Emma Case (00:00):
Welcome to Inside The Senior Alliance, a podcast exploring resources and issues in the field of aging. I’m Emma Case, Planning and Advocacy Manager at The Senior Alliance, the Area Agency on Aging, serving Western and Southern Wayne County. Joining me today is Rayna Bennett, the Executive Director at St. Joseph’s Helpers. Rayna, thank you for joining me today.
Rayna Bennett (00:17):
Thank you for having me.
Emma Case (00:18):
Rayna let’s start talking about what St. Joseph’s Helpers is, and if you could talk about your mission as well.
Rayna Bennett (00:25):
St. Joseph’s Helpers is an organization founded on Christian values made up of men and women who volunteer their time and talents to help those in need to feel safe and secure in their homes.
Emma Case (00:36):
Who and where do you serve and what kind of services do you provide at St. Joseph’s Helpers?
Rayna Bennett (00:41):
So we serve our seniors, veterans, those with physical challenges or disabilities and those who need a helping hand. We serve clients in southeast Michigan, and central Kentucky at this point, and the services we provide are minor plumbing, such as repairing a faucet. We do minor electrical things like changing a switch or an outlet or a light fixture, some other projects that will keep you safe and secure in your home, such as grab bars and your bathroom and exterior railings.
Emma Case (01:10):
At The Senior Alliance we’ve had many older adults who have used your services and speak very highly of the work that your volunteers do. Can you talk about an older adult who may have benefited from the services that they’ve gotten?
Rayna Bennett (01:23):
One that pops out in my head is Miss R. She’s actually a young, disabled marine veteran who is permanently disabled from a bad fall that broke her back while serving her country. She bought a fixer upper type of home, and our volunteers were able to help her install ceiling fans and lights along with smoke alarms through her home to keep her safe. And I have Mrs. G. who was suffering from brain cancer in a local rehab center. Her family wanted to bring her home for the holidays last Christmas, and St. Joseph’s helpers deployed their plans to get a ramp installed for her. She was able to come home later that day and celebrate Christmas with her family. She was surrounded by everybody that she loved and unfortunately she shortly passed away after New Year’s, but she was able to get home and say her final goodbyes to all of her family.
Emma Case (02:13):
How do your volunteers contribute to your work and what roles do they play?
Rayna Bennett (02:18):
Our volunteers help us in so many ways. We have our office, which is in Taylor, Michigan. We have field volunteers who serve all of southeast Michigan. We have prayer advocates who are able to work from home. We have outreach advocates who go into churches or events to network and spread the word about our organization. We also have mentors who are field volunteers. They help with our new volunteer base. There truly is a place for everybody.
Emma Case (02:45):
If someone wants to volunteer, what is the process for getting involved?
Rayna Bennett (02:49):
First, you could visit our website, which is sjhelpers.org and fill out an application. After the application is submitted, they’ll get a link for our national background check. We background check everybody. Once all of those forms have been completed, the volunteer will log into our specific volunteer website directly from our main website. They’ll then be able to pick projects within their area and within their abilities with the dates and times they choose. Then our office volunteers will coordinate all the materials and other details to send to our field volunteers.
Emma Case (03:23):
We see many older adults and individuals with disabilities who want to age in place, meaning they want to live and age in the place that they’re choosing. For some of them, it can come with a lot of obstacles to make sure their home is safe for them to do so. You talked a little bit about the services you provide, but what also are the challenges that you see older adults in our communities, and then how do you address those?
Rayna Bennett (03:44):
Firstly, I could think of is lack of support and social interaction because many of our older adults and our seniors, they live alone and they struggle with social isolation or lack of help when it comes to daily tasks. So this can lead to depression and overall decline in their wellbeing, and our St. Joseph’s helpers volunteers provide that client with companionship. From the time we take our call to the time we arrive on a project, we take the time to listen and to talk to our clients, and many of them call raving about the volunteers and want them to be their professional or their personal, not professional, their personal handy people. Some other things that we notice are financial constraints, so repairing a home to improve safety such as installing grab bars or adding ramps is costly and many of our older adults are on fixed incomes and find it difficult to afford these changes, even though they’re crucial for long-term safety. We provide the material needed for each project if they’re not able to afford it. Another thing is lighting and electrical assistance, and that’s also installing better lighting and key areas like hallways, bathrooms, and stairways to help reduce the risk of falls within the home.
Emma Case (04:54):
How do you fund your program? Do you rely on donations, grants, other resources?
Rayna Bennett (04:59):
We have grants from family and community foundations. We have private funders, churches and other organizations and businesses along with community donations. We also hold yearly fundraisers in late September. We call it our birthday party, and we’re so grateful for all that support.
Emma Case (05:17):
What are some of your biggest needs at St. Joseph’s Helpers right now and how can our community support you?
Rayna Bennett (05:23):
First of all, we need volunteers, so by volunteering, offering your time to assist with our home repairs or any of the other opportunities we have available. You also can donate because financial contributions help fund our service and projects. We also accept in-kind donations of supplies, such as grab bars, light bulbs, things of that nature. Another thing somebody could do is raise awareness because spreading the word about us helps us to continue our expansion into other territories and serve more communities. And then we also have partnerships. So businesses can contribute by offering their services or goods at a discounted rate or at no cost potentially. They also have workday volunteer programs where you can volunteer for us through your work and get paid for it. We also, with those partnerships, have matching contributions. Most employers, which some don’t even know, a lot of employers will have a matching program, so if you donate something, they will also donate.
Emma Case (06:20):
Where can our listeners go to learn more about St. Joseph’s Helpers and get involved?
Rayna Bennett (06:25):
They could first visit our website at sjhelpers.org or they can call our office directly. We’re open Monday through Friday from nine until three, and our number is 800-303-5075.
Emma Case (06:40):
Rayna, thank you so much for joining me today.
Rayna Bennett (06:42):
Thank you so much for having me. We appreciate it.
Emma Case (06:44):
If you have any questions about the services or programs The Senior Alliance offers, you can call us at (734) 722-2830 or email us at info@thesenioralliance.org. Information about our agency or the programs and services we offer can be found on our website at www.thesenioralliance.org. Finally, on Facebook, we can be located by searching for The Senior Alliance. I’m Emma Case. Thank you for listening to this episode of Inside The Senior Alliance.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Inside The Senior Alliance is a production of The Senior Alliance and Blazing Kiss Media.
