The Care Communities tends to
people with serious illnesses
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Imagine being told you have a serious illness, such as cancer. Now
imagine having no family members and few friends. How
will you recuperate from a surgery or handle chemotherapy
without a support system?
There is an amazing group of volunteers in Austin who try
to ensure that no one goes through a serious illness alone. They
work in groups of five to eight, called Care teams. Each
care team helps to provide a support system for a care partner
who is going through a serious illness, such as AIDS, ALS
or cancer, with little or no support from family and or friends.
Care teams do not provide nursing care, such as giving baths
or cutting toenails. Care teams provide emotional and
practical support. They may call each day to check
in, now the lawn, run the vacuum, go to the grocery store
or site and enjoy a favorite TV show with a care partner.
If your answer to “Why am I here?” involves
service to others, being a part of care team might be just
what you are looking for. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
said, “Everybody can be great…because anybody
can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree
to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb
agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A
soul generated by love.”
With apologies to David Letterman, here are the top 10 reasons
you should consider being a care team member:
10. We only are asking for time, not money. Every day you
are asked for financial donations to worthwhile causes. This
is a cause you can donate your time to.
9. Your time commitment is limited. We estimate it to be
an hour a week, due to the wonders of teamwork.
8. You will not need algebra, trigonometry, physics or any
special training. What we do best is act as a ministry of
presence. That means just being there and being you.
7. We support you; you are not alone. We have an orientation,
a support manual, continuing education and staff members
who are always available to answer questions.
6. This will add laughter and joy to your life. How can
that be? Aren’t care partners sick and/or dying? Yes,
but as one team member writes: “Our care partner is
full of surprises, and from day to day you never know what
to expect. She never fails to make me laugh. Being on this
team has really changed my life.”
5. You will learn to say no. We are not asking you to come
in and take responsibility for someone else’s life.
Our own lives are more than enough for most of us to
handle. We’ll help you set boundaries.
4. You’ll have a special relationship with your care
team members. Doing meaningful work together builds amazing
bonds.
3. Here’s a chance to connect one-to-one, at a deep
level. Many of us work with numbers and computers, and communicate
through e-mail and faxes, yet crave more personal interactions. If
technology seems to be taking over your life, this is
a way to move from high tech to high touch.
2. You likely will see small miracles. One of our care team
members relays the story of sitting with her unconscious
care partner as he lay dying. She was holding his hand,
telling him how important he was to her. As she spoke, she
felt him squeeze her hand tightly, even though he remained
unconscious. He passed away later that night. When
you truly connect with another person, experiences such as
this happen.
1. You will make a difference in someone’s life – a
real difference. Listen to what care partner Mike had
to say about his care team: “By showing they care,
my team has most likely, quite literally, kept me alive….”
This poem by Rabindranath Tegore epitomizes what we do at
The Care Communities:
“I dreamt and in my sleep, life was joy
I awoke and saw that life is service
I opened my heart and behold my service became my joy”
We’d love to have you join us. For more information,
call 512-459-5883 or email roger@thecarecommunities.org.
The Rev. Carol Johnson is the executive director at The
Care Communities, participants in Austin Area Interreligious
Ministries. |
