Everyday I wake up, God and I have a chat about DM and it's future. This year is not worse than last year, but it's not better. Last year it seemed like many times we weren't going to make it, but shear tenacity, mixed with a little insanity, and I'm still on the job. It's a tough walk, but at the same time, knowing whats going on inside many nursing homes keeps me coming back. There is just no way I'm going to walk away from this ministry without a fight.
One of my great encouragements is the addition of Andrew Dungan to our staff. His passion, his willingness to fight right alongside with me, gives me great hope about our future. Based on what we're seeing in our "crystal ball" the need for community involvment, and in particular the faith-community is critical to the quality of care our frail elderly receive.
And right with Andrew and I is Aby Zuniga, who has taken our newsletters to another level, not to mention helping us build our Hispanic volunteer contingency. On both counts, it is a great encouragement to me.
Programmatically, we are "rockin' and rollin." We are building bridges to many communities in Omaha, most recently to St. Peter Claver Cristo Rey High School. Today they brought 30 students to St. Joseph Tower, and St. Joseph Villa for orientation to longterm care, an opportunity to be with the residents. This is a hand-in-glove fit for both the student and the resident. We're looking for great things to come of this new relationship.
But, can we keep the lights on, the phone on, and the website up? Keeping this effort funded is no small chore. We're launching a grassroots fundraising effort which you can see here:
http://www.desertministries.org/howyoucanhelp/donationformwithplaybook.htm
One of my more often used quotes comes from Albert Einstein: "The key to success? Don't quit."
Our campaign: "You Gotta Stay in the Game," speaks right to this. We can't quit, even if times are hard. We have to press ahead. We are. The next 30 days will really tell the story about how and if DM will survive. We, that is Andrew, Aby and I are emailing, calling, and doing whatever we can to keep this work alive.
My hope, and prayer is that many people will step up to the plate. When, Jenni Vancleave, activities director at Good Samaritan Society-Millard heard we might have to close our doors, she emailed me and said, "Your volunteers and your work mean to much to us for you to close. We are going to have a bake sale!"
They raised $142 and some change. To me, this was a precious gift, really the "widows" mite.
There are a lot of great and good people in Omaha. I've had the privilege of meeting many of them. I'm hoping that in the next 30 days, they will roll up their sleeves and do what they can to make sure that we can keep our doors open, and most importantly, keep sending our volunteers to nursing homes.
For years, I've talked about the coming crisis in longterm care, well it's here raring its ugly head. In the midst of the storm are thousands of frail elderly who have little or no say in what happens to them. It's a tradegy. I can't do much about poor payscales, inadequate funding, or incompentency, but I can put out the call for good men and women to get involved.
I need to write a book! Maybe I will!
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