Visiting Nurse Home Care Announces $2,500 Grant from Whatcom Community Foundation for Friendly Visitors Program
Left to right, Dr. Brenda-Lee Karasik, WCF Board Member, Janie Pemble, Director of Friendly Visitors, Mary Baldwin, Interim Executive Director of VNHC
Bellingham WA, June 2011, Visiting Nurse Home Care, a non-profit home care agency, announced that they have received a $2,500 grant from Whatcom Community Foundation.
Visiting Nurse Home Care was one of 26 local organizations that received a grant from Whatcom Community Foundation at an award event on May 9th. The funds will support Visiting Nurse Home Care’s Friendly Visitors program.
Thanks to Whatcom Community Foundation, Friendly Visitors will continue to match isolated seniors with caring volunteers for meaningful human connections, as well as provide a way for the members of “the Greatest Generation” to share their wisdom and experience back to the community which they have helped to build.
The grant will be used to provide our Friendly Visitor volunteers with the knowledge they need to develop and maintain a one-to-one healthy relationship with an isolated senior. The training focuses on aging issues and topics on communication, boundaries, and confidentiality.
Janie Pemble, Director of Friendly Visitors offered: “We are so thrilled to receive the endorsement and vote of confidence from Whatcom Community Foundation. We view this grant as a voice of support for the Friendly Visitors Program; the compassionate volunteers who are offering their time and hearts, and the many seniors who are struggling to remain independent and connected in these changing times.”
Visiting Nurse Home Care provides services and programs to help vulnerable elders and people with disabilities stay safe, healthy and independent in their own homes, including home care, nursing, and Friendly Visitors, a volunteer program matching isolated or lonely seniors with trained volunteers. Friendly Visitors offers its services at no charge to participants and depend fully on donations from individuals and local businesses who care about seniors in our community. To donate go to www.vnhomecare.org
Go to Northwest Business Monthly magazine article
St. Joseph Catering wins 'In Good Taste' Benefit Fundraiser
JULIE SHIRLEY - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD – February 25, 2011
St. Joseph Hospital Catering won Visiting Nurse Home Care's "In Good Taste" fundraiser, which challenged local caterers to prepare an appetizer for at least 200 people on a budget of $200 or less.
Kelly's O'Deli, Book Fare Café and St. Joseph catering took on the challenge. More than 200 people sampled each dish and voted for their favorite offering. The winning dish from St. Joseph was a sesame-crusted chicken breast with mango cilantro slaw and chili lime crème.
The annual event featured a silent auction and a frugal fashion show sponsored by Labels Consignment Store and Ahead of the Curve Style Consultants, with modeling by Visiting Nurse Home Care employees and friends.
Visiting Nurse Home Care is a nonprofit agency that provides services and programs to help vulnerable elders and people with disabilities stay safe, healthy and independent in their own homes, including home care, nursing, and Friendly Visitors, a volunteer program matching isolated or lonely seniors with trained volunteers.
Check out our pictures of the In Good Taste Fashion Show at our Facebook page:
State Budget Cuts Could Decimate Home Care As We Know It
The issue: Aging and Disabilities Service Administration has made a misguided recommendation in response to the Governor’s directive to immediately reduce expenditures in all departments of government.
ADSA’s proposal to transfer the care of 6000 elderly and vulnerable clients from supervised agency homecare providers (AP) to independent providers (IP) is disastrous in so many ways, including:
- the premise that the clients chosen to be “moved” have the capacity to manage all aspects of their care is founded not in fact, but in a tool based on a numerical algorithm and subjective judgment – and this on a visit of 1-2 hours on one particular day.
- with independent providers, clients would be expected to manage all aspects of their care: scheduling, providing oversight/supervision, advocating for themselves, directing tasks, maintaining professional boundaries, and finding their own substitutes or go without care in the absence of their IP. This is particularly risky with mentally ill people who are variable in this capacity.
