Jean Walsh (left), a member of St. Agnes Parish in Concord, has been a Caring Hands volunteer for Olivia Manos (right) since 2005. Walsh drives Manos to medical appointments and helps with other transportation needs. HARVEY BROSLER PHOTO

By Sharon Abercrombie
Staff writer

For various health reasons, you can no longer drive, but your doctor, grocery store or parish church is off the public transportation grid. You hesitate to pester people for rides.

You are recovering from surgery, need someone to help you with light housework and run errands, but your nearest relative lives in Mexico. You feel isolated and lonely.

What to do? In you live in the central, east or southern parts of Contra Costa County, you can tap into what more than 250 seniors in Contra County already are doing to solve their dilemmas — the Caring Hands Volunteer Caregivers Program.

Begun in 1998 at John Muir Health in Walnut Creek, Caring Hands combines the services of this hospital with religious congregations, social service agencies, and the community-at-large. Through the program, volunteers help frail, isolated, and disabled seniors over the age of 60 free of charge.

To date, Caring Hands volunteers have provided more than 130,000 hours in weekly non-medical in-home assistance to more than 1,100 seniors. The program’s administration is funded through government assistance, foundation grants and individual gifts.

Olivia Manos and Ursula Franzgrotte are two beneficiaries who are glad of the support they receive from Caring Hands.

Manos, 86, still has her driver’s license, but she doesn’t like to be on the road in heavy traffic so she relies on Jean Walsh, a Caring Hands volunteer, to take her to medical and dental appointments. Four years ago Manos contacted the Caring Hands office after reading about the organization in the St. Agnes Parish bulletin. Carol Louisell, program manager, matched her up with Walsh. “I’m very happy. I already knew her from our church,” said Manos.

Franzgrotte, also in her 80s, is hearing impaired. She needs help with her shopping and medical appointments. At first Franzgrotte dreaded having to ask for assistance, but once she decided to go ahead three years ago, “I was able to take something I feared and make it into an experience I can admire and have fun with,” she said.

Franzgrotte was matched with Mike Taflinger, another long-time Caring Hands volunteer and member of Santa Maria Parish in Orinda. “It’s a match made in heaven,” said Taflinger, who also volunteers at John Muir Hospital.

Over the past three years, the arrangement has morphed into lunch and book shopping as well. “Ursula’s a big book fanatic, just like I am,” said Taflinger. The biggest bonus, they agree, is that Franzgrotte has become a part of Taflinger’s family. A retired botanist, Franzgrotte has captivated her adopted clan with stories of her youth and life work, said Taflinger.

Maria (not her real name) is being served by a volunteer from the Hispanic Outreach component of Caring Hands. A cancer survivor, Maria does not have anyone here in California to care for her.

“Being part of this program has made a difference in my isolated and lonely life. I know there are people that care for me and willingly want to help me preserve my independence,” she told Nancy Ramirez, Hispanic outreach coordinator for Caring Hands.

Ramirez, a member of St. Isidore Parish in Danville and a former domestic violence counselor, began the Hispanic component with Spanish-speaking volunteers in 2006. The program currently provides transportation to Spanish-speaking seniors who live independently and need to be taken shopping and to doctor’s appointments.

“Most of the Spanish-speaking seniors have limited resources for transportation, social interaction as well as other barriers to services,” said Ramirez. The program is presently serving 28 mono-lingual seniors and has trained 21 Spanish-speaking volunteers. She wants to recruit more volunteers to assist this underserved community.

Individuals wanting to become volunteer caregivers in the English-speaking program can contact Linda Groobin at (925) 952-2999, ext. 34448, or e-mail her at
Linda.Groobin@johnmuirhealth.com. There will be a training session in Brentwood on Sept. 25 and in Walnut Creek on Nov. 13.

A Spanish-speaking training will take place Sept. 19 in Concord. For registration information contact Ramirez at (925) 952-2999, ext. 36052.

Contra Costa parishes, besides Santa Maria and St. Agnes, with members involved with Caring Hands are Christ the King, Pleasant Hill; Holy Rosary and St. Ignatius, Antioch; Immaculate Heart of Mary, Brentwood; St. Anthony, Oakley; St. Bonaventure and St. Francis of Assisi, Concord; St. Anne, Byron; and St. John Vianney, Walnut Creek.

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