several hours a week were given to staff meetings, not much fun.
The greatest challenge was in designing a model of a parish outreach program, that would give parish volunteers the tools that they needed to be effective ministers to the frail homebound elderly they served. We never quite knew when a parish “program” could be named as such, despite our considerable resources, including a sizable parish grants program. “Training” on the parish level varied with individual staff consultants.
I also spent a great deal of time with the South Bronx Senior Center, monitoring their budget, their case management files, and helping the director deal with personnel issues. City contracts are unbelievably mired in bureaucracy – and you know how I feel about that! We were attempting to renovate a Parish Hall in which to relocate the program and make it accessible. Despite the cooperation of my program officer at the city, there were just too many hurdles to overcome. In addition, the program was being subsidized by Catholic Charities, which was facing a fiscal crisis. We decided to give up the contract, a difficult decision indeed. It was a very dark time, trying to find another sponsor and eventually closing the center and transferring the clients to other centers and programs.
Shortly after I became assistant director, Cardinal Cooke died and John Cardinal O’Connor became the spiritual leader of the Archdiocese. We proposed an annual Mass for Older Adults at St. Patrick’s Cathedral at which the Cardinal would present Good Samaritan Awards to outstanding senior volunteers from all over the Archdiocese. This spiritual event would replace the annual Christmas Brunch at Lindy’s. And all the parishes could be invited.
What a major project this turned out to be! The entire staff was involved in organizing the event. As its coordinator, I believe that I spent most of 9 months preparing for the first Mass for Older Adults. The cathedral has a master of ceremonies, with whom I worked to coordinate the events of the day. Plus I had to work with the director of music to select the hymns and the director of liturgy to select the readings for the Mass. I learned a lot that year. Picking the awardees and getting them approved was another major undertaking. There was also the selection of gift bearers and lectors; some years we had celebrities doing the readings, which meant more approval. We needed to publicize the event, get out invitations to all the parishes, including transportation for many. Some seniors from the rural counties traveled close to three hours to get to the Mass. The first Mass turned out to be a wonderful spiritual event, despite competition from the Polish Day Parade on Fifth Avenue. Over 1500 seniors met their new archbishop. The Mass continued to be an annual event for many years until shortly before Cardinal O’Connor’s death.
One of my favorite achievements as Assistant Director was the organization of parish senior leaders and staff into support groups on a regional basis serving over 100 Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island, Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess and Ulster parishes. At meetings we provided speakers, information, technical assistance and educational materials on aging for the parish coordinators to share with their volunteers and homebound elders. This was also key to spreading the word about the importance of trained outreach volunteers. It gave parish leaders a chance to know and learn from one another.
Finally, I represented the Archdiocese on the Elderly Services Committee of the New York State Catholic Conference from 1987 to 1990. It was another step in my education in public policy, advocacy and the legislative process. I traveled to Albany several times a year, where we met with key legislators and networked with my colleagues from other NYS dioceses.
When the director of the Department of the Aging retired in 1990, during a major financial crisis, staff cuts and a re-structuring period at Catholic Charities, I became responsible for the overall operation of the department. After about one year, a decision was made to de-departmentalize the Department of the Aging, and to merge its remaining staff into another department. For me, this was both a personal failure and an opportunity to start over, with the support of new colleagues. The lesson learned was that out of great pain and loss may come hope and new growth and this lesson impacted my own personal spiritual journey. Out of a new team approach to goal setting, we chose a new name for our program - Ministry to Seniors and with new staff, we designed model programs with structured parish volunteer training and accountability components. But more about that later …….
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
What I did all day as a Gerontologist
The appeal of gerontology is that there are so many possibilities for job opportunities. From working as a recreational therapist in a nursing home to running a senior center for active older adults. From developing policy in the field of aging to counseling family caregivers. After I graduated with my Masters in Gerontology in 1981, I went to work for Catholic Charities, where I had a number of positions over my 25 years of service to the elders of the Archdiocese of New York.
My first job was Coordinator of the Recreation Program for the Elderly. Since I was going through serious personal issues at the time – my grandmother had Alzheimers and my Mom, her principal caregiver, was dying of cancer – I decided that I wanted a “fun” job, without life and death components. Recreation seemed just right. I worked with 100 New York City parish clubs. With a grant from NYC’s Department for the Aging, we provided the clubs with money for trips, hired crafts and exercise teachers to lead enrichment classes, and did site visits to make suggestions for enhanced programming. Most of the clubs were weekly coffee, cake and Bingo gatherings, so adding a gifted teacher to teach painting was a real plus.
