Page 26 - North Haven Magazine Issue 15 Autumn 2020

ON THE RO
ON THE ROAD TOAD TO
Better Senior Health
Better Senior Health

by Anna Alber

ucked into the rooms of a former convent at St. Rita’s in Ham-
Tden—now Divine Mercy Parish in Hamden—Interfaith Volun-
teer Care Givers of Greater New Haven is the busiest New Hav-
en-area non-profit you’ve never heard of. Originally launched by
Downtown Cooperative Ministries at the height of the faith-in-ac-
tion movement, IVCG split off from DCM to become an indepen-
dent non-profit agency in 2004. Over the years, IVCG’s mission—
to help area seniors live independently as long as possible—has
taken many forms, and today includes medical transportation,
social programs, friendly visits to homebound seniors, a medical
equipment lending bank called Mae’s Closet, and most recently, a
grocery shopping and delivery program. Funded by the Agency on
Aging of South Central Connecticut, IVCG’s bread and butter is
medical transportation, which fills an important gap in senior ser-
vice: “Many seniors can’t drive, live far away from their children,
or have children who work during the day. And, sadly, some of our
clients are all alone in the world.”
An entirely volunteer-based organization save for two paid staff
members, one of whom is IVCG’s Executive Director Jane Ferrall,
IVCG relies on the goodwill of community members to meet the
growing needs of an aging population. According to a 2019 report
by DataHaven, the elder population in Greater New Haven is pro-
jected to grow by just over 10,000 by the year 2035—that’s a 13%
increase in seniors aged 65-79 and a staggering 18% increase in
seniors over 80.
1
Like many volunteer-based community organizations, IVCG is
now faced with the challenge of adapting to a post-COVID-19
world. “Pivoting—that’s the operative word to describe what we’ve
been doing these last few months.” In lieu of its friendly visiting
program, IVCG has instituted a friendly calling network to con-
nect with seniors who are isolated at home due to the lockdown.
Thanks to the New Haven Help With Covid website developed by
members of the Yale Community, IVCG has been able to connect
with more younger volunteers than ever before, many of whom are
dedicating their time on a weekly basis to check-in with their as- ported only for critical care such as dialysis and chemotherapy.
signed seniors over the phone. “We’re trying to help seniors stay Now that ride requests have exploded, we’re diverting more and
connected to the community. This is especially important, since more staff time to fill in the gaps and that’s simply not sustainable.”
many of our clients don’t use the internet and have no other way of
connecting with the outside world. We get calls all the time from Faced with the daily reality of having to turn people away, IVCG
seniors who are fearful, lonely, or need information that they can’t is taking steps to make sure its volunteers feel safe enough to con-
access.” tinue driving. In addition to requiring all drivers and passengers to
wear masks and requiring passengers to sit in the back seat, IVCG
IVCG has also sent out over 800 masks to homebound clients, plans to install plexiglass shields in volunteers’ vehicles in hopes
thanks to grants from the Yale Community for New Haven Fund, that some volunteers might return. When asked about what the
the William Graustein Memorial Fund, and the Community Foun- organization will do over the next few months if it can’t attract
dation for Greater New Haven. Yet, despite small victories like this, enough volunteers, Jane replied: “We’re taking it day by day.”
the last few months have hardly been easy. “The pandemic has hit
IVCG especially hard, since many of our volunteers are seniors If you, or someone you know, might like to give an hour or two a
themselves. Many of our drivers are understandably fearful of put- week to help a senior, please contact IVCG at 203-230-8994, email
ting themselves at risk. Thankfully, we still have a small, but ener- Jane at [email protected], or visit our website at www.
gized group of dedicated drivers to cover the rides. But with fewer carenewhaven.org.
drivers than ever, there’s only so much we can realistically do in a
week. We used to do up to 80 rides a week in normal times and now 1 Abraham, M., Seaberry, C., Ankrah, J., Bourdillon, A., Davila, K., Finn, E., McGann, S., Na-
we’re struggling to do 25. But it’s not for a lack of demand. Many than, A. (2019). Greater New Haven Community Index 2019. New Haven, CT: DataHaven.
Available at ctdatahaven.org.
of our clients are going in to see providers they haven’t seen in four
months due to the pandemic. In the early days of the lockdown, it
was easy enough to keep up with the ride requests, since we trans-
26 North Haven Magazine - Autumn Issue 2020