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Help for helpers: New fund for caregivers
By Jeanne B. Siegel, Elder Services Planner
A new fund has been created to help those who are providing care to an elder. Elder Services of Berkshire County, working closely with local Councils on Aging (COA), is seeking to bring the Family Caregiver Program to the public by offering a new COA Caregiver Support Fund, which provides funding to individual caregivers.
This one-time fund created with Older Americans Act monies is available for a variety of support services including: transportation to appointments so caregivers do not have to take time off from work; providing home adaptive devices that make caring for someone at home more manageable; payments for someone to stay with the elder needing care so the caregiver can attend a support group or a training program; and even payment for overnight care at a residential facility, such as an assisted living setting to provide cargiver relief. The fund will be responsive to caregiver needs as they arise.
While the word “caregiver” cannot be found in Webster’s New World Dictionary, it has become well recognized that informal support by “caregivers” in America people do not realize that they are “caregivers” even though they provide a large share of the care for an elder.
An acquaintance told me how hard it was for her, an only child, to provide care for her mother during the last five years of her life. My friend did not label herself a “caregiver,” nor did it occur to her that there might be programs and services that would provide support. Yet, she would have been eligible for, and have benefited from, the Family Caregiver Support Program.
Being a family caregiver is both rewarding and demanding. If you are providing care and want more information about the new Caregiver Support Fund, call your local Council on Aging or call Bea Cowlin, Elder Services Caregiver Liaison, at 1-800-544-5242 or 499-0524, ext 113.