DARLINGTON (THE MONROE TIMES), June 18, 2005:
Seniors are the fasting-growing population in Lafayette County, family living eductor Betty Gleason, University of Wisconsin explained Thursday to a group of mainly Home and Community Education members..
She said more than 120 people participated last June when she invited doctors Kim and Gail Peterson - nationally known experts in the field of aging - to present a program on the brain, learning and memory called "Use or Lose It: Mental Aerobics to Keep your Mind Fit."
Gleason said she wanted to do more for seniors, and that's when she met Wesley Rindahl of Wiota. After meeting with him, they came up with their mission statement: "The Helping Hearts program is intended to make a difference in people's lives by giving them an opportunity to help others."
In charge of 1,000 seniors in five local communities in Illinois and Spokane, Wash., Rindahl has worked with seniors 35 years as an administrator, CEO and president and is a certified member and fellow of American College and Health Care Administrators.
He explained his philosophies, quoting the book of Proverbs and saying that without a vision the people perish. Not only do people need food, shelter and clothing, he said, but they need a purpose.
He said seniors suffer so much grief and so many losses. These losses just keep on accumulating and are caused first when a person retires. "The day you retire, you lose your identity, social contacts and creative reward for it.
"Then you may lose a spouse, or your driver's license, you read obits in the newspaper to see if your friends have passed away. You may lose your home. You can't read, hear and run around the block like you used to."
Sometimes all of this accumulating grief, anger, denial and bargaining is too much to handle, he said. The physical result is dementia, Rindahl said, which many mistakenly call Alzheimer's.
Lost spouses or friends can't be restored, he said, but lost purpose of life can be restored.
He explained project "PEP," a 10-year program which has received national recognition and helps seniors by putting purpose back into their lives.
When seniors get together and find activities they enjoy doing, they begin to get excited. They begin to get organized to form groups of their own, whether it's a craft or teaching English as a second language, then they can even make money at it.
He said some in the organization found themselves without money but the organization has vowed to take care of all of its members and uses any money it can earn to support that person.
Eleanore Rindahl, Wesley's wife, explained about a woman in her care when she was a nurse. The facility she was at had no activities.
"I took this lady and we made bread," said said. "As soon as she got in the kitchen to bake bread, the dementia was gone. She remembered her name, and where she was from, then when she left the room, her dementia came back.
"Life is a circle. When we were a baby we needed to be taken care of. We reached out a finger to grasp for our social interaction. Now seniors need to be taken care of. We need to help and be part of a family. Everyone needs to be needed, even if it's just encouragement. We need to give our people a purpose to live."
Gleason explained the Plant a Plant parties is the beginning of how the community can begin to reach out to seniors by getting to know them.
Carol Benson, director of the Aging Resource Center, and Mary Ann Kowalski, director of the Housing Authority, both said they will support this Helping Hearts group any way they can.
Benson said she is excited about the program, and said government officials are saying this project could become a model for the state. She cited the implementation of the handicapped pier as an example of Lafayette County being in the forefront.
By Denise Dammen , Times Correspondent
newseditor@ themonroetimes.com.
Copyright ©2004 Bliss Communication Inc.
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