Speaker 1: Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome.
Speaker 1: It is time now for our community connection right here
Speaker 1: on K one, the one you trust we have. We're
Speaker 1: friends in from elder Care today. And how we doing,
Speaker 1: mister Colaw.
Speaker 2: I'm doing very well. How about you? Tom brought a friend?
Speaker 2: I did bring a friend.
Speaker 3: Hello, how are you not a stranger to you? Tom?
Speaker 1: Joni Hillmore is with us here too as well, My
Speaker 1: goodness sake. Things are busy and this is gonna be
Speaker 1: the first time all year that we haven't talked barbecue.
Speaker 2: Right, Yes, we're not talking about the barbecue because it
Speaker 2: went well, tell you what, it was fantastic.
Speaker 4: Probably the best weather from a heat or rain perspective
Speaker 4: in a dozen years.
Speaker 2: Not a heater insight, No, it was fantastic.
Speaker 3: And no tornado, yeah no.
Speaker 2: None of that stuff. Yeah, that was such a great event.
Speaker 4: And we're again we're so grateful to our community, the sponsors,
Speaker 4: the people who bought tickets, who came and participated. It's
Speaker 4: just it's a wonderful fundraiser for Eldercare, but it's just
Speaker 4: an awareness event as well. They'll let people know we exist,
Speaker 4: why we exist, and it's just fantastic. So it's been wonderful.
Speaker 1: What's going on right now.
Speaker 4: Let me tell you what we're excited for the summer.
Speaker 4: We've got a lot of good things coming up this summer.
Speaker 4: So Jonie Elmore is our community outreach liaison and so
Speaker 4: she's out in the community to liaise to let everybody
Speaker 4: know about Eldercare and all the things that we have
Speaker 4: going on. But she's really taken a hold of a
Speaker 4: caregiver support group that meets every Tuesday and has just
Speaker 4: built that to such an amazing community that we have.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna let Joni talk about that because it's a
Speaker 4: fantastic support group that meets every Tuesday morning at Eldercare
Speaker 4: at ten am.
Speaker 3: So Jony, Well, I will talk about the support group
Speaker 3: and then you can talk about the events. Yes, we
Speaker 3: meet every Tuesday morning at ten o'clock and it is
Speaker 3: a caregiver support group. Now you know that if somebody
Speaker 3: is caring for somebody in their family that it is
Speaker 3: strenuous emotionally and physically, and it strains the person that's
Speaker 3: in charge of the care because they want to give
Speaker 3: such good care to that person that they love. So
Speaker 3: what we have done is We have built a group
Speaker 3: that has a wonderful camaraderie that comes and shares openly.
Speaker 3: What is opened up at Eldercare stays at Eldercare, and
Speaker 3: nobody shares each other's stuff with anybody else, but we
Speaker 3: open up. We talk about the challenges of caring for
Speaker 3: somebody that you love and some of the bumps and
Speaker 3: scars that you can attain yourself as a caregiver, and
Speaker 3: the care receiver as well has issues that they're dealing with,
Speaker 3: so we just talk it all out. We also talk
Speaker 3: about different types of issues with the caregiving, such as
Speaker 3: behavioral expectation and emotions that come with those changes in
Speaker 3: somebody's life, dealing with medication, dealing with doctors, how to
Speaker 3: manage all of that, even coming into an opportunity of
Speaker 3: dealing with your care receiver's personal records because all of
Speaker 3: a sudden they can't do some of the things that
Speaker 3: they used to do. We also talk about cognitive awareness
Speaker 3: and decline and how to be prepared for it, and
Speaker 3: so there's many things that go hand in hand, but
Speaker 3: just the joy of getting it out on the table,
Speaker 3: getting it off of our shoulders and spreading the love
Speaker 3: and the joy among each other has really helped our caregivers,
Speaker 3: and I think it's helped them to be better caregivers
Speaker 3: for those care receivers because, as I tell them, we
Speaker 3: do this for love. We love them, That's why we
Speaker 3: care for them sakes.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's pretty amazing that the caregiver support group that
Speaker 4: Joni leads for us. When Joni came on board at
Speaker 4: Elder Care about the same time I did, about seven
Speaker 4: months ago, it was a monthly support group and it
Speaker 4: shifted to a weekly support group and has just blossomed
Speaker 4: and so under the leadership of Jony. And as she said,
Speaker 4: it's for love the way she just loves those folks
Speaker 4: each and every week. And you know, I'll bump into
Speaker 4: folks in the building who just will rave about, Oh,
Speaker 4: I love this support group. It means so much to me.
