TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — To live an independent life and stay in their homes, seniors need a little help once in a while especially if it’s not as easy as it used to be to get rides around town or help around the house. That is why KGUN 9 was in Midtown Tucson visiting a group called Lend a Hand to see how they do exactly that.
Milton Riise needed a lift. Some days he might need a ride to the doctor or some help getting groceries.
Lend a Hand Senior Assistancehelped him with a volunteer driver to take him to another way Lend a Hand helps—-a monthly mixer for the seniors it serves.
He says, “It's wonderful to be here again, I like the idea of hanging out with someone who's giving you a ride. That's good. And it's a different kind of thing. Because most of us have been used to just driving ourselves and now it's sort of like having a cab or a taxi.”
This mixer gets the seniors out of their homes for some social time, but the main goal of Lend a Hand is to offer the help that lets seniors stay in their homes instead of assisted living.
Suzanne Whitlow says Lend A Hand volunteers helped her clean her yard.
“I started going to the lunches and pretty soon I was using them for help. I have a big yard, a huge yard. Hard to take care of the yard when you get old.”
A volunteer did warn us they are very short of people ready to do that yard work. But that helps make a point. Lend a Hand is looking for more people willing to lend their hands for all sorts of help.
The work is concentrated in twelve midtown neighborhoods, all of them in Tucson’s Ward 3.
Lend A Hand director Janet Burt says, “Our main thrust is to get people to their doctor's offices, or labs, things like that, medical medical calls, physical therapy. We also have food deliveries once a month. We meet like this too, our senior social.”
And many of the volunteers are retirees too who want to stay active and help others stay active too.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
