Assisting ‘all ages at all stages’

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Not a lot of people know about Middle Alabama Area Agency on Aging, special projects coordinator Jeremy Raines said, but in 2019, they’re hoping more people take advantage of their free and low-cost support resources for seniors and caregivers. 

M4A is a nonprofit organization administered at the state level by the Alabama Department of Senior Services for five counties, including Shelby County. The organization’s representatives screen potential applicants for different resources they might be eligible for, and M4A makes referrals and works to try to help their situation.

M4A Development and Marketing Director Robyn James said the main mission of the nonprofit, which started in 1989, is to “keep people safe in the community,” and if they’re eligible, bring resources to them in their homes. In December 2018, M4A won the annual award for Nonprofit of the Year for Shelby County, as part of the Diamond Awards presented by the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce. 

“Our motto is assisting ‘all ages at all stages.’ Whereas most people look at us at a senior resource center specially for individuals who are over the age of 60 or 65, we really have programs that cover pretty much all aspects and all ages,” Raines said. “… We are kind of like the best-kept secret, that’s what one of my coworkers likes to say.” 

One of the newer senior support programs Raines leads is called the Grandparent and Relative Caregiver Support Group, which meets at the Chelsea Community Center on the second Monday of every month from 10 a.m. to noon. In the last several years, Raines said, they have seen a rise in grandparents having to act as the main caregivers for households of children, which has led some of these caregivers to reach out to M4A for resources.

Even though the bulk of the caregiver support programs focus on assisting individuals who are caring for their parents or elder spouse, Raines said, this new one is about grandparents, older relatives or informal caregivers ages 55 or older who have legal guardianships and care for individuals younger than 18 years old. 

“We really needed to have a support group in place because the need is growing. … Giving that support is important in letting them know they are not alone and letting them just vent,” Raines said. 

Each time the Grandparent and Relative Caregiver Support Group meets, Raines holds an open meeting for caregivers to air their grievances, ask questions and request additional support. Most meetings are casual and relaxed with no agenda, but Raines makes sure participants learn about other M4A resources that they might be eligible for. 

Raines said the group is still small and intimate, but they are looking to add more people. With support groups, Raines said they never anticipate a lot of people showing up, but even making an impact on five to a dozen people is an accomplishment. 

In 2019, Raines said M4A will be implementing more educational trainings at their monthly meeting like the one they did at the end of 2018, which involved a Compact 2020 presentation on how to combat drugs and be proactive in a teenager’s life. 

“[Older caregivers] might not necessarily know about social media or drugs in the school, so bringing in Compact 2020 allowed them to really experience things they needed to look at, be made aware of,” Raines said. 

Another program for Shelby County caretakers, either of children or of seniors with dementia, provides annual vouchers for helping with day-to-day care, James said. It offers funding for home support and hiring a sitter at no cost so they can get a break. For a grandparent with legal responsibility of a child, M4A can provide school supplies, band and sports fees and clothing during the holidays, she added. 

Some of M4A’s other programs include long-term care programs that keep services and individuals in homes or nursing homes; food assistance; a program that helps with medications and works directly with manufacturers to cover costs; certified counselors who work with Medicare plans; and other caregiver assistance programs. 

Another service offered in Shelby County, James said, is “homebound meals,” also called the Elderly Nutrition Program. This program delivers  meals to those who are “very socially isolated,” James said. 

“You might have a grandparent or elderly person who is disabled, and they might need some homebound meals delivered to them,” Raines said.

The county commission pays to make sure there are enough meals available so there isn’t a waiting list for seniors who need food, Raines said, which makes Shelby County the only county in the state without a waiting list. James said they deliver hundreds of meals each week in Chelsea and throughout Shelby County, and M4A even has a full-time nutrition coordinator to make sure everything runs smoothly and the clients are taken care of. 

“These meal programs are important because they get someone they see on a regular basis, and we try to provide training to the delivery drivers on what to look for to make sure they’re OK,” James said. “If they see someone is in need of a wheelchair ramp or something like that, we have some funding set aside for hand rails and those kinds of things to keep them safe in their homes.”

The coordinator makes occasional calls and visits to keep an eye out for financial exploitation or neglect of the seniors who receive free meals. James said they work closely with the Department of Human Resources and first responders to keep seniors safe, including funding medical alert systems for more than 30 people in the Shelby County area who “are really vulnerable and live alone with the risk of falling.”

The next Shelby County Grandparent and Relative Caregiver Support Group will meet April 8. Anyone in Shelby County is eligible to call about M4A resources or homebound meals at 670-5770. 

For more information, go to m4a.org.