Speaker 4: It gives me a little bit of respite every week
Speaker 4: to get away and not have to worry about the
Speaker 4: care receiver that I'm caring for. And then I'm filled.
Speaker 4: You know, my cup is full when I leave there
Speaker 4: and I can carry on. And so it's it's been fantastic.
Speaker 4: And I talk about respite. So earlier this year, we
Speaker 4: received a grant through Okay Cares for specifically a respite grant.
Speaker 4: And we started a second support group that meets on
Speaker 4: Thursdays at ten am. It's called Open Door Cafe and
Speaker 4: it's a Joni is a part of that one as well,
Speaker 4: but it is a it's a non traditional, unstructured support group.
Speaker 4: And by that there aren't topics that we're going to
Speaker 4: deal with each and every week. It's just come and
Speaker 4: b and we have coffee, and we have tea and
Speaker 4: the eatery and a saltsman down at the eatery has
Speaker 4: just graciously donated baked goods to us each and every
Speaker 4: week to have at that caregiver support group. And so
Speaker 4: at Open Door Cafe, you just come for that hour
Speaker 4: and a half and you can just be there.
Speaker 2: You can.
Speaker 3: Yes, it's a way for people to just put their
Speaker 3: toe in the water a little bit. You know, people
Speaker 3: have consternation about opening up about their emotions and the
Speaker 3: things that they're going through, and they may not show
Speaker 3: up at support group because they're not sure that they
Speaker 3: know the people, that they can trust the people. But
Speaker 3: if they come to Open Door Cafe, they can dip
Speaker 3: their toe in the water, meet some people and then
Speaker 3: they think, well, I might be able to go into
Speaker 3: that support group and feel comfortable. So it's a wonderful opportunity.
Speaker 1: It's going to be just something to see the level
Speaker 1: of oh my gosh, I got to do everything. Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, oh my gosh. Then people the level of
Speaker 1: calm just take over. What's conversation?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3: Well, I just wanted to say that one of the
Speaker 3: things that we face a lot our spouse is trying
Speaker 3: to care for one other one another and all the
Speaker 3: changes that go with those relationships. The dynamic shift is
Speaker 3: overwhelming and we deal a lot with that. How do
Speaker 3: we deal with that shift in our life when someone
Speaker 3: has cared for us most of our life. Most of
Speaker 3: the caregivers, a lot of them are women, but we
Speaker 3: do have males that come to our group as well.
Speaker 3: But just that shift in dynamic is overwhelming to people.
Speaker 3: So we address that and we try to do it
Speaker 3: in a comfortable setting.
Speaker 1: Wow, it's great.
Speaker 4: So a lot of times a caregiver struggles with going
Speaker 4: to a support group because they don't feel that they
Speaker 4: can be released from their caregiving duties.
Speaker 2: For an hour, hour and a half.
Speaker 4: Absolutely open door cafe bring the care receiver with you.
Speaker 4: That's what that's about.
Speaker 2: We want you to enjoy it too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and they can sit there in our east kitchen.
Speaker 4: They can sit there and participate in snacks and chit chat,
Speaker 4: or they can go right next door to the room
Speaker 4: where we have staff from our Daybreak program. We have
Speaker 4: dementia practitioners there that are they have games, they have
Speaker 4: activities that are happening for that care receiver, and again
Speaker 4: all from this wonderful grant we received from Okay Cares.
Speaker 4: We have activity kits that they can take home with them.
Speaker 2: We have self care kits that they.
Speaker 4: Can take home with them and then come back the
Speaker 4: next week and get another one as well. We want
Speaker 4: this open door cafe to be kind of a gateway
Speaker 4: to Daybreak because our Daybreak Adult Day Activity Center is
Speaker 4: by far the most affordable way to care for a
Speaker 4: loved one who.
