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"GIVE is an In Home Support program that provides free assistance to seniors and the disabled.
 With basic services, this population is able to remain in their own home."
GIVE In Home Support Program, began with a start-up grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and has been a part of Senior Services since 1998. GIVE is one of 20 programs that make up the Faith In Action Network Collaborative of Michigan. Faith In Action is founded on the ideal of “neighbor helping neighbor” and together with AARP, recruits volunteers from different faiths to help individuals who need assistance with daily living activities.

GIVE offers volunteers 18 and older, the opportunity to provide free assistance to seniors and the disabled, to help them remain independent and in their own home. In 2006, 25 volunteers served 1,360 hours, assisting 27 people.

Links for GIVE - In Home Support Program

   


An In Home Support program of Senior Services, Inc. for Volunteers 18 and older to help seniors and the disabled stay in their own home for as long as possible. 
Companionship: How about visiting a homebound senior and learn what it was like to live 80, 90 years ago? Or play cards, watch TV, look through family albums, or just sit with someone who lives alone. Relive those visits with Grandma.

Shopping Assistance: Do you ever have trouble reading the small print on boxes and canned items at the grocery store? For some, it’s now impossible. Help make a list, read labels, take items off high shelves, carry grocery bags, or assist a shopper in a motorized cart. Even taking items out of the grocery cart and placing them on the conveyer belt is often times a challenge. Help put groceries away; lots of opportunities.

Transportation: Take seniors and the disabled grocery shopping, to the bank, to doctor and dentist appointments, or just go for a “joy ride”. Visit family or friends in nursing homes, bring a woman to get her hair done, or enjoy community events. 

Respite Care: This is an opportunity to give caregivers a break. Family members often welcome a few hours to do errands and just get some “time out”. 

Telephone Reassurance: This is a phone call to a homebound individual to check on their well-being. It is usually made in the morning to make sure they’re ok.

Light Housekeeping: This usually involves dusting, straightening up, and/or vacuuming. 

Yard Work: This includes spring and fall yard clean up, and can be done alone or in collaboration with other community organizations. Get a team together and have fun! 

Meal Preparation: Volunteers provide, help prepare, or enjoy a meal with a homebound individual. This is a real treat for someone who lives alone.

Reading To the Blind: This includes bill-paying assistance, sorting mail, and reading labels found in the household.

You choose what you would like to do and how much time you have to give.


Please Contact

Kathleen Kelleher, GIVE Director, at (269)382-0515 x 127
or email
kkelleher@seniorservices1.org



 
Metlife Foundation Older Volunteers
 Enrich American Awards 2004 Ceremony
 Washington D.C. 3 national winners:
L-R Josephine Cooper, San Diego CA, 
Art Nichols  Kalamazoo MI (GIVE volunteer),
Katherine Schosger, Corning. NY

 Art Nichols, a gourmet cook, joined the GIVE program because it provided him the opportunity to prepare home-cooked meals for homebound seniors. He recently assisted a man who was unable to read or write. The individual, scheduled for knee surgery, was about to lose his home because he was unable to make the mortgage payments. Not only did Art cook his meals and arrange for Meals On Wheels to be delivered, he also sold the individual's house before it was foreclosed. He subsequently got his client out of debt and on a budget. Art truly made in a difference in his life! Shortly after he got out of debt, his client got married and started to volunteer as a Foster Grandparent. Now he and his wife are exemplary volunteers, sharing their talents and encouraging others to volunteer.