Companions are crucial to local senior citizens

By JAN HOGAN

VIEW STAFF WRITER

Picking up prescriptions. Shopping for weekly groceries. Making sure bills have been paid.

These are the things Lucy McClain makes possible for home-bound seniors. McClain is part of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada's Senior Companion program.

Companions are volunteers aged 60 or older who provide assistance and friendship for seniors who have difficulty with daily living tasks. They are generally assigned five clients and visit each person once a week for a total of 20 hours service.

Currently, there are 145 companions, assisting nearly 700 home-bound seniors. They are paid a small hourly stipend and receive a mileage allowance for driving clients to doctor appoints, get medicine or just out to play bingo. While every case is different, most clients main concerns are...

"It's a toss-up between health issues and money," McClain said. "I have one client who only shops for brand-name foods and drinks Pepsi every day. She runs out of money all the time. I say she has a champagne appetite with a beer income."

Catholic Charities began the program in 1974 and has helped thousands of home-bound seniors since. There is no charge to clients, who qualify by age and their low-income. The organization makes sure both client and companion feel theirs is a good match with follow-up phone calls and visits. They want to make sure both parties are getting along well ... but not too well.

"We've had to caution companions not to give clients their home phone number because it creates problems," said Maria Dent, manager of the program. "Maybe two years will go by without a call, then for some reason, clients call for every little thing, maybe to change a light bulb or something. We've had it escalate to where we had to pull the companion."

Companions are also cautioned about running the vacuum or doing laundry for a client. They aren't there to be housekeepers. The tasks they do perform run the gamut from making sure bills are paid to helping clip coupons. And, of course, they are expected to drive clients to the doctor or grocery store.

Dent said the companions are fingerprinted and screened before hired and undergo a week-long training session covering topics like overall elder care, Alzheimer's disease, abuse awareness, safety and the do's and don't's of handling money. They also get periodic update training. Mostly, the organization wants companions who like to keep busy and being around people. Like Lucy.

"I enjoy it and I hope what I'm doing is something that counts, that makes a difference," McClain said.

In her two years as a companion, McClain has lost a few clients and, each time, attached a ribbon to the office's remembrance wreath. Recently, a diabetic client passed away.

"I visited him in the hospital and knew he was never going home again," she said. "It was hard and I asked for a little time off (before being assigned another person). You get so attached."

Catholic Charities is always looking for more companions. Call 382-0721 for more information.