Dear Healthy Aging Readers,
What a chaotic time we are experiencing! We hope you are doing as well as possible and that you are fully aware of what support is available for you – as well as how you can help our community weather this storm.
In this newsletter, we shine a light on the work that our Food Pantry is doing to meet the needs of our community in an interview with Kayte Morris of the Island Food Pantry, hear from our HAMV chairwoman and founder, Paddy Moore and new Executive Director, Cindy Trish, and share with you how the COVID-19 is impacting our thoughts and actions around Advance Care Planning.
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What's on My Mind - Paddy Moore, Chairwoman
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Gratitude, first and foremost – for the beauty of spring
coming alive on this island, for the generosity of so many people helping each other through these hard weeks with food and medication delivered, phone calls made, masks created; for the laughter and sense of humor that spurts out, and the understanding shared when so many are walking the borderline of stress-related depression. I'm grateful for the courage of so many elders I talk with who are adding up what their lives have meant and coming to terms with the shortness of time. I’m grateful for the opportune necessity of learning how to ask for help, and for the friends new and old who provide that help. As Meister Eckhart said: “If the only prayer we ever said in life was ‘Thank you,’ it would be enough.”
And most of all, I’m grateful for Healthy Aging’s new Executive Director, Cindra Trish. Cindy started work at HAMV on March 30th, and has shown she is an incredibly exciting addition to the island’s non-profit community. She’s lived on Martha’s Vineyard for over twenty years, while working digitally off-island and commuting, so she brings a well-seasoned perspective to the island’s joys and challenges. She’s a passionate supporter of healthy aging, brings enormous skills in communication, website, writing of all types; she’s smart, energetic, has a sense of humor, and is committed to team building internally and in collaboration with other groups. We are lucky to have her, and we encourage you to share your ideas and concerns about Healthy Aging and how to improve life for the 30% of island residents who are older than 65. Call her (508 954-0357) or email her at ctrish@hamv.org. When our isolation is over, she’ll be back in her office at MVCS (our fiscal agent) Building A on State Road, or out and about our six towns.
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Island Food Pantry Update – An Exercise in Scaling and Adapting:
An Interview with Kayte Morris, Executive Director of the Island Food Pantry
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Challenging Times
Delivering on the Island Food Pantry’s mission during these tumultuous times has required creativity, flexibility and a village of volunteers as well as collaboration with other agencies and churches. In fact, when I was “zooming” with Kayte Morris, the “can do” Executive Director of the Island Food Panty this week, she needed to step away to deal with an immediate challenge of making certain transportation was in place to get an unscheduled additional shipment of food from Boston to the island.
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Over the past month visits to the Food Pantry have increased by 50% serving 250 first time families and a total of 1,700 island residents. This is striking because the food pantry was already experiencing a significant increase from last year’s traffic since the beginning of the year.
Creativity in Action
The Island Food Pantry has dynamically responded to this demand surge as well as the challenges of social distancing in a variety of ways.
Making certain that there is enough food available – and the right types of food – is straining the Food Pantry’s supply chain system – from getting food to the island, to the pantry and to those island residents in need. As food pantries across America pivot to provide more protein, produce and dairy, this increases costs and requires more refrigeration.
While we hear on national news of “food dumping” and plants closing, this dumping has not yet caused shortages for the Island Food Pantry, although this is definitely on their radar for the future.
Social distancing requirements has temporarily reduced the number of volunteers available to work as well as how food is distributed. The Island Food Pantry has adapted by offering prepacks of foods (in the past, visitors could select what they wanted) to reduce social contact and minimize the time visitors spend at the pantry. This however has also increased costs.
By collaborating with a number of other agencies, the Island Food Pantry has insured that home deliveries are underway for those Island residents who have transportation or mobility challenges.
Make a Difference
The most immediate need from the Food Pantry is for monetary donations. I was surprised to hear from Kayte that a donation of $1.00 allows them to purchase the retail equivalent of $7.00 worth of food. A compelling reason to open our checkbooks now, especially with the impact all of this may have on our tourist economy, the need will continue. There is a continuing need for volunteers, especially those who do not fit the risk profile for COVID-19.
I left my conversation with Kayte more informed and inspired by what this amazing agency is doing for our island, a heart-felt thank you for your dedication and responsiveness.
For more information on where to make a donation, the Food Pantry’s location and hours of operation and other ways you can help, go to http://islandfoodpantry.org/. Let’s make certain that our elder population, as well as all of our island residents, have access to nourishing food in these challenging times.
Pantry photo credit: Vineyard Gazette
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HAMV and Advance Care Planning – No Time Like the Present
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Whatever your age or circumstance, it is increasingly important to be prepared in case of becoming seriously ill with coronavirus or other diseases by following these key steps:
Pick your person.
Choose a friend, family member or other trusted person to make medical decisions on your behalf. We can’t control everything, but we can control who will speak for us. Talk to a friend, a family member or other trusted person about becoming your medical care decision-maker if you can’t make decisions for yourself. Make sure the person you choose knows what is important to you first and foremost.
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Make it official.
Document that person in an official state health care proxy/agent/power of attorney form or an Advance Directive, a term for any written health care instruction that specifies your wishes or names a proxy for you. And if given circumstances mean you can’t make it official make sure the person you choose knows what is important to you and your preferences for the amount and types of treatments you would want to receive.
Talk about it.
What do you need the person who would make medical decisions for you to know about what matters to you, so they could speak up for you if you can’t? We can’t plan for everything. But we can help manage life’s unknowns by talking openly about what matters to us and what we’d want most if we became seriously ill with coronavirus disease. Conversations about things we can’t control can actually help to give us a sense of control. We may not be able to predict every choice we’ll have to make, but we can give those we love the guiding principles to confidently make decisions for us. If we don’t say it, they won’t know. Our caregivers may need to make decisions for us, whether we’ve told them what we want or not. We can’t simply assume they know. Open conversations can pave a way to clarity, provide comfort and bring people together.
Stay informed.
Know on how your local health department is responding to COVID-19. Check the websites of your local and state departments of public health for updated information on guidelines and procedures for coping during the coronavirus outbreak.
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Nice to “Meet You” – Cindy Trish, Executive Director
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This is my first HAMV newsletter, having just come on board in the last three weeks as the new Executive Director, working “remotely” from my home one mile away from our office. As a healthy ager myself and a transplant to Martha’s Vineyard 22 years ago from California, I am delighted to have the opportunity to continue our mission of creating an inclusive, aging friendly island, collaborating with the many service agencies on the Vineyard, academic and national advocacy groups, an energetic board and a host of willing volunteers.
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In many ways the past few weeks for me have reminded me of what Charles Dickens wrote:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
I’ve been humbled by the responsiveness and generosity of islanders and our seasonal citizens, as well as the ability of our local service agencies to continue to address the needs of our community in a time of social distancing, bringing unique challenges to our elders.
Next month we’ll be sharing with you an update on how HAMV is supporting Advance Care Planning on the island and the progress we are making on creating a home safety modification program for our Healthy Agers. And in the meantime, stay safe and stay at home!
Best,
Cindy
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Questions?
Contact Cindy Trish at ctrish@hamv.org or 508-954-0357
or visit www.hamv.org to learn more
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