- case managers who conduct the care assessment are already overwhelmed with caseloads; they simply do not have the time or resources to manage a majority of clients with IP’s. And there are more and more people needing home care every day.
- when there is a problem with an independent provider, there is no one to immediately problem solve, report abuse, and remedy the situation – leaving the State liable for damages.
- IP’s are not accountable for hours worked. Agency providers use electronic time-keeping. IP’s consistently say they provide 100% of hours authorized (with no verification necessary). Agencies consistently provide 80-85% of hours authorized with no effect on outcomes of care. This is an accurate number based on verifiable fact.
- agency providers are screened, trained, and overseen by dedicated professionals who are knowledgeable about relevant WAC’s and who focus on clients’ care plans, customer service, supervision and evaluation. They perform joint visits to see the AP in the client’s home and they themselves are subject to quality assurance scrutiny by managers.
- if this switch is made, dozens – if not all – home care business, both profit and nonprofit, will likely perish because they already operate so close to the bone:
- Visiting Nurse Home Care, a member of our business and social service community for over 25 years will no longer exist if it loses even as little as 15% of its clients (our initial projections put the loss at over 50%)
- in Whatcom, Skagit, and Island Counties alone, over 200 people will become jobless
- clients needing a higher level of care will be in danger of long term care placement – which is antithetical to the reason the COPES program was created in the first place.
Some of the major issues are stated above – but I’m aware that just stating the issues does not solve the State’s budget problems. Home Care agencies across the state have formulated some innovative solutions and are working to present them to ADSA and others.
In the meantime, the projected shifts in care are slated to begin November 1. Concerned citizens can:
Call the Governor’s hotline at 1-360-902-4111 today!
And/or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 today!
Volunteer Program Serving Seniors Finds New Sponsor
Bellingham, September 2010: Visiting Nurse Home Care, a non-profit home care / home health agency, has recently become the sponsoring organization for Friendly Visitors, a program that matches lonely and isolation seniors throughout Whatcom County with screened, trained and caring volunteers.
Interfaith Coalition was Friendly Visitors previous sponsor for the last 5 years with support from local and regional entities. In late 2009, the Coalition began looking for an organization that focused on seniors to take on responsibility for the program. This summer, the Board of Directors of Visiting Nurse Home Care approved the adoption of Friendly Visitors because it did so closely align with its mission and vision to help people stay safe, independent and health in their own homes.
Interfaith Coalition continues to support Friendly Visitors while additional funding is being sought to firmly sustain the program. Grant writing and fundraising efforts by Visiting Nurse Home Care are currently under way but local and regional entities have already stepped forward to help:
- Puget Sound Energy awarded $3000
- United Way of Whatcom County allocated $2700 from their campaign
- WECU contributed $1000
- St James Presbyterian Church continues to offer an in-kind donation of office and meeting space
Find information on Friendly Visitors, refer a senior in need of a friend, or volunteer to become a Friendly Visitor by contacting Program Coordinator Janie Pemble at 756-5179 or janiep@friendlyvisitors.org
Visiting Nurse Home Care Helps Seniors to Continue to Live Independently with the Philips Lifeline Medical Alert Service
Bellingham WA, Dec 5, 2009 Visiting Nurse Home Care has been providing health care services to Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties for over 25 years and providing Emergency Response services for 7 years. Each holiday season they find that while the holidays are a festive time of year, it is also a stressful time. Families get together during the holidays and realize that their senior loved ones could use additional support and know they can’t always be there to provide it for them. The Lifeline Service can be a gift of lasting value for caregivers to give to their loved ones who want to continue living independently.
Lifeline is a simple wireless device worn as a pendent or a wristband that allows the wearer to summon help at the push of a button, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In the case of an emergency such as a fall, the subscriber pushes the button activating the CarePartner Communicator, which connects to a trained response associate, who quickly assesses the profile and dispatches assistance. On average, one of every three adults over age 65 falls each year, making falls the most common cause of death or injury in the home—creating real concern for seniors and their loved ones. The Lifeline service gives elders living alone, family members and caregivers’ increased peace of mind not only during the holidays but everyday of the year.
