Family Caregivers Center looks to add volunteers, services

CEDAR RAPIDS - With its inaugural year drawing to a close, leaders of the Family Caregivers Center of Mercy say they're hoping to grow the number of volunteers and expand services in 2017.

The center offers free, comprehensive resources and help to those caring for loved ones. It's open to the entire community, not just for those who receive medical care at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids.

Kathy Good, the center's director, along with Mercy Medical Center President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Charles, spoke to The Gazette Editorial Board last week about the center's first year.

There are more than 44,500 family caregivers in Eastern Iowa who are looking after aging parents, spouses with chronic conditions or children with disabilities. These caregivers perform medical tasks, provide transportation to medical appointments, cook meals and manage finances, among many other duties.

And while they certainly care for their family members out of love, the job can be tough and often isolating.

That's where the caregivers center steps in to help. Across from Mercy's main campus, the center has rooms for different therapies like art and music, a resource library, areas for caregivers to meet with volunteers, a multipurpose room for educational sessions and a massage therapy room.

In its first year of operation, volunteers have helped more than 300 caregivers - far surpassing its initial goal of 150.

The Mercy Medical Center Foundation has worked to raise more than $2.5 million to put toward resources like respite care. That's an important component, Charles said, because there is no way for the hospital to bill insurers for services given.

The center is also constantly assessing new needs, Good said.

A 24-hour care line was implemented so caregivers can call any time with questions and concerns. Calls are answered by the local not-for-profit Foundation 2.

Good worked with experts to develop a workshop for caregivers who are transitioning out of that role after their loved ones have died. Chair massages were so successful the one time they were offered that Good decided to make it a monthly occurrence.

'We've done a few pivots and may have to do a few more, but that's OK because what we want is a program that meets caregivers needs,” Good said.

That mind-set will certainly continue into 2017, Good said, as the center works to recruit 150 volunteers and pilot a program that will offer volunteer companion respite care - volunteers can sit with the loved one while a caregiver runs an errand or takes a nap. It also wants to add a service where caregivers can find volunteers to help do tasks, such as shoveling the walk.

It's also there to offer emotional support. The center added a monthly coffee for male caregivers after a caregiving coach pointed out that men deal with things differently than women.

That emotional support has been a lifeline for Karen Dennis. She cares for her husband, who has early-stage dementia. She said she has learned to be more positive and proactive.

'There are certain things in our life that he has always done, but we now do together - simple things like changing the furnace,” she said.

l Comments: (319) 398-8331; chelsea.keenan@thegazette.com