Mennonite Central Committee News Service
(4)
September 14, 1973
VOLUNTEER UNCOVERS NEEDS OF ATLANTA'S ELDERLY
Atlanta, GA--In October a Mennonite volunteer
who has been working to develop trust and friendship with the
elderly in five Atlanta neighborhoods will turn over responsibility
for the program to an Atlanta resident. A local community school
plans to support continuation of the work through Lucy Whelchel
on a part-time basis. Jean Wyse, a Mennonite Central Committee
volunteer from Archbold, OH, pioneered the work.
Constant draining of the elderly's monetary
and emotional resources in the city of Atlanta has forced many
older people to withdraw into their homes, afraid to trust anyone.
Focusing her efforts on building relationships with senior citizens,
Jean Wyse began to keep a map of where people she met were located
and to file their names, addresses and special needs. Five weeks
after she began the project Jean had learned to know 30 senior
citizens.
"I was on my bicycle every day and
would find people on their porches," Jean said. "Some
people I'd meet at bus stops or at the grocery store. Usually
all it takes is 'Good morning. How are you today?' So many older
people are lonely and no one takes the time to sit down and talk
with them."
This summer Lucy Whelchel, a local resident
interested in working with the elderly, spent several days a
week accompanying Jean on visits.
"We've uncovered a lot of problems
that older people have," Jean said. "Our society is
always in a hurry, especially in the city.
Older people have a hard time crossing
streets, going through doors or traveling by bus. Some people
we've met live alone and don't eat well. Others can't get out
to get groceries or can't find someone to mow their lawn. Some
are suspicious because they've been ripped off by salesmen and
delivery people.
"One 92-year-old woman needed new
window shades so I bought them and helped her put them up. That
made her day. Afterwards she wanted to pay me. I wouldn't take
anything. That blew her mind. She said people don't do things
without being paid these days."
"I met another lady whose husband
had died several months before. She never went out of the house
for more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time. She cried all the time,
too. She hadn't worked through her grief so she could get on
with her living.
"I've been trying to involve her
in a sewing program in a church near her house. She said she
couldn't walk that far. I said phooey. You can walk or drive.
I'll walk with you. If she gets out of the house just two afternoons
a week she's going to start coming out of that shell."
During the first month of work Jean learned
that the city govern- ment had only a limited program for the
elderly in Atlanta. Other neighborhoods were higher on the need
priority list. Funding for meals-on-wheels, for example, was
not available for the five neighbor- hoods in which Mennonites
are working.
Lucy Whelchel hopes to find other volunteers
to help develop community programs which respond to needs of
the elderly. Mennonite House, the MCC voluntary service unit
in Atlanta, has made a phone number available for senior citizens
to call for information and referral.
"Our society has programs for children,"
Jean emphasized. "After that people begin to work. But when
you're old there's nothing. It's really sad because older people
have much to give."
Gayle Gerber Koontz, Information Services
14september1973