“We are very proud of the service we provide our elders, which helps them continue living in the homes they love. We are especially driven during this holiday season to help more at-risk elders remain independent, so that they can share in the festivities with their family and friends in the homes that they love”, says Terri Briant Booth, Executive Director of Visiting Nurse Home Care.”Holidays should be a time for celebration, not worry.”
About Philips Lifeline
Part of Philips Home Healthcare Solutions, Philips Lifeline is the leading medical alert service, dedicated to helping give seniors more confidence and peace of mind to live independently in their own homes. The Lifeline service is offered by more than 3,000 healthcare and community organizations and provides services to more than 700,000 subscribers.
Visiting Nurse Home Care Values Their Employees!
Visiting Nurse Home Care is proud to recognize its Home Care Aides and administrative staff for their years of service to the nonprofit charitable organization. Founded in 1984 Visiting Nurse Home Care helps people live at home in Whatcom, Skagit and Island Counties by providing homemaking and nursing services. Home Care Aides, now represented by OPEIU Local 8, work directly with seniors and people with disabilities to ensure their clients' independence, safety and wellness. Employees were recognized for 2, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years of service.
For 2009 we recognized:
Two year employees ~ 38
Five year employees ~ 30
Ten year employees ~ 13
Fifteen year employees ~ 11
Twenty year employees ~ 3
Bellingham Herald, July 20,2008
Bellingham woman finds love and hope in an abandoned land
Terri Briant Booth of Bellingham meets with a senior at the hot lunch program in Chisinau. Moldava. Booth visited the former Soviet Union nation in April as part of a group working with a church. "It was a story of love," she says. "The whole experience we had shows what a little love can do.". Full Story
Visiting Nurse Home Care is now a Lifeline Provider
Bellingham, Washington, May 2008 – A quick response can mean the difference between life and death in the case of a stroke. Visiting Nurse Home Care, a regional nonprofit home care services agency, is proud to announce a partnership with Philips Lifeline to provide seniors throughout the community this system that saves lives. Lifeline, the leading provider of Personal Response Services, ensures that older adults living at home receive immediate assistance in the case of a stroke or other medical emergency.
Lifeline gives people the peace of mind knowing that immediate assistance is available 24-hours a day, 365-days a year. By simply pressing an attractive waterproof button that can be worn either around the neck or wrist, help can be summoned at anytime of day or night. All calls are answered by caring monitors who are extensively trained in a variety of topics related to the aging process.
Lifeline Systems, Personal Response Service, was founded in 1974 by a husband-and-wife team of gerontologists - Dr. Andrew S. and Susan Dibner. Today, including Visiting Nurse Home Care the company supports over 2,500 partners and more than 350,000 elders from its Massachusetts operations.
To learn more about the Lifeline service, call Visiting Nurse Home Care in Bellingham at 360-734-9662 or in Mount Vernon at 360-416-0343.
VNHC DIRECTOR WINS AWARD October 2006 Full story
Visiting Nurse Home Care Home Care Workers in Bellingham Sign First Union Contract June 2006
VNPS Executive Director Terri Briant Both and Human Resources Director Julie Barcus along with union team members Kathy Davis, Roger Hutchens and Joy Kirk signed their first OPEIU Local 8 contract. Other team members not at signing: Beverley David, Sandi Kramer, Mary Morby, Dalene Robinson, Mary Jo Dalzell, Susie Ferguson, Valerie Frazier and Union Representatives Cindy Schu and Benita Hyder.
Positive and collaborative characterized negotiations at VNPS. Both parties worked hard toward the common goal of securing a contract with union standards to assure quality car for the frail and elderly clients and a decent economic package for the caregivers who provide these vital services. VNPS caregivers won improvements to their health benefits, wages, paid time off, holiday pay and mileage reimbursement.
Article in Local 8 OPEIU Journal Vol.21, No.6 , June 2006 issue |
