LAKE PLACID — Mercy Care for the Adirondacks is recruiting new volunteers to help their elder neighbors age in place more successfully.
Mercy Care has scheduled a Friendship Volunteer Training Program in Saranac Lake on Sept. 24 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at High Peaks Church. Complementary lunch will be provided. Volunteers of all faiths are encouraged and invited to participate.
New Volunteers will join Mercy Care’s more than 100 Friendship Volunteers from Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, and Tupper Lake and surrounding areas who are helping their elder neighbors stay connected to their communities and helping to make their lives a little easier and happier.
There is no cost for the training but registration is required. Volunteers will learn about offering friendship and assistance to elders in sessions on healthy aging, spirituality and aging, community resources for elders, how to recognize scams aimed at older adults, understanding the types and signs of dementia, and the effects of isolation and loneliness on the aging population.
New Volunteers will hear from experienced Mercy Care Friendship Volunteers who find purposeful service to their elder friends to be meaningful in their own lives. Mercy Care Friendship Volunteers provide informal supports such as assistance with grocery shopping, transportation to medical appointments or social outings, or visiting with an elder in their home.
Mercy Care is experiencing many new requests from elders in our community who need friends and assistance to help them age in place more successfully. Mercy Care serves any older adult in need within capacity.
Can you help?
Mercy Care receives requests for a Friendship Volunteer from elders themselves, their families, or friends, to help them with informal supports and ease their isolation and loneliness.
The mission of Mercy Care for the Adirondacks, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, is to extend mercy to elders living in the community in order to enhance the fullness of their lives and help them age in place more successfully.
To register for the training, please visit Mercy Care’s website at www.adkmercy.org or contact Lexi Bevilacqua, Mercy Care’s Program Director, at abevilacqua@adkmercy.org or call Lexi for more information at 518-523-5446.