The Altamont Enterprise – Thursday, November 23, 2006  

Honoring local caregivers

Photo: The Enterprise - Jarrett Carroll
Pictured above:
“Just a small token of our appreciation,” Mary Moller, a social worker for Catholic Charities Caregivers Support Services, said of gifts that this woman is choosing during Thursday’s luncheon at Dorato’s at Star Plaza in Guilderland, as prizes are awarded. The charity is approaching its 20-year milestone as it began in 1987, and, Moller says, “We’re just partying a little early.”

GUILDERLAND — Catholic Charities Caregivers Support Services has a simple mission: Help families help themselves.

It recognizes caretakers of the ill and elderly, and the young and vulnerable, elevating them to the level of everyday heroes.

The charity group, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary starting in January, supports families — both financially and through support groups —who choose to take care of ailing members and keep them out of nursing homes.

The organization offers support services such as Elder Care and Kinship Care with respite services, information and assistance, social-work services, support groups, and social recreational activities.

Mary Moller, a social worker for Catholic Charities Caregivers Support Services, said that her organization helps assist some of the 1.9 million informal caregivers in New York State who each year collectively provide over 2 billion hours of caregiving for relatives.

A recent study cited by Catholic Charities Caregivers showed that, if respite delays the institutionalization of people with Alzheimer’s disease by just one month, $1.12 billion is saved annually.

“They are caring for their elderly loved ones. It’s mostly spouses taking care of each other, but we also have a lot of children taking care of their parents,” Moller told The Enterprise. “Essentially, they’re trying to keep their loved ones out of nursing homes.”

The Elder Care program focuses on families taking care of elderly members, while Kinship Care targets relatives taking care of younger children and grandchildren.

Both programs offer respite services in the form of annual grants that fund home care and adult care for the elderly as well as vacation activities and weekend family camping for youths. The services are designed to help caregivers cope with the physical, emotional, and financial strains of their responsibility.

“It’s vital, it’s very, very important for the community,” Moller said of the organization. “It keeps the elderly person in their home.”

- Jarrett Carrol