I don't know how many of you know this but, since October 2007 I have been trying to get Mom signed up with the Senior Companion Program. This is done through the Area Agency on Aging for Dallas County. Anyway, the representative came to the house back in October and met with us to evaluate Mom's situation. They are the ones that had the handicap bars installed in her bathroom. They told me that it may be in January when they can get her a Senior Companion.
The Senior Companion Program is funded by a grant. They pay senior citizens to go and stay with your elderly person while you are out of the house. Well, January - May came and went and nothing. Finally in June they called and said that they had not forgotten about us but that they did not have any volunteers int he Mesquite area. I told them about Mrs. Alvarez, Mom's current caregiver, and asked them if she wanted to could she sign up with them as a volunteer and then they would in turn pay her to stay with Mom. They said sure but that she would have to take the training and everything. Well, Mrs. Alvarez agreed to do what she needed to do. In June we submitted her application. July she took the week of training, First Aid, CPR, and informative classes on diseases affecting senior citizens. She also went through a background check and medical physical.
This past Monday (10/27/08) Mom, myself and Mrs. Alvarez met with the Senior Companion Placement supervisor at our house to officially assign Mrs. Alvarez as Mom's senior companion. They will pay Mrs. Alvarez $2.65 per hour to be with mom. She will be paid for 8 hours per day for 5 days per week. They will also pay her mileage. Woohoo!!!! This is going to be a great help to us. We are very grateful to Mrs. Alvarez for agreeing to help us out this way. She said she really enjoyed the training and said that she learned more about Mom's Parkinson's Disease and she is now able to understand why Mom moves and reacts to things the way she does. Her official start date was Monday (10/27/08).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
that is so awesome! I'm glad that it has all worked out. Keeping the faith and having patience is the road to being rewarded.
Post a Comment