I have some great news:
you have exactly what someone else needs!
Every Wednesday on my blog, Living: the ultimate team sport, I post Breaking Good News to broadcast heartwarming and redeeming stories in my efforts to displace all the really, and truly horrible stories that permeate the airwaves.
This issue’s In Your Corner is my effort to bring ecstatically wonderful news to you by focusing on one amazingly wonderful organization that provides family dementia caregivers an opportunity to have some much-deserved down time. And although this organization is not located in Australia, I chose it to demonstrate the importance of community, wherever we may live.
Caregivers Wellness Retreats for Alzheimer’s and other Dementias was developed and is run by Melissa Smith who resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico USA. Three caregiver retreats are scheduled for 2020, one that took place in Houston, Texas USA on January 25th, and two more, scheduled as follows: Calgary, Alberta, CANADA on May 30th and Santa Fe, New Mexico USA on October 3rd. These all-day retreats for caregivers are free of charge to attendees because an entire community of volunteers donated their time and money to provide much-needed respite.
Dictionary.com defines respite as follows: a delay or cessation for a time, especially of anything distressing or trying; an interval of relief. These free retreats are a gift to those individuals caring for loved ones with one of the most devastating and unpredictable diseases that currently afflicts more than 50 million patients worldwide and requires learn-as-you-go caregiving by just as many family members and friends.
Since 2015, Melissa Smith’s community of volunteers have done what they can to ease the burden for her caregiver retreat recipients. There is so much I find endearing about this particular effort and efforts like it, one such element being that good people – and there are far more good people than not – thought nothing of making individual and corporate sacrifices to make the lives of others better. Those lives will most definitely improve during that one day of respite, but the benefits earned there will travel with them back to their caregiving environment and strengthen their resolve – and their impact – on those for whom they tirelessly provide attention.
In my mind, community means a pooling of varied resources contributed toward the greater good of others. It is truly an enlightening thought to realize that each and every one of us has something to offer; we may not boast identical skills but that is exactly what makes our contributions truly grand! By combining a variety of resources, the many needs that exist all around us can be generously met. As a writer, I don’t have to be an expert at electrical work and accounting, or an aficionado at organizing retreats, but I still have something to offer – don’t I? That’s why myself and other members of the non-profit organization I belong to, AlzAuthors are donating a multitude of caregiver resource books so retreat attendees can receive guidance and encouragement on their caregiving journeys. I can’t do the other work required to pull off a retreat, but I sure can ship some books to the retreat locations.
I want to encourage you to contemplate what community might mean to you and how your talents, combined with those of others, might make a difference in the lives of those who just might need you In Their Corner. If you’ll recall, the last GDM issue’s In Your Corner spotlighted talents such as gardening, painting, writing, and consulting, wherein I suggested that all skills – regardless of what they may be – are just waiting to be appreciated by others. Don’t sell yourself short thinking what you might offer couldn’t possibly make a difference in the lives of others. Think about it – you are talented in ways that others know nothing about! I am convinced that the skill you possess can be used in ways you’ve never even imagined.
You, yes you, are a valuable resource that needs to be shared in small and large communities alike. Won’t you donate your personal talents to benefit others? To be sure, the recipients of what you have to offer will benefit enormously, but you too will receive great value from your generous and unselfish efforts. What a win-win situation that would be.
Don’t wait another day, check online or make some calls and find a community that is just waiting for what you have to offer.
This issue’s In Your Corner is my effort to bring ecstatically wonderful news to you by focusing on one amazingly wonderful organization that provides family dementia caregivers an opportunity to have some much-deserved down time. And although this organization is not located in Australia, I chose it to demonstrate the importance of community, wherever we may live.
Caregivers Wellness Retreats for Alzheimer’s and other Dementias was developed and is run by Melissa Smith who resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico USA. Three caregiver retreats are scheduled for 2020, one that took place in Houston, Texas USA on January 25th, and two more, scheduled as follows: Calgary, Alberta, CANADA on May 30th and Santa Fe, New Mexico USA on October 3rd. These all-day retreats for caregivers are free of charge to attendees because an entire community of volunteers donated their time and money to provide much-needed respite.
Dictionary.com defines respite as follows: a delay or cessation for a time, especially of anything distressing or trying; an interval of relief. These free retreats are a gift to those individuals caring for loved ones with one of the most devastating and unpredictable diseases that currently afflicts more than 50 million patients worldwide and requires learn-as-you-go caregiving by just as many family members and friends.
Since 2015, Melissa Smith’s community of volunteers have done what they can to ease the burden for her caregiver retreat recipients. There is so much I find endearing about this particular effort and efforts like it, one such element being that good people – and there are far more good people than not – thought nothing of making individual and corporate sacrifices to make the lives of others better. Those lives will most definitely improve during that one day of respite, but the benefits earned there will travel with them back to their caregiving environment and strengthen their resolve – and their impact – on those for whom they tirelessly provide attention.
In my mind, community means a pooling of varied resources contributed toward the greater good of others. It is truly an enlightening thought to realize that each and every one of us has something to offer; we may not boast identical skills but that is exactly what makes our contributions truly grand! By combining a variety of resources, the many needs that exist all around us can be generously met. As a writer, I don’t have to be an expert at electrical work and accounting, or an aficionado at organizing retreats, but I still have something to offer – don’t I? That’s why myself and other members of the non-profit organization I belong to, AlzAuthors are donating a multitude of caregiver resource books so retreat attendees can receive guidance and encouragement on their caregiving journeys. I can’t do the other work required to pull off a retreat, but I sure can ship some books to the retreat locations.
I want to encourage you to contemplate what community might mean to you and how your talents, combined with those of others, might make a difference in the lives of those who just might need you In Their Corner. If you’ll recall, the last GDM issue’s In Your Corner spotlighted talents such as gardening, painting, writing, and consulting, wherein I suggested that all skills – regardless of what they may be – are just waiting to be appreciated by others. Don’t sell yourself short thinking what you might offer couldn’t possibly make a difference in the lives of others. Think about it – you are talented in ways that others know nothing about! I am convinced that the skill you possess can be used in ways you’ve never even imagined.
You, yes you, are a valuable resource that needs to be shared in small and large communities alike. Won’t you donate your personal talents to benefit others? To be sure, the recipients of what you have to offer will benefit enormously, but you too will receive great value from your generous and unselfish efforts. What a win-win situation that would be.
Don’t wait another day, check online or make some calls and find a community that is just waiting for what you have to offer.
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Irene Frances Olson
Author of Requiem for the status quo, a novel that celebrates and encourages family caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s or other dementia. You can find that book HERE. Ms. Olson is a member of AlzAuthors, www.alzauthors.com, a compendium of authors who have all been affected by Alzheimer's disease and other dementia. These authors share their experiences to bring knowledge, comfort and understanding to those on a similar journey. AlzAuthors was recently recognized as a United States tax-exempt organization. |
