"I have cared for my uncle a year and a half. He is in poor health with COPD and only thirty percent of his heart working. I also care for my paralyzed son and his child. I have my mom who is eighty." - Phyl
Dear friend of Family Caregiver Alliance,
Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) works to improve the quality of life for family caregivers like Phyl and for those who receive their care. This year we have all experienced the pressures brought on by COVID-19: closed services, personal safety protocols, more isolation and working from home. FCA contacted close to 800 families to check if basic needs were being met, curated COVID information tailored to care issues, created educational and at-home activities programs and worked with counties to get current service information. We offered more wellness and support programming and worked quickly to adjust our contracts to respond to emergency needs voiced by families.
The sidebar shows what we have accomplished with the support of our community this past fiscal year.
At the same time, FCA continues to bring the needs of caregivers to the attention of our city, state and federal legislators and to the healthcare and social services communities. This year we expanded statewide the use of CareNav, our simple, user-friendly tool designed to help families navigate the complexities of the caregiving journey.
While social distancing orders are in place, our in-person events like Camp for Caring and Respite Retreats are on hold. But other services your donations support continue, including:
New and translated caregiver Fact and Tip sheets in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Korean to meet the language needs of our diverse Bay Area community
Classes, Webinars and Videos, covering a wide range of topics of special interest to caregivers, especially those activities at home programs and wellness classes
"My husband has had two spinal cord surgeries and he was paralyzed so I had to take over everything at first. Helping him dress, bathing, making meals doing everything that needed to be done in the home as well. A friend told me about Family Alliance and I was so happy to find out that I could get some help with counseling for caregivers. and if I need to have people come in and sit with my husband to allow me time away." - Barbara
If you can, please take a moment this holiday season to support caregivers like Phyl and Barbara who give so much of themselves under such difficult circumstances.
To caregivers and donors—Thanks for all you do!!
Kathy Kelly and the Board and Staff of FCA
P.S. Be sure to visit our website at https://caregiver.org to learn more about what we can provide for you and the caregivers you know.