One of the projects I designed during my tenure as recreation coordinator was “Celebrating Life” which was funded by a local bank. We trained our instructors to translate life history into crafts projects. I loved the process. Visiting the different parish groups and listening to their stories. Some were quite poignant - the first meeting of a Bronx woman with her sister from Ireland; a painful hurt from long ago that still needed to be healed; a woman who had experienced a vision. It was very inspiring.
“Celebrating Life” was a great success and we held an exhibit at the Catholic Center to highlight the finished parish projects. A Manhattan parish club collaborated on a montage of their memories. A Bronx parish did a felt “painting” of their church, with their taped memories. A Harlem parish decorated the parish hall with mementos of the past. A Staten Island club held a fashion show, featuring a wedding gown from fifty years before. I can still see the seniors explaining their works of art to teenagers from Cathedral H.S., who attended the event.
My job responsibilities included: writing funding proposals, supervising an assistant, scheduling the teachers, writing reports, etc. But the best part of this job was getting out to the different parishes and seeing the clubs in action. This refreshed and re-energized me when I was feeling frustrated, overwhelmed or tired of the paper work. The Archdiocese is so diverse: it runs the gamut from poor to wealthy parishes, with so many different races and ethnic groups. One of my challenges was to integrate the Spanish speaking seniors with the Irish and German English speaking seniors in a Bronx parish. A wonderful priest there celebrated a bi-lingual Mass at a long table with all the seniors sitting around the table and participating.
To bring the different cultures together, we also held an annual picnic, usually hosted by the Staten Island clubs, so that they could intermingle and get to know each other. Unfortunately, at one picnic, a Bronx senior tripped over a tree root and broke both arms. My staff spent most of the time in the local Emergency Room. We also had an annual Christmas Brunch at Lindy’s Restaurant in the Empire State Building, provided by Cardinal Cooke’s boyhood friends, who owned a chain of restaurants. Do you think that putting that event together wasn’t hard work!
To be continued...
My first job was Coordinator of the Recreation Program for the Elderly. Since I was going through serious personal issues at the time – my grandmother had Alzheimers and my Mom, her principal caregiver, was dying of cancer – I decided that I wanted a “fun” job, without life and death components. Recreation seemed just right. I worked with 100 New York City parish clubs. With a grant from NYC’s Department for the Aging, we provided the clubs with money for trips, hired crafts and exercise teachers to lead enrichment classes, and did site visits to make suggestions for enhanced programming. Most of the clubs were weekly coffee, cake and Bingo gatherings, so adding a gifted teacher to teach painting was a real plus.
One of the projects I designed during my tenure as recreation coordinator was “Celebrating Life” which was funded by a local bank. We trained our instructors to translate life history into crafts projects. I loved the process. Visiting the different parish groups and listening to their stories. Some were quite poignant - the first meeting of a Bronx woman with her sister from Ireland; a painful hurt from long ago that still needed to be healed; a woman who had experienced a vision. It was very inspiring.
“Celebrating Life” was a great success and we held an exhibit at the Catholic Center to highlight the finished parish projects. A Manhattan parish club collaborated on a montage of their memories. A Bronx parish did a felt “painting” of their church, with their taped memories. A Harlem parish decorated the parish hall with mementos of the past. A Staten Island club held a fashion show, featuring a wedding gown from fifty years before. I can still see the seniors explaining their works of art to teenagers from Cathedral H.S., who attended the event.
My job responsibilities included: writing funding proposals, supervising an assistant, scheduling the teachers, writing reports, etc. But the best part of this job was getting out to the different parishes and seeing the clubs in action. This refreshed and re-energized me when I was feeling frustrated, overwhelmed or tired of the paper work. The Archdiocese is so diverse: it runs the gamut from poor to wealthy parishes, with so many different races and ethnic groups. One of my challenges was to integrate the Spanish speaking seniors with the Irish and German English speaking seniors in a Bronx parish. A wonderful priest there celebrated a bi-lingual Mass at a long table with all the seniors sitting around the table and participating.
To bring the different cultures together, we also held an annual picnic, usually hosted by the Staten Island clubs, so that they could intermingle and get to know each other. Unfortunately, at one picnic, a Bronx senior tripped over a tree root and broke both arms. My staff spent most of the time in the local Emergency Room. We also had an annual Christmas Brunch at Lindy’s Restaurant in the Empire State Building, provided by Cardinal Cooke’s boyhood friends, who owned a chain of restaurants. Do you think that putting that event together wasn’t hard work!
To be continued...
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