tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post51605670243232894..comments2024-02-10T00:21:03.699-08:00Comments on Embracing the Risk: Sponsoring the Elderly through CFCAMarkChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14783588922999884233noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-57844801932459276282008-07-30T01:22:00.000-07:002008-07-30T01:22:00.000-07:00"I have a family friend who is dedicated to reconn..."I have a family friend who is dedicated to reconnecting the elderly with children nearby. I know from personal experience how significant that can be. It can be so mutually beneficial that it seems appropriate for such extended families to make a comeback."<BR/><BR/>Kevin,<BR/><BR/>That seems like a really neat service/ministry that your friend does. When I lived in the NW, I used to visit a nursing home on a weekly basis and it was really sad to see people who were very disconnected from their families and lonely.<BR/><BR/>This idea of extended family and elder care and the anonymity of our current system in the US has been on my mind a lot recently with my own personal situation. My grandmother was recently moved by an aunt and uncle to a Sun City, where it is illegal for a child under 18 to live for more than 3 months out of the year. As my aunt who lives there put it, the retirees it seems had other people pay taxes for their children to go to school, but don't want to do the same for children today... except she leaves out the first part of the explanation about how other people paid for her kids to go to school.<BR/><BR/>This same aunt and uncle that have taken over my grandmother's affairs and are actively trying to keep grandchildren and great grandchildren from visiting often in order to "not burden her." Too often being more than once a year. However, they think that a perfectly good substitution for this personal contact is for my grandma to send $500/year to her great grandchildren. I find the whole concept of money as a substitute for personal contact to be patronizing and disgusting. Patronizing, because my sisters and I put in over 6 times that amount every friggin' month into the SS and medicare system (including employer contributions based on our salaries). Disgusting, because my aunt and uncle's children/grandchildren together visit my grandmother at most once a year (and some have never visited her at all in their entire lifetimes). Growing up and in college, I used to visit my grandmother at least once a month and very often once a week or more. I find the opposition to visits more often than once a year to be asinine to say the least. Building a geriatric bubble (my wife's term) around my elderly grandmother is not healthy and only perpetuates the generational disconnect that America is so famous for.<BR/><BR/>MBDouglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16064119946449926285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-33023856191228439252008-07-24T21:35:00.000-07:002008-07-24T21:35:00.000-07:00Excellent post, MB. Particularly insightful was y...Excellent post, MB. Particularly insightful was your consideration of how it isn't sexy but the need remains. I also appreciated Stevie's brief review of the transition away from extended family, contrasted with your description of those who fall through the cracks.<BR/><BR/>I have a family friend who is dedicated to reconnecting the elderly with children nearby. I know from personal experience how significant that can be. It can be so mutually beneficial that it seems appropriate for such extended families to make a comeback.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for sharing one of your heartfelt concerns, MB.<BR/><BR/>KevinKevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00244577723092436958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-4793284467330909072008-07-18T14:06:00.000-07:002008-07-18T14:06:00.000-07:00Heh! Thanks, MB!Here's a tip I should follow more ...Heh! Thanks, MB!<BR/><BR/>Here's a tip I should follow more often myself: <I><B>write shorter!</B></I>steviepinheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15841252955084784464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-50324641195680783032008-07-18T02:10:00.000-07:002008-07-18T02:10:00.000-07:00Everyone,Thanks for the comments. I pray this has...Everyone,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the comments. I pray this has inspired some of you to action.<BR/><BR/>Stevie, <BR/><BR/>Leave it to you to touch on every major socio-political theme in my post and even expand on it further in a far more succinct manner. One of these days, I gotta get some writing tips from you. :-)<BR/><BR/>MBDouglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16064119946449926285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-28267722690048761692008-07-10T17:16:00.000-07:002008-07-10T17:16:00.000-07:00This is an entirely admirable effort, MB! Thanks ...This is an entirely admirable effort, MB! Thanks for posting.<BR/><BR/>While my own parents are, fortunately, adequately well off in terms of their finances and medical care, and enjoy reasonably decent health for their ages, we are beginning to enter into that delicate stage of wondering how much longer one of them can continue to live independently, to question the travel time between home and sophisticated medical care, and so forth. Both are beginning to have issues with hearing loss...<BR/><BR/>Even as I type those words, I realize all over again how vastly better off they are than are the poor elderly of many parts of the world, who lack so many things, from adequate food and shelter, to medical care, to opportunities for continued engagement.<BR/><BR/>"Traditionally," these lacks have been partly compensated by being "embedded" in an extended family (the requirement for which has itself been a driver for overpopulation...). Globalization, urbanization, industrialization, and cultural shifts have begun to erode this traditional support system, without replacing it with the social "safety net" system of developed nations (which can itself be isolating and alienating, and a less-than-adequate substitute for the society and care afforded by the traditional extended family). <BR/><BR/>The world never seems to run short of vexing and intransigent issues. Thanks again for shedding some light on this one.steviepinheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15841252955084784464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-37773928906480673702008-07-07T14:11:00.000-07:002008-07-07T14:11:00.000-07:00Thanks for highlighting CFCA in the 40 Day Fast! Y...Thanks for highlighting CFCA in the 40 Day Fast! You are right that sponsorship of an aging friend is different than a child, but just as important and necessary. Thanks for speaking on behalf of the aging.<BR/><BR/>-- Kristin Littrell<BR/>CFCA staffAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-24718649744926813712008-07-06T14:12:00.000-07:002008-07-06T14:12:00.000-07:00Emy is Filipino? I am too. Cool...What a great org...Emy is Filipino? I am too. Cool...<BR/><BR/>What a great organization. I definitely have a heart for the elderly, thanks for sharing yours.Kat @ Inspired To Actionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18334203895307690362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-90333477905144741602008-07-05T13:39:00.000-07:002008-07-05T13:39:00.000-07:00Thanks for highlighting this very important need.Thanks for highlighting this very important need.Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02515314638093018928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-82097596345811451672008-07-05T11:59:00.000-07:002008-07-05T11:59:00.000-07:00Great effort!Great effort!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-34592714647510747792008-07-05T09:01:00.000-07:002008-07-05T09:01:00.000-07:00Thanks for this post. I had no idea that there wer...Thanks for this post. I had no idea that there were programs to sponsor the elderly.Angelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06442337266956218936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-29843386238761111132008-07-05T07:18:00.000-07:002008-07-05T07:18:00.000-07:00This is a good organization, honestly I wish that ...This is a good organization, honestly I wish that even the U.S. did more for the elderly, but I realize that there is a difference than those here and those in extreme poverty....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27237113.post-18202040198130664402008-07-04T21:15:00.000-07:002008-07-04T21:15:00.000-07:00Fantastic post. I've long tried to work with the ...Fantastic post. I've long tried to work with the elderly in nursing homes, and know first hand the joy a simple conversation brings. I'll be praying for you today as you fast.euphronyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03172917663193820131noreply@blogger.com