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You’ve heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. In the Verde Valley we are fortunate to have a village to take care of us at the other end of our life cycle.
Since its beginning 34 years ago, Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition has grown with the objective to leave no senior isolated in the Verde Valley. This has meant developing collaboration and cooperation with other services from health care to food services and the arts. Examples abound of neighbors referred to our services and VVCC referring its clients to additional resources in the community.
VVCC neighbor, Mila, for example, went to the Sedona Senior Center to sign up for Meals on Wheels. There she learned about VVCC transportation services. However, Mila needed more than just transportation. She had been in an accident and broken her ankle. “It took forever to find a Dr. that could work with the ankle,” Mila explains. She is thankful to VVCC for assisting her in this effort. “I didn’t know what I would do before learning about VVCC,” she says.
Michael, whose stroke left him unable to drive, was referred to VVCC by Northern Arizona Healthcare. Michael says, “Everything has been excellent; I’ve gotten to all my appointments on time. I really want to say thank you. You are such good people.”
VVCC's Care Coordination team evaluates individual needs of each client. VVCC services are identified such as transportation, grocery shopping, handyperson help, medication reconciliation, health management, regular check-in phone calls, or solving daily living challenges. Additional community resources may be needed to help individuals achieve well-being. And VVCC works to fill in the gaps. For example, social outings were launched in 2022 as a remedy to the isolation many older adults in our community experience. This has led to friendships among VVCC neighbors and has exposed them to community centers, libraries, arts and other resources in our vibrant communities.
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