ShareCare provides a lifeline for Leelanau seniors
From staff reports
Empire residents Reuben and Mary Ann Chapman benefit greatly from ShareCare, a nonprofit that links Leelanau County seniors to the services they need to live independently and well. Rueben, who lives with Parkinson’s disease, gets rides about once a month to doctors in Traverse City. Mary Ann drives him for the major appointments to learn what he needs, but ShareCare helps with the routine visits.
“Our life has changed considerably because of Reuben having Parkinson’s,” she said. “There’s no way we could have done this ourselves. ShareCare gives me relief. Not only are the drivers wonderfully friendly, it gives me a chance to do other things. They come to the house, they take him to an appointment, they wait and bring him back home.”
Reuben also says he enjoys the excursions. “I had the most fun on a ride with a driver who was a piano technician who could build his own piano. I used to play piano, and I didn’t know there were such people in Leelanau County.”
“Our goal is to stay here in our house until we conk out,” says Mary Ann. “ShareCare helps us do that.”
In Glen Arbor, sisters Cookie and Becky Thatcher use ShareCare to provide daily in-home care for their father, Kenneth, who is 96 and blind.
“Dad pretty much stays at home all the time,” says Cookie. “No one, two or three people can handle Dad all seven days a week. ShareCare builds a team so that someone is always there between 9 am and 2 pm, gets him up and going for the day and gives him breakfast.”
“Even though they are their own contractors, ShareCare provides a level of confidence and security because that person has been through a background check.”
Cookie asks each caregiver to either converse with Kenneth or read to him. “There are people like Peg at The Homestead who comes every Thursday and reads the Enterprise(and sometimes the Glen Arbor Sun) to him. … Dad’s really interested in architecture and organic gardening and canning. He comes up with too many good ideas for things Becky and I could be doing!”
ShareCare’s workers and volunteers also take great joy in helping Leelanau’s senior citizens.
Traverse City resident Jeff Mugerian, 57, does both contract work such as at-home care, house and yard work, and driving clients to medical appointments, as well as volunteer work a few days each month.
“There are very few men in the industry, this is female-dominated work,” said Mugerian. “For many older gentlemen who need a hand, there’s a degree of comfort having another man in the house.”
“Most of the volunteers are retirees with great backgrounds and just want to give back to community,” he added.
Some residents who’ve been helped by ShareCare in the past choose to pay it forward.
Darlene Doorlag lost her husband Robert six years ago to ALS. During the end of his life, ShareCare helped with a wheelchair and meals once a week since Darlene didn’t have time to cook.
These days she raises money for ShareCare and plans to volunteer at the upcoming Leelanau Road Rally, an annual benefit to support this important nonprofit.
The Road Rally takes place in Lake Leelanau at 10:30 am on Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Connie Binsfeld Building, 7401 E. Duck Lake Rd. The cost is $25 per person. Registration is required. For more information visit ShareCareLeelanau.org or Facebook.com/ShareCareLeelanau.
