To Contact Us
Write:
PO Box 1603
Lafayette, IN 47902
Phone:
(765) 742-2050
Fax:
(765) 742-7513
E-mail
our office
Buy, Sell, Trade or Rent with Classified Advertising
Happening ... in the Local Church
 Sister
Veronica Baumgartner, CSJ, right, founded Caregiver Companion in
Lafayette in February 1995. Jamie Vonderahe, left, is coordinator for
volunteers and families in the Tipton area. (Photo provided) |
By Caroline B. Mooney
The
Catholic Moment
TIPTON — Many older people need help, and so do their caregivers.
Caregiver Companion is there.
“Society
as a whole is aging,” said Jamie Vonderahe, Caregiver Companion coordinator
for volunteers and families in the Tipton area. “It’s a part of life.”
A volunteer organization sponsored by the Congregation of St. Joseph, its mission is to assist those who care for the sick, frail and disabled, and help the ill, frail and disabled remain in their homes.
Sister Veronica Baumgartner, CSJ, said she founded the group in February 1995 after her community started taking people in to relieve caregivers.
“We as the Sisters of St. Joseph are called to meet the needs of the others, and these are the needs that I recognized and I didn’t believe they were being met,” Sister Veronica said. “I wanted to use my gifts for something that would be of benefit.
“I had the passion for it,” she said. “When you look at the history of our congregation and how they began schools and hospitals, it was all through a passion for people. God gifts us with certain things, and you have to have some knowledge. I wasn’t bashful about getting help in areas that I didn’t know. I had a lot of help and the support of my community.”
Caregiver Companion began service in Tippecanoe County with initial funding from the Sisters of St. Joseph in Tipton, support from the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Lafayette, and donated office space from St. Ann Parish, Lafayette. Helen Klemme and Marilynn McTague now coordinate the office that has 90 volunteers plus Purdue University students, serving 100 clients.
In 2003, Caregiver Companion opened an office in Tipton. It is working on expansion in nearby Elwood.
Tipton has 37 volunteers serving 36 families, and two volunteers serving two families in Elwood. Ultimately, Vonderahe, who began work with Caregiver Companion in July 2007, would like to have 40 volunteers in Elwood.
“There is a need for this everywhere,” she said. “We try to pick up where every other agency leaves off. We don’t duplicate services. We are trying to fill in all the cracks. We do practical assistance: visit with people, sweep and dust, run errands, do laundry, small repairs and form relationships with people.
“Once I get a large enough volunteer base, the local hospital can start referring to us,” Vonderahe said. “I know that finding a volunteer base is all in God’s time. The most awesome thing about being a volunteer is people choose what they want to do. Some might only volunteer once a month, some want to every week, or half a day at a time. It’s all tailored to what a person wants to do.”
Referrals for Caregiver Companion clients come from hospital discharge planners, social service agencies and word-of-mouth.
Clients are called “neighbors” because “one of the goals of Caregiver Companion is to unite everyone as one, and we are all neighbors,” Vonderahe said.
Neighbors don’t often call for assistance for themselves.
“It’s not easy to ask for help,” she said. “It makes people feel less independent. But our volunteers want to do this. They want to meet people, help them, and be a part of their life because that’s what they are passionate about; that’s what interests them. How much more amazing a relationship can you form than that? These are people who become family. So, it’s a two-way street. People don’t always know where to go and live out their faith — we provide a very easy way for people to do that.
“Think how much different everybody would be if they started out their young life volunteering and their lives being touched,” Vonderahe said. “I have met some amazing people, both volunteers and neighbors. I know they were dropped right out of heaven and I got a job working with them.”
Caregiver Companion helps one 72-year-old woman who has been caregiver to her son for 30 years. A car accident left him in a coma for 20 years, and now he is able to communicate with his eyes and facial expressions. After hearing about Caregiver Companion, the woman called the Tipton office for help.
“My son likes to be read to and his volunteer does that,” she said. “I thought it was nice that Caregiver Companion sent a man because my son is surrounded by women. I think a male voice is good for him to hear. They are going to watch sports together, too.
“I was able to take a nap while his volunteer was here and that was nice,” she said. “I’ve also had another Caregiver Companion volunteer who used to come here to do handyman work for me. I am really pleased with the program. It’s really a blessing for me, and the volunteers say it’s a blessing for them.”
Helen Hoffbeck, a member of St. John the Baptist Church, Tipton, has volunteered with Caregiver Companion since its inception there. A nurse, she run errands, sets up medications, takes people to doctor appointments — whatever is needed.
“I get a lot of satisfaction helping people and being able to help people,” she said. “It has filled a need since I retired. The program is very much needed. It helps a lot of people in ways where they don’t get help from family or have no family in the vicinity. Even if we are just sitting and visiting with someone in a house — these people are so lonely. There are little things we can do to make people more comfortable. It’s very satisfying, because people are so grateful.”
“This is an interfaith volunteer program,” Sister Veronica said. “Although we don’t proselytize, we do have an effect because people see us living out the Gospel. And I know people have been affected and think better of the Catholic faith because of our presence with them.
“When you go into homes,” she said, “people are in a position in their life where they are facing death, and some of them imminent death, so they know the importance of God in their lives and they want to talk about it. It gives opportunities, not to push a certain religion, but to help them seek God in their way.”
Caregiver Companion’s funding is mainly through grants, with some individual, foundation and volunteer donations.
For health reasons, Sister Veronica has given up day-to-day office work, but still does all the grant writing.
“It is something I enjoy and I’m fairly good at,” she said. “I’m not always successful, but we have kept ourselves afloat. It’s a challenge. You can’t do the ministry without the finances. Our yearly budget is about $105,000. That’s three salaries, phones, Internet usage, supplies and office space. We are blessed to have St. Ann’s contribute office space — it’s a godsend. Tipton is about to move to a larger office space, thanks to Kemp United Methodist Church.
“If our ministry is true, and if it speaks, people will contribute,” she said. “If this ministry is of God, God will find a way.”
Anyone interested in volunteering or making a donation can contact the Lafayette office at 765-423-1879, email: compan@verizon.net; or the Tipton office at 765-675-1863, e-mail: caregive@tiptontel.com.