Community Needs Meet Resources
Sep 28th, 2008 by terry
Gather. Brainstorm. Repeat.
Example: Parents who need elder care
As your parents enter the stage when they need more help and you face the Medicare and assisted living maze, connecting with others who have traveled that road would be a life saver. Those who are embarking on this path need to find others who know the territory.
Monthly community gatherings to identify needs and resources and brainstorm for solutions is the way to get this rolling. This table partially lists universal issues that community involvement can improve.
Community Resource Identification
| Tangibles | Have | Need |
| HOUSING | ||
| Households benefiting from house sharing | ||
| Older people 65 + good health | ||
| Older people – need some care | ||
| Older people – need considerable care | ||
| Single House holders
welcome the sociability and sharing expenses |
||
| Single parents with children under the age of 18 | ||
| Young adults needing stable, affordable housing | ||
| Vehicles | ||
Yards
|
||
Household repairs
|
||
| Intangibles | ||
| Time | ||
| Retired, unemployed, seasonal workers, people with flexible schedules, people who work at home. | ||
| Affinity for children | ||
| Affinity for older people | ||
| Children needing companionship and supervision
Latch-key kids who go home to an empty house after school, surf the internet and eat junk food |
||
| Expertise | ||
| Elder care experience | ||
| Software – list, i.e. Microsoft Office, Photoshop, web design, etc. | ||
| Technology – list, iPods, all things digital and electronic | ||
| Car maintenance and repair | ||
| Fitness – yoga, martial arts, |
[...] Many of us have experienced the declining health of aging parents or spouses. We have navigated the confusing territory of assisted-living and nursing-home arrangements, Medicare, and countless other elder-care details. Someone who has faced the situation with their own parents has valuable knowledge to pass on to those who are being initiated into this difficult phase of life. The new initiate would be grateful for a road map into this difficult territory. Much of this advice will be freely given; but it seems logical to think that a good opportunity exists for those with this knowledge to create a lively consulting business. See more about this topic in Community Needs Meet Resources. [...]