Jewish Family Services Help@Home program is having a great problem. Its growth and success has necessitated a need for Help@Home to recruit more volunteers. (See below.)
“It’s been a wonderful program that keeps growing,” said Dawn Herbet, JFS’ director of older adult initiatives. “Just in the last year we’ve added 57 households.”
Help@Home is all part of an initiative that started about three years ago when JFS decided to enhance its programming for older adults. Its first venture was the JET transportation program, which can also trace much of its success to volunteers. A little more than two years ago, in October 2008, Help@Home was launched.
Herbet explained that Help@Home, which was designed following successful program models in Israel and the United States, supports the healthy aging of older adults in their own homes. It does this by providing high quality, dependable home repair services and greater access to a variety of other services which help maintain independence and provide for peace of mind.
In just three years Help@Home has grown to service 88 member households. To join, one must be an adult 65 or older or have a physical or mental disability. The service provides its members the tools and services for them to remain independent, comfortable and in control of their daily lives for as long as they choose to stay in their homes.
Because no one will be denied membership to Help@Home because of financial needs, membership fees are charged on a sliding scale and run $7.50 to $75. Generous grants from funders including the Jewish Heritage Foundation of Greater Kansas City, the Menorah Legacy Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City the Legacy Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation and United Way, also fund the program.
Herbet said JFS uses a very confidential process to determine the member’s fee. The application form is also easy to complete, she said.
The monthly Help@Home fee pays for all labor costs, regardless of how many times a member uses the service.
“You can use us one time, you can use us four times, or you can use us 12 times in a month. There is no additional labor fee. The only additional fee is if we need to buy supplies to do the job,” she said.
Help@Home has a full-time community handyman, Seroj Terian, and an on-call handyman who are available to do minor home repairs and computer troubleshooting. The phone is answered 24 hours a day to handle home emergencies.
Herbet said Help@Home also has a partnership with John Knox Village to offer home-safety assessments. An occupational therapist makes sure members’ homes are safe to help avoid such things as falling and slipping. Following the assessment, Help@Home helps members decide how to handle any modifications. The handymen can take care of minor modifications.
Major modifications will require members to hire a contractor. In that case Herbet said Help@Home has a referral list.
“We have researched them and we are comfortable referring them out to our members,” Herbet said.
One of the reasons the program has grown is because members are happy with it and talk about it to their friends. Members are comfortable calling Help@Home, Herbet said, even if it’s the middle of the night.
“That’s because they know if they don’t know who to call we have somebody on call to answer the phone who they know who can tell them what to do,” she said.
Aaron Rabinovitz is one member who is very satisfied with the Help@Home program. At age 78, he said that he is healthy compared to many of his contemporaries, but sensible enough to know that there are things, such as climbing ladders, that he no longer should do. So while he misses being able to fix anything he wants anytime he wants, he’s glad that Help@Home is there when he needs it.
“There’s certain things that I can’t do anymore that I used to be able to do and it’s awfully nice to be able to call Help@Home and set up an appointment and get some of these things done. The truth of the matter is they have a very fantastic individual who is extremely bright, knowledgeable and a very handy handyman. Besides that, he’s a nice person,” Rabinovitz said.
Rabinovitz said that his children also had issues with him doing certain things around the house, so they are happy with the service as well. Herbet said that’s another plus to Help@Home.
“The program really does give peace of mind to our members’ families. For those who have family members who might not live here or just can’t always get to the house to help their parents, that’s why we’re here. We are someone the loved ones can call,” Herbet said.
Volunteer Mike Woolverton said Help@Home is a great way to help the community and yourself at the same time.
“I’m a great believer in the chesed spirit and I like the opportunity to give back to the community,” Woolverton said.
He was raised in southern Missouri and spent a lot of his childhood around elderly people.
“They watched out for me and took care of me and I swore that once I got old enough I would do something to repay them and this is my way of repaying them,” said Woolverton, who volunteers as a computer technician and teacher. Retired from the U.S. Air Force, he was laid off from his job in 2009 and would like to find a part-time job that would allow him to continue to volunteer. Besides Help@Home he also teaches at the Heritage Center.
Be a volunteer
People who are handy around the house, good with tools or good with computers are being recruited as Help@Home volunteers.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to go into someone’s home and have an impact on their lives,” explains said Dawn Herbet, JFS’ director of older adult initiatives.
JFS is recruiting people who can volunteer as little as one hour a week, or as much as 12 hours. JFS is seeking at least 10 people to supplement the three volunteers currently working with the program.
Volunteers will help the handyman or may do some minor repairs on their own. To learn more about volunteering, contact Adrienne Kizer at (913) 327-8257 or .