Speaker 2: Needs care and all the cool kids. It's where all
Speaker 2: the cool kids are hanging out these days.
Speaker 4: You know, if you participate in Okay Care I'm sorry,
Speaker 4: in our either of our support groups, or you just
Speaker 4: come to us specifically through the end of this month,
Speaker 4: for sure we will be able to allow a day
Speaker 4: where that care receiver can go to daybreak free of
Speaker 4: charge because of this grant. And so the grant is
Speaker 4: really allowing us to to change the narrative and to
Speaker 4: reshape what aging looks like in Northeast Oklahoma. And we
Speaker 4: want to be that organization that really is a model
Speaker 4: for other organizations within the state and within the region
Speaker 4: of the United States to redefine aging and what that
Speaker 4: looks like. And how we have this open door activity
Speaker 4: center at Eldercare that anyone can come to and we
Speaker 4: are there to care for you.
Speaker 2: Yes, go ahead.
Speaker 3: Well, I just wanted to say that one of the
Speaker 3: big challenges for caregivers is that their care receiver loses
Speaker 3: their social skills and they want to sit at home
Speaker 3: in their chair all the time, and that means that
Speaker 3: the care giver must sit at home in with them
Speaker 3: all the time, and that's not good for the caregiverstly
Speaker 3: emotional health. So one of the things that we try
Speaker 3: to do is create some excitement so that when that
Speaker 3: care receiver comes up to Eldercare, they want to stay.
Speaker 3: They see, oh, they're doing some good things. One of
Speaker 3: the things that got generated just lately was two gentlemen
Speaker 3: who didn't want to come to daybreak.
Speaker 1: I can see that.
Speaker 3: But they found out that there were dominoes there, and
Speaker 3: now they are in a big dominoes.
Speaker 2: There are the dominoes or no money's exchanging, right right.
Speaker 3: No, no, But it's it's activities such as that that
Speaker 3: they see, oh well this might be better than just
Speaker 3: sitting in my chair, yeah all day long.
Speaker 1: Well that flipped a big switch on those two guys,
Speaker 1: didn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they came live that last bubble. Ye See, it's
Speaker 1: just like that, folks. The littlest things can can just
Speaker 1: really do this and help you age in place with
Speaker 1: dignity and sometimes a little bit of fun.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and the atmosphere is beautiful and clean and positive
Speaker 3: and charming. So they are in a place where they think,
Speaker 3: well that's not so bad. I think I'll go there again.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: You know, we've got a couple of events coming up
Speaker 4: this month that if you're a caregiver, we really want
Speaker 4: you to call us because through this grant, the cost
Speaker 4: of these events would be covered. We would be able
Speaker 4: to cover your cost for that. So June seventeenth, we
Speaker 4: have what we call dinner with friends, So it's a
Speaker 4: dinner at Eldercare from five thirty to seven pm our
Speaker 4: own Chef Pam Beamguard. So for those of you who
Speaker 4: have been associated or know about Eldercare for years, Chef
Speaker 4: Pam used to cook the dinners every month for golden
Speaker 4: opportunities and people would line up an hour ahead of
Speaker 4: time and wait in.
Speaker 2: The hallway problem to have they did.
Speaker 4: So Chef Pam is going to create a wonderful dinner
Speaker 4: that evening and then Scott Taylor will be providing music.
Speaker 2: Oh he's great.
Speaker 4: He is a great folksy storyteller. If you don't if
Speaker 4: you don't know, you need to come find out.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you'll be entertained.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So that's again, that's June seventeenth, from five thirty seven.
Speaker 4: It's twenty five dollars per person all and we want
Speaker 4: anyone to come.
Speaker 2: But if you're a caregiver.
Speaker 4: Please please please call us because the cost for you
Speaker 4: would be covered with this grant.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 4: And then at the end of June June thirtieth, we
Speaker 4: have a pottery class that's going to happen. I believe
Speaker 4: that's from five to six thirty or five thirty seven
Speaker 4: as well. So it's led by Tammy Schmidt, who is
Speaker 4: a friend of Jonie's. Jonie's had her come and speak
Speaker 4: at the caregiver support group.
