When Sheila Sauvageau’s doorbell rings at 1 p.m. every Wednesday, she immediately feels as though a heavy weight has been lifted.

The person at the door, a volunteer with Catholic Charities’ Caregiver Support, gives Sheila a much-needed break from her full-time job of caring for her husband Sam, who suffered multiple strokes nearly two years ago.

“Catholic Charities puts me so much at ease and takes a burden off my shoulders,” Sheila said, alluding to the difficulty of being an around-the-clock caregiver for a loved one.

The Sauvageaus are not alone in their situation or in their need for help, said Barbara Johnson, program manager of Caregiver Support. As baby boomers reach their retirement years, more family members take on the responsibility of caring for loved ones.

The program offers Sheila and caregivers such as her education and comprehensive support so they can find a healthy balance between caring for their loved ones and themselves.

Once a week, a volunteer helps Sheila prepare the week’s meals. Other volunteers have completed landscaping and painting projects that Sheila’s severe arthritis prevents her from doing. The weekly respite allows her to run errands while her “mind is free of worry,” Sheila said.

The benefits of participating in the Caregiver Support program aren’t just for Sheila.

“Interaction with someone besides me is a highlight in Sam’s life,” she explained. “All the volunteers have been so good and so caring.”

Community Connections
“Often, elderly people are very isolated in their community,” Johnson explained. “They may be unable to drive and may have lost many of their friends.”

The goals of Catholic Charities’ Caregiver Support and Senior Care Management programs are to uphold the dignity of this often-isolated population and help the elderly maintain as much independence as possible.

Senior Care Management connects elderly clients with community resources and support. Case managers develop individualized care plans that ensure basic needs are met. Help includes completing insurance applications, securing new wheelchairs and planning meals.

Volunteers provide vital services, from driving elderly clients to medical appointments to going grocery shopping for a homebound person. And volunteers make caregivers such as Sheila grateful. She’s grateful to her priest at St. Bernard’s who first told her about Catholic Charities’ services and grateful for the volunteers who add so much to her and Sam’s lives.

“They are not just volunteers. We’re all getting to be friends,” she said. “I appreciate Catholic Charities more than I can describe.”

If you know of an elderly person who may benefit from Caregiver Support or Senior Care Management, please call 651-215-2246.