FOCUS - JUNE 2017 3 For 26 years, 82-year-old Shirley has been a volunteer with Community Care Durham (CCD) in Port Perry, which provides services to seniors to help them continue to live indepen- dently in their own homes. When she retired from her career as a local high school secretary, she offered to use her skills by working in the Community Care (CCD) office. “Itwasmyniche,”Shirleycommented. Over the past quarter of a century, she has worked with three CCD ad- ministrators and in three different buildings. Her Friday morning job is to arrange transportation for seniors to medical appointments and also ar- range drivers for shopping trips. “A lot of our clients get drives to the foot care clinics at Hope Church and Port Perry Villa,” she noted. “This is a wonderful service,” Shirley enthused. Trained nurses cut seniors’ toenails, massage their feet and refer them to doctors when necessary. Shirley and her husband Birdhouse Willy both enjoy these 15 -minute foot care sessions. “A lot of seniors can’t reach their feet!” she pointed out. Another important function of CCD is to arrange the delivery of frozen meals and Meals on Wheels from the Port Perry Villa kitchen. Shirley reports that both are “nu- tritionally sound and tasty too.” Shirley also volunteers to do morning telephone reas- surance calls, to check in on seniors who live alone, make sure they are okay and enjoy a little chat. “For some of them, it may be the only voice they hear all day”, Shirley says. “Shirley is a real gem,” described Lorrie Houston, CCD Administrator. “And she’s always reliable.” CCD is a “feel good organization,” Lorrie added. She “likes to work with volunteers because of their enthusi- asm. The clients are so appreciative.” There are currently 130 volunteers at Scugog CCD and 473 clients. Lorrie pointed out that with the senior population of Scugog on the rise, the need for services is also increasing, so more volunteers are required. At the celebratory 40th anniver- sary luncheon held at Hope Church in May, Lorrie says that one CCD volunteer, who is in his 90s, joked that he is volunteering because one day, when he’s old, he may need as- sistance himself! “The same core services estab- lished 40 years ago are still deliv- ered,” Lorrie noted, plus there have been others added, based on seniors’ needs. Established in 1977, 2017 is the landmark anniversary of Community Care Durham. Over 80 people at- tended the anniversary lunch at Hope Church in Scugog last month, and on June 22, at the CCD AGM in Oshawa, keynote speaker Brent Farr will speak on “The Next 40 Years.” WHAT COMMUNITY CARE dURHAM OFFERS CommunityCareDurhamisamulti-service,registered charitable organization offering Home Support. Here’s the impressive list of services: Transportation, Meals on Wheels, Luncheon Out, Home Help & Maintenance, Friendly Visiting, Telephone Reassurance, Foot Care Clinic, In-Home Respite- Caregiver Relief, Home At Last (assistance with transitioning home from the hospital) and COPE mental health. Light housekeeping, yard work, snow shovelling, etc. are offered through Home Help & Maintenance. All of these services are free of charge or there may be a minimal fee. HUMBLE BEGINNINGS The establishment of Community Care Durham evolved from a group of interested North Durham citi- zens who met in 1972. Flash forward to September 29, 1977, when the Scugog Social Planning Council held their first meeting in the council chambers in Port Perry to bring together Shirley Barr has been volunteering for 26 years with Community Care. Port Perry’s Shirley Barr has a motto to live by…. or should we say to volunteer by…. It’s from the German poet Goethe: “Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.” ...................... Please turn to page 4 COMMUNITY CARE A Volunteer’s Story