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Elder Services marks 30 years
Meet original, recent staff: Shirley Dioli and Jennifer Haven
By Louisa Weeden
As Elder Services celebrates its 30th Anniversary, we thought you might like to meet two of the people who help Berkshire elders remain independent in their own homes.
In 1974, Fred Whitham started a private non-profit organization called Berkshire Home Care to help Berkshire elders continue to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible. In 1975, Pittsfield resident Shirley Dioli was hired as one of Berkshire Home Care’s first case managers. In 1981, Berkshire Home Care was renamed Elder Services of Berkshire County, Inc.
In the past 30 years, many changes have occurred, but Dioli continues to work for the same organization.
Dioli remembered that the office was originally located in what was then the United Way’s Red Feather building, adjacent to the agency’s current address at 66 Wendell Avenue in Pittsfield, where the first staff members shared offices and worked from the same table because no individual desks were available. The agency has grown from three employees in 1974 to its current count of 111. Homemaking help and transportation to doctor’s appointments were the first services to be offered. Services expanded in the first few years to include case management, Meals on Wheels and information and referral. Over the years, programs have been gradually added to these core offerings to accommodate the needs of area elders.
When she came to the agency, Dioli’s children were in junior high; now she is the proud grandmother of five.
Dioli, a licensed social worker, spends 15 to 20 hours a week as Elder Services’ Hospital Liaison at Berkshire Medical Center, speaking with older patients about what their needs might be when they return home. She shared her enjoyment of elders, stating, “They have such a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. I enjoy being able to meet their needs and enable them to remain safely in their own homes. I love being able to help others on a daily basis.”
To illustrate her work, Dioli described an elder living alone in a dark apartment. Dioli repeatedly discussed with her the possibility of moving to elder housing, and the woman finally agreed to give it a try. She moved into a lovely apartment, where the sun shone brightly through the windows. The woman was pleased to discover that many of the people she had known throughout her life were also living in the same apartment complex, and she spent much of her time visiting with them. Dioli was grateful to help the elder make such an uplifting change.
In 1974, the same year Elder Services was started, Jennifer Haven was born. Haven graduated from Cambridge College with a master’s in Counseling Psychology, and joined Elder Services’ staff as a case manager in the summer of 2001.
Haven has been certified as a SHINE (Serving the Health Information Needs of Elders) counselor, allowing her to assist elders with health insurance and health care payment issues, and recently took a training on bipolar disorder and depression in elders. She has a client who is bipolar and was able to apply the training’s insights into helping the client’s daughter cope.
Haven is struck with the fact that over the past 30 years, through many changes, Elder Services’ mission has remained the same --to help elders remain independent as long as possible. She likened the agency to a train - the track is Elder Services’ mission - the train picks up and discharges passengers (staff persons and elders served), but stays on track. Haven said “The mission is foremost. It has remained constant and has been taken on by all who work here in a very sincere way. Faces have changed, people come and go, but despite all the changes, the mission remains.”
Working here has affected Haven’s view of aging. She sees how age is relative - 30 is no longer old to her when she talks with elders who are 90 or 100 years old. Working with elders has underscored for Haven the importance of self care at an early age. She believes that taking care of yourself keeps you independent longer. Seeing elders who’ve been life-long smokers now dependant on oxygen makes her want to show friends who smoke what the consequences are.
Haven feels blessed to have been able to get to know the elders she serves - each one is unique and has brought something new into her life. Haven said “It’s inspiring to discover people with personalities still vibrant and minds still sharp, well into their 90's. I love to talk to them and learn more about what’s important in life.”
Shirley Dioli and Jennifer Haven are just two members of the Elder Services team who daily carry out its mission. Over the next few months of Elder Services’ 30th year, we will introduce you to several more.