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.
Most of us have experienced a point in our lives when we felt helpless. In my case, it was when my mother was faced with a period of prolonged illness. At the time, nearly a decade ago, I was juggling work and home, parenting two teenage children and attending college to complete my degree. Consequently, the bulk of my mother’s care fell to my three siblings. Even when there were windows of opportunity to spend time with my mother, I still felt helplessness to offer the type of care she required.
That all changed when Family & Children’s Service (FCS) stepped in — an agency that I knew little about, despite its close proximity to my mother’s home. Several times a week, FCS would send a certified home health aide to care for my mother in her home. The aide would cook her meals, do the laundry, clean up around the house and generally make the home a comfortable place for my mother to enjoy. I watched as the aides put my mom at ease. They were so joyful in their duties, always making my mother feel special. And my mother enjoyed their company as well, joking and sharing stories with her aides like they were old friends. The work that these women did astounded me. They didn’t just do it because it was a job; they did this work because they loved it. And the impact they had on me and my family was tremendous. We were comforted in knowing that my mother was able to continue living in the home she loved, with dignity and respect.
Flash forward ten years. I began working for RSI Bank, in Rahway, NJ and discovered, coincidentally, that RSI had a strong, working relationship with FCS. Seeing an opportunity, in a very small way, to ‘give back’ to the agency that gave so much to me and my family, I began volunteering at FCS activities and events. This lead to a spot on the FCS Board of Directors; a spot that I still hold proudly today, even serving as Treasurer for a few years.
My time on the Board has truly been a personal venture. Learning about the ups and downs of a non-profit organization, through difficult financial times and subsequent growth, has been an invaluable experience. But this experience pales in comparison to what I have learned about FCS’s dedicated, professional staff. They are the very strength of the organization. And their desire to help people, at every stage of life, is immeasurable.
I am grateful to help Family & Children’s Service today because they helped my mother and my family over a decade ago. I can say proudly that Family and Children’s Service continues to do the same today for many, many other families facing challenging times, and I am glad to be a part of it.
— Brian Duffy is President and Chief Operating Officer of RSI Insurance Agency, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of RSI Bank. Brian serves on the boards of several non-profit and civic organizations, including FCS and that of his Alma Mater, Brookdale Community College, where he frequently counsels students regarding their career goals and options.