Untitled Page

Untitled Page

Festival of Friends - MCCC Dinner, Live & Silent Auction

A Sugar Plum Christmas for Seniors in Northeast Tarrant County

View/Download November Connection Newsletter

MCCC Awarded the Tom and Anna Waynette Vandergriff Community Service Award 2007

MCCC Named 2006 Organization of the Year by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

2006 Sponsor List

How can you help?

Transportation
Shopping / Errands
Minor Home Repair
Lawn Maintenance
Housekeeping
Food Distribution

Volunteer Profile Application
Client Intake Record
Volunteer Monthly Time & Mileage Report

Senior Neighbor Testimonials

Contact MCCC by email
For Service Area Covered
Additional Inquiries

Mid Cities Care Corps News

Article publised courtesy of the Star-Telegram - Jan. 8, 2007

Experimental program aims to aid seniors with material needs and relieve their isolation

By PATRICK McGEE
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

HALTOM CITY -- Tony Durham visited 91-year-old twin sisters and asked whether they needed any home repairs.

"I can't believe this. You are special people!" homeowner Esta Lea Ashley said. "I hope that your company prospers every year."

Durham gently reminded her that he is not part of a business.

"We actually are a nonprofit, and we do this to help people," he said.

Ashley and her sister, Para Lea Moore, both widows, are part of an experimental program launched by Mid-Cities Care Corps of Hurst.

The group drew from police, fire, city government, churches and elsewhere to form the Neighborhood Resource Coordination Group, which helps Haltom City seniors who don't have family or friends nearby.

The nine-month pilot project is funded by a $62,500 grant from the United Way of Tarrant County. Corps officials hope that when the project ends, in May, the neighborhood group will have enough volunteers to continue on its own. The corps has a similar, smaller pilot project in Worth Heights, a Fort Worth neighborhood.

Durham and his wife, Mary, visit homes, identify needs and find those who can help. About 100 seniors are now part of the program in Haltom City.

Durham, the corps' director, said visiting seniors is not just an act of kindness but also good public-health policy. He said isolation can lead to depression, which can exacerbate health problems.

Don Smith, director of the Area Agency on Aging, which is part of the United Way-Northeast, said 1 in 5 seniors said they felt lonely or alone at least some of the time in a 2005 United Way survey of 4,700 Tarrant County households.

Durham hopes that the coordinated outreach to seniors will spread to neighboring cities. The number of people 65 or older in Tarrant County is expected to go from about 136,000 in 2007 to nearly 319,000 in 2027, according to the Texas State Data Center.

"There's just not going to be enough resources to take care of older adults in the future," Smith said. "It's going to take neighborhoods organizing to meet those needs."

The Durhams' visits are patient and friendly but aimed at identifying ways to help.

The Durhams stayed with the twins for about 45 minutes in December, marveling at their quilt work, looking at old photos and hearing their stories about growing up on a West Texas farm. The sisters said that they did not need any home repairs -- but that they loved the visit.

"We just want to thank you over and over again," Ashley said.

"You don't have to thank us at all," Durham said. "We so love working with you."

HOW TO HELP

Mid-Cities Care Corps officials need volunteers to drive people to doctors' appointments, visit homes, make minor home repairs and do yard work, office work and other tasks.

Information: 817-282-0531

Send donations to Mid-Cities Care Corps, 745 W. Pipeline Road, Hurst, TX 76053.


Call Mid-Cities Care Corps to share your blessings: 817/282-0531