Honoring Older Americans
Happy Older Americans Month, and Happy Birthday to the Older Americans Act! Fifty years ago President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Act into law, creating and funding a nationwide network of services for the aging that help older adults live with dignity in the communities of their choice for as long as possible. At Family & Children’s Service, these services include home care, caregiver support, respite care, elder abuse prevention, and much more. While our services are designed to help the client, in many cases, they also help the family. FCS Board member Brian Duffy explains how the agency's intervention and care more than a decade ago profoundly affected his family.Read more
Celebrating our Volunteers, by FCS CEO Delly Beekman
During April we celebrate National Volunteer Month, honoring the innumerable people who volunteer throughout our county, state, country and world to help those in greater need and build stronger communities. Volunteers are precious to our community as they offer their time, skills and resources as commitments from the heart. Throughout Monmouth County, they are critical to the health and success of cities and towns, schools, hospitals, churches, civic organizations, human service agencies like Family & Children’s Service (FCS), and more.Read more
March’s Aide of the Month; A Member of the Family
Frances and Joseph R. have five sons and 14 grandchildren. So when the couple describes someone as “a member of the family,” it’s not something they do lightly -- yet that's exactly how the two refer to their home health aide, Donna Moody.
Donna is a Certified Home Health Aide (CHHA) with Family & Children's Service Home Care Services, a program that serves nearly 160 seniors and disabled clients, a majority of whom qualify for home care grant assistance from the Monmouth County Division on Aging, Disabilities and Veteran’s Affairs. Read more
Myths and Facts: Navigating Through Your Medicaid Journey
“We simply want to put to rest the misinformation, the confusion that has been raised.”
-David Church
Whether you are researching Medicaid for yourself or a loved one, the process can be overwhelming. There are the emotions surrounding the decision making process. There is the physical work of collecting what seems like a mile-long list of required documents, (‘Five years of bank statements! We threw everything away when Mom moved two years ago!’) And there is the false information surrounding the application process which can be the most disheartening.
Dispelling these “Medicaid Myths” is the greatest way to help seniors and their families arrive at the best long term care plan. Here are a few of the most common myths about Medicaid.Read more
Safe and Sound
When Minetta Brockington woke up to nearly ten inches of snow last Tuesday, her first thought was her client, Marjorie W.
"Miss Marge is 99 years old. She depends on me to come to her house every day, to get her washed and dressed and prepare her food for the day," Minetta says. "I knew I needed to go see her that morning, even if I couldn't drive in the snow. I just had a feeling that something wasn't right."
Preparing our Clients to be safe and secure during Hazardous Weather
For more than 50 years, FCS Home Care Services has been assisting vulnerable clients throughout Monmouth County, many of whom live alone with limited resources and little support from family or friends. Our Certified Home Health Aides, Supportive Aides and Registered Nurses make it possible for our clients to continue to live at home, safely and with dignity, with the evolving physical and mental limitations associated with aging and illness. But when hazardous weather hit, new challenges arise.
Art Meets Heart
I believe that every person on the planet has a unique ability to be an advocate for others. In my case, that advocacy is through art. Why art? Why not?! Art is an important vehicle for change. It teaches us history, challenges our minds to invent, and, I believe, brings us closer to understanding all that God, the most perfect artist, created.
Saying So Long, but not Good Bye
Today is my last day working as a sales associate at the Family & Children's Service Thrift Boutique. I have loved working here and am sad to leave, but I am also happy to finally begin a new phase in my career as a social worker.