Bladen Blessed searching for volunteer care team members

ELIZABETHTOWN – There is a mighty work to do in Bladen County and as there are more and more elderly surviving older age, the workers are few. That being said, Bladen Blessed is a brand-new grassroots organization that wholeheartedly agrees that there is much work to do and there’s a place for you to fit into the solution to some of the problems.

“Bladen Blessed started as a program with Grace United Methodist Church,” Sharon Natale, Bladen Blessed organizer said.

Although the organization began earlier this year, the new development is the creation of care teams composed of two person volunteers that will go forth to help out where programs like Meals on Wheels and Home health care does not reach.

“Bladen Blessed is organizing care teams,” Natale said. “These teams will go forth and visit people in their homes. That was one of the things we had initially wanted to do besides the lunch and learns which have been very successful.”

The lunch and learn programs have been averaging 30-35 people per session and the information that has been given has been invaluable to the senior community.

“We had the idea that we could develop care teams where two people would team up to go visit people that were house bound, shut-ins or people that were at risk,” she said. “They would do things like visit and at holidays send cards, make doctors appointments, run errands such as having their medications picked up or help them order groceries or pick them up and things like that.”

The care teams would not administer medications, administer health care or baths or deliver meals such as the meals on wheels programs.

The group has scheduled two different dates to help train those who wish to be a part of the care teams. There will be a choice as to whether they want to participate Nov. 19 from 2-4 p.m. or Nov. 23 from 9-11 a.m. The training sessions will be conducted at the Bladen County Public Library.

The group is welcoming anyone who has a desire to serve and to be a part of this new community ministry. If you have any questions, you can call 910-874-5110.

Robbie Crib is the woman who will be conducting the training. She is a trainer for the volunteers for the Lower Cape Fear LifeCare.

This seems like a monumental task in seeking a startup of this nature, but Natale said that they are hoping to piggyback off Grace United Methodist Church’s “Sandwich Saturdays” success and begin to visit some of those people.

A small idea that started through a program through the Methodist Church has begun a quest to be a great vision and outreach for Bladen County.

“Once we have the training and see how many people we’re going to have, I will contact the Center for Aging who may know people who are wanting visits,” she said. “There also may be those who don’t qualify for other programs, so that may be an area we can investigate and help with.”

The beautiful thing is that it is absolutely a free service to community members with no qualifications or requirements. Natale said that they can also go into the homes and find out if there are other needs that can be referred to other community organizations such as a phone not working, needing a handicap ramp or finding someone without food or in need of medical care.

They become the eyes of the elderly community helping to meet the needs of people who may feel too embarrassed to ask for help. Natale said that it’s not a handout, but a hand-up.

“The Rural Center, which is not affiliated with the United Methodist Church, close to Raleigh granted us a grant,” Pastor Mark Gustafson, of Grace United Methodist Church said. “It was for $10K through their Connect program in which we spent time and there was a group working on how we could best connect to the community.”

This was a nine-month program, according to Natale and when it was finished, the group had written a grant.

“It’s a learning program,” Natale said. “Where they talk about what you think is good for your community and what your community needs. But looking at it not from a charity work standpoint. More of how do we meet the needs without what they call a ‘toxic charity.’”

In the program, Natale and her group interviewed people in the community to see what they thought was needed. They also looked at the local church’s strengths.

“One of the things that we got the grant for was called ‘Bladen Blessed,’ because we wanted to be more than just one church,” Natale said. “Grace United Methodist Church was the church that got the grant, but the whole concept was to have a united church community involved in the program.”

The group is trying to involve people from other churches within the community with the idea that it’s not just going to be a one-church effort, but more of a community partnership, according to Natlale.

“In addition to the churches, we are reaching out to the health department, and to other service groups and agencies within the community,” Gustafson said.

The group has contacted local senior center and has also reached out to the agriculture extension office because we may use one of their meeting rooms for the gatherings including the “Lunch and Learn” meetings that Bladen Blessed is hosting each month.

As for the grant, Natale said that the grant wanted for focus on “at-risk” people in the community.

“What we mean by that is seeking out the people in our community who are infirmed, elderly and shut-in,” Natale said. “We hope to be able to provide them with education and access to health care services as well as addressing some of those needs with the addition of care teams.”

The group took into account the enormity of the vision when they looked at the size of the county and how sparsely populated it was.

“There’s so many people that are unable to move around or get out of their house to get help,” Natale said. “The idea is that we can through this community unified group create these care teams that will be aware of people and what their needs are. It may be just a visit. It may be calling the care team pick up their groceries for them or possibly to go and pick up medicines at the pharmacy.”

Gustafson mentioned that meeting the needs could go all the way into medical supplies or possibly even locating a hospital bed. The group has been developing a medical lending library for things that patients may need, but cannot afford, such as walkers and crutches.

“If they need other supplies, like under-pads for beds or pullups for incontinency, we are hoping to get those for them,” she said. “The population according to the U.S. census is 29,484 people. We do hope that Bladen-Blessed can offer support and care to not only the folks over 65 but also the people who are in other high-risk groups.”

Statistics for Bladen County and the need that is facing the community:

• · People in poverty 18.5%
• · Over 65 years if age 24%
• · People with disabilities under 65 9.4%
• · People under 65 without health insurance 14.5%

The group is still setting boundaries and setting up a network that will cause those without a voice in the community to be able to speak. It is a group that is set on drawing community together with the idea that many hands make light work, and it truly does take a community to raise a family.

The next Lunch and Learn hosted by Bladen Blessed will be in November with a date to be determined and the topic will be, “Is it Alzheimer’s or just old age?”

If you plan to attend the Lunch and Learn or perhaps want to get on board this new and powerful ministry in the community, please phone 910-874-5110. There is work to do… and there’s a place for you.