Speaker 3: Yes, actually she was a chaplain had Ascension Hospital, so
Speaker 3: she knows what she's doing and has worked with a
Speaker 3: lot of people in situations. So she is going to
Speaker 3: help us with pottery, starting from the beginning building that
Speaker 3: pottery and coming all the way up to where you
Speaker 3: have a finished piece that's beautiful.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you'll be able to choose one of four pieces
Speaker 4: that you can make that evening painted and you know,
Speaker 4: then just leave the rest up to us and Tammian
Speaker 4: we'll get it glazed and fired and then you'll be
Speaker 4: able to come back and get it. That is a
Speaker 4: thirty five dollars cost to participate in that, But again,
Speaker 4: if you are a caregiver and you want to participate,
Speaker 4: call us and because our grant is going to allow
Speaker 4: that to be covered and the more people we can
Speaker 4: have through the doors. You know, it's a one door
Speaker 4: mini service location or resource for northeast Oklahoma. So we're
Speaker 4: excited about all those things.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you said that that you're a multi resource
Speaker 1: center and because there are some folks who still believe.
Speaker 2: Believe it or not.
Speaker 1: Yes, that this is a residential facility.
Speaker 2: Now this helps you age in place. That means absolutely
Speaker 2: at your home with dignity. Right.
Speaker 3: We are there to keep you from having to go
Speaker 3: to the residential facilities.
Speaker 2: There you go, you you.
Speaker 4: You seem to mention that almost every time we're here, Tom,
Speaker 4: because we hear it over and over again.
Speaker 2: How many residents do you have?
Speaker 4: We have zero residents, and we're using the terminology that
Speaker 4: we are changing the narrative on aging. Yes, we want
Speaker 4: to change that narrative to allow you to age in
Speaker 4: home in place with helping with mobility, helping with being active.
Speaker 4: We are becoming the activity center for aging in northeast Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: And that's becoming a bigger demographic.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, yes, yes, yes, And tell us where we could
Speaker 3: find you.
Speaker 4: So if you want to find us physically, we're at
Speaker 4: twelve twenty three Swan Drive. So if you're on Washington
Speaker 4: Highway seventy five and you turn towards Walmart and go
Speaker 4: past Taco Bell, just keep going to take the curve
Speaker 4: and you'll find the Big Green. So we're at twelve
Speaker 4: twenty three Swan and you can come find us five
Speaker 4: days a week there.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 4: And and if you want to have a tour or
Speaker 4: just come check it out, just pop in and come
Speaker 4: see us. You can call us at nine one eight
Speaker 4: three three six eight five zero zero. We're obviously on Facebook, yes, and.
Speaker 3: Follow Facebook for our summer events. We have more that
Speaker 3: we didn't get to talk about.
Speaker 2: Facebook's always generating what events. Yes, and then our.
Speaker 4: Website is www dot about Eldercare dot org.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, if we were doing all of the event,
Speaker 1: we've got to have put on roller skates keep up.
Speaker 2: With so you need them to get through our building,
Speaker 2: you know what.
Speaker 1: I kept my steps. Yes, it's always fun because I
Speaker 1: always find something new whenever I go out to visit
Speaker 1: and check out the new thing by the way. That
Speaker 1: dinner with friends, it's awesome. It's a friend of mine,
Speaker 1: Kevin Knowles. I performed one of those about a year ago.
Speaker 2: It was packed. You want to talk about.
Speaker 1: Some happy faces.
Speaker 2: They love it.
Speaker 1: There were folks hadn't seen each other in a while,
Speaker 1: and it was like the old home week. You know,
Speaker 1: oh hey, there you'd go. And it was really kind
Speaker 1: of neat, almost like a reunion in something.
Speaker 4: We want to do those more and more and that's
Speaker 4: what we're working towards, is to get back to doing
Speaker 4: that that. They are so much fun people. It's a
Speaker 4: lot of joy, a lot of good food and fellowship.
Speaker 4: So highly recommend and it's.
Speaker 3: Early in the evening for those who want to eat
Speaker 3: and get back home.
Speaker 2: That would be me getting in bed at night. I'm
Speaker 2: all about that.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you both for coming in and
Speaker 1: sharing about Eldercare today. Folks, you have been watching and
Speaker 1: listening to our community connection