Aging and Disabilities Issue Update
VAN Leads Formation of Hillsboro Parish
Nursing Coalition and Supports County’s
Volunteer Assistance Program
June 2003

The Vision Action Network continues to provide leadership in the formation of community coalitions that provide support for the elderly and the disabled. These coalitions are designed to provide the kind of long-term care/support (provided by volunteers) that enables the elderly, the homebound, the chronically ill, and people with long-term disabilities to maximize their personal functioning and direct their own care as long as possible.

One model, among many, for this kind of collaboration is Faith in Action - a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Faith in Action is a national, interfaith, care-giving program that trains and support volunteers to provide simple and essential help to those in need, which may come in a variety of ways that include transportation to doctor appointments, help with household chores, shopping and friendly visiting.

The Foundation offers $35,000 start-up grants and technical assistance to help communities organize coalitions of religious congregations of many faiths and other community organizations to provide volunteer services, care and companionship to people of all ages and faiths who are homebound because of long-term health problems.

In January 2003, VAN began convening a work group of Hillsboro leaders active in a program called Parish Nursing. The Parish Nurse is a registered nurse who utilizes both nursing and spiritual commitment in a healing ministry with a faith community. Parish nurses do not do hands-on nursing but, rather, function as health educators, health counselors, teachers and volunteer coordinators. This project has now grown to be a collaboration between Northwest Parish Nursing Ministries, Tuality Hospital, Washington County Department of Aging and Veterans Services, the City of Hillsboro and a group of Hillsboro churches. The goal of the work group is to submit a Faith In Action funding proposal by September 1.

Another VAN project is to provide support to Washington County’s Department of Aging and Veterans Services for a recently developed program called Community Volunteer Assistance Program (CVAP). CVAP will recruit people to be friendly visitors, to use their home computers to help people apply for reduced-cost medication, to do laundry and light housekeeping, to take them on errands for medicines, physician visits, and shopping, to deliver meals on wheels, to assist with meals at senior centers, and to provide respite for caregivers. VAN is currently working with a group of Beaverton area churches to recruit, train and orient volunteers to participate in the CVAP program.

For more information about long-term support care/support programs in Washington County contact the Vision Action Network: 503-846-5792 or by email at: van@co.washington.or.us

Aging and Disabilities Issue Update (8KB, RTF)