Grants in Action: Helping Hands
Helping Hands of Springfield was a 2018 grant recipient to purchase medical services/items for senior clients in the Representative Payee Program. They have shared a recent story of how a portion of their grant has been used to serve their senior population.
“Turn up the radio – I’m in the mood for some country music!”
Georgia, 58, a client of Helping Hands Representative Payee program, hadn’t been feeling well lately. Last week she called to tell me that getting in and out of her bed was causing pain in her back. She recently had back surgery, and some of the things that used to be easy for her – like getting in and out of bed – were now impossible to do without severe pain. She asked if I could help.
As the Director of the Representative Payee program, it’s my job to not only manage money for people who receive Social Security benefits, but also to help keep them safe and housed on a very tight budget. Many of our clients have physical and mental health needs that require regular support. Georgia is one of 110 clients that Helping Hands serves through this program. Of that population, 40 percent are senior citizens who have no one else to look after them.
So when Georgia called to report that her bed was a barrier to her healing from surgery, I told her we would help her. And thanks to a grant Helping Hands received from Kings Daughters Organization, we have resources to purchase medical-related items for seniors like Georgia, who otherwise could not afford it.
The next day I took Georgia to a local furniture store and let her try out beds. She selected a modestly-priced bed frame that allowed her to get in and out of bed pain-free.
On the way back to her apartment, with the new bed frame I would assemble for her, Georgia did something I hadn’t seen her do in a long time – she smiled from ear to ear.
“Turn up the radio,” she declared with a laugh, reaching for the volume knob on the dash. “I’m in the mood to hear some country music!”
Sara Becker is from St. Louis, MO. and came to Helping Hands over 7 years ago. She recently graduated with her Masters in Counseling from Lincoln Christian University and plans to continue her passion of working with the mentally ill and disabled population.