Pictured left to right are Mark Menasci, owner of Metro Valley Computers, Eric Ehst, Executive Director of NWC, Frank Difrancesco, NWC Network Manager, Bryan Johnson, Marketing Director of Orbitel Communications and Tom Adamson of San Tan Crown Rotary.
Tom Adamson
San Tan Crown Rotary club of Sun Lakes, along with Orbitel Communications in Sun Lakes and Metro Valley Computers, are working together to upgrade the computer systems at Neighbors Who Care (NWC). If your organization is interested in helping with this project to assist NWC, an organization that helps so many in need within Sun Lakes, please e-mail Tom Adamson at [email protected].
Neighbors Who Care (NWC) was founded in 1994 and assists the homebound, disabled, and/or frail elderly in Sun Lakes and south Chandler. The NWC mission is, “The comfort of home and the dignity of independence; the elderly are able to live at home for as long as feasible with pride, dignity and independence.”
NWC’s operational goal is to recruit, train, and manage community volunteers to provide quality non-medical assistive services to enrolled clients via a neighbor helping neighbor approach. NWC’s service area is comprised of 32 square miles and serves the communities of south Chandler and Sun Lakes. This geographic area, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, has the third highest population of elderly adults statewide, but lacks sufficient wraparound human services programs to address the population’s needs.
NWC serves a unique and distinct population of homebound and/or elderly, 100 percent of who, (either temporarily or permanently) meet the definition of disabled under current federal law. Approximately 80 percent of NWC’s clients are female with 75 percent being over the age of 75. A typical NWC client is a widowed female, over 75 years of age, lives alone, is homebound, and lacks extended family members or the financial resources to obtain other forms of assistance, specifically those that require payment.
Clients involved in this type of “healthy aging in place” model are, on average, able to remain in their own homes for an additional four years. Without the support services provided by NWC, many would be forced to move in with family members or go into assisted living facilities or nursing homes, often at state expense.
To learn more about Neighbors Who Care visit their website at www.neighborswhocare.com.