TORONTO — Many seniors are being indirectly affected by the downturn in the economy, says Lorraine Blass of Circle of Care.
Volunteer Michael Landauer delivers Meals on Wheels
“Our clients are typically older, frail people who are living on fixed incomes. They are not in the workforce so they are not affected by layoffs,” said Blass, the agency’s vice-president of community services and partnerships.
They’re being affected because many volunteers and caregivers are being affected and are, therefore, able to help out less.
“We’ve lost volunteers who have had to work more hours or take on part-time jobs. Others step up to help out, but we can always use volunteers, especially for Meals on Wheels.”
Inna Dantchenko, co-ordinator of Circle of Care’s kosher Meals on Wheels program, said that even though grocery prices are going up, the meals are only $7.64, “and that includes soup, main and side dishes, dessert, bread and juice.
“Volunteers deliver the meals, but they do more than drop them and leave. They bring the meal, they shmooze a little, and they’re trained to see if anything is wrong with the client – if they see any changes such as weight loss. They also check that there are no unopened meals in the refrigerator. Sometimes it is the client’s only human contact of the day. It’s not pizza delivery. It’s a visit and a security check.”
Dantchenko said volunteers delivered about 65,000 meals to 700 clients over the past year. “If they find something wrong, or no one answers the door, the volunteers have a strict protocol to follow. There is a lot of volunteer training.”
Meals are delivered Monday to Friday, she said, but there are frozen choices that clients can keep in their freezer for the weekends. “The meals are all prepared at Baycrest, and there is a huge variety. We also cater to our clients’ needs. We can provide for renal diets, gluten-free and diabetic diets, and we can also have the meals pureed if necessary.”
Emmy Gershon of Circle of Care’s transportation department said she also sees clients being indirectly affected by the economy.
“We’ve had an increase in demand, because clients’ children are working more or looking for work and can’t take their parents to appointments.”
She said that the agency recently expanded its transportation route to include downtown hospitals. “Service is now available as far north as Centre Street, and south to Mount Sinai, Princess Margaret, Toronto General, Woman’s College, St. Michael’s and Toronto Western hospitals.”
She said that clients phone for an appointment and are charged “considerably less than a taxi. They are picked up by uniformed drivers – the drivers are not volunteers – who have been trained in first aid and CPR. The drivers come to their door and help clients in and out of the car.”
Transportation costs are subsidized by the Central Local Health Integration Network and the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Gershon said.
She said the agency now operates nine vans and provides 17,000 rides to more than 1,300 clients annually. “We started the downtown service – we get about one or two calls a day for downtown hospitals – because our clients were having difficulty getting to appointments. Their children are unavailable, and taxis are too expensive.”
Blass said Circle of Care has seen an increase in the demand for home-care workers, because many adult children no longer have the time to look after their parents’ needs.
“We’ve found that the caregivers are working longer hours, and have less time to give their parents. This is directly impacting the seniors.”
The agency’s philosophy is to keep people at home and independent as long as possible, she said, “and all our services are geared toward that goal. If people have meals, transportation and home support, that is a big help.”
