Home Instead and community partners are again helping make sure lonely or isolated senior citizens aren’t forgotten during the holiday season. They delivered gift packages — each with a personalized touch based on needs — to nearly 1,000 area seniors on Wednesday.
The local Home Instead office has participated in the program for 13 years, and Operations Director Tricia Carroll has been involved for the past 10.
“I get really emotional during this time of year,” she said, noting her passion for helping senior citizens. “The community is so caring and giving. It’s just amazing. This is my passion. I look forward this every year.”
The Home Instead office at 2065 East Parrish Avenue Suite 300 serves Daviess, Henderson, Hancock, Ohio, McLean, and Union counties. Their office was packed with gifts and volunteers Wednesday morning as they pieced together the packages for each senior.
The program begins with Home Instead filling out a wish list, allowing each senior (or someone filling out a card for a senior they know needs help) to select items of need. Those lists are then placed on “gift trees” at participating locations where a community member can pick one or more list, which does not include the seniors’ names. Items purchased are then dropped off at Home Instead, where employees and volunteers place everything in a Christmas gift bag for delivery.
“It’s actually things that we take for granted,” Carroll said of the donations. “You’ve got puzzle books, toiletry items, cleaning items, snacks, things that we can get every day.”
The program provides for seniors in all living situations including nursing homes, assisted living, low-income housing, or anywhere else in the community.
One group of volunteers came from Heartland PACE (Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), which will open in the next few months on the east side of Owensboro.
PACE provides comprehensive services to individuals age 55 and older who need nursing facility level of care but prefer to continue living at home. Enrollees receive services through a PACE organization which works to meet all preventive care, acute care, long-term care and social needs. For more information on PACE organizations in Kentucky, click here.
Eric Ross will be the Operations Director for Heartland Pace and was excited to bring a handful of employees to assist Home Instead with the project.
“It’s a wonderful thing for the seniors,” he said. “This brings the whole community together. We just love being part of it and definitely will be a part of it every year.”
