When you recognize that there are 1.9 million informal caregivers in New York State collectively providing 2 billion hours of care giving for relatives and friends each year, you can begin to understand that many of these individuals may find themselves without relief from these duties.    We are here to give them that much-needed break.  We help caregivers help these loved ones stay at home, enhancing their quality of life and saving tax dollars.  And the financial savings to you from their efforts have been great, as indicated by one recent study, which found that if respite care helps to delay institutionalization of a person with Alzheimer’s disease by as little as a month, $1.12 billion is saved annually.

With our years of experience (we are celebrating our 20th anniversary this year! and our trained staff of dedicated professionals, we can significantly improve the lives of these caregivers. Our numbers have increased by 30% since 2005. By the end of the calendar year we served 239 individuals or 478 individuals and caregivers. We now offer four support groups for the Elder Caregivers Program and enhanced our social work services as well. We fully expect that demand for these and other services will increase significantly this year and in the years to follow.
In 2006 we also enhanced our youth program for the children and youth in the Kinship Program. We hired a youth program coordinator for the first time who will be developing a structured program for the youth. This program will aim to meet both the emotional and recreational needs of the youth in our program. (Currently 139 children from 72 families are registered in our program).

Catholic Charities Caregivers looks forward to working with you.  Please join us as a financial or material donor for our families or programs or work with us as a collaborator in the communities we serve, or as one of the members in our family of services.