Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada has been serving the community for 75 years, and since 1974, has offered a wide variety of services designed to improve the mental and physical well-being of Southern Nevada’s most vulnerable senior citizens.
Unfortunately, there has been a drastic rise in the number of low-income, homebound and nutritionally at-risk seniors in Southern Nevada, increasing demand in the face of limited resources. Thanks to dedicated employees, volunteers and community partners, the group is able to serve thousands of our friends and neighbors each year.
There are various ways to tell the tales of what Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada does for senior citizens through programs like Meals on Wheels and Senior Companion. For clients like Judith Cran and Carmen Roybal, these programs are vital to their quality of life.
Senior companions: The gift of friendship
An unthinkable tragedy was the impetus for Rosalind Robinson, 63, to volunteer for CCSN’s Senior Companion program. In 2013, one month after she and her husband moved from San Francisco to Las Vegas to retire, their 25-year-old son, Marc Anthony, passed away.
She fell into a deep depression.
“I didn’t want to get dressed. I didn’t want to go anywhere,” Robinson said. “I didn’t want to do anything.”
But she needed to do something, anything, to stay active and engaged. When a friend of her husband’s suggested she volunteer as a senior companion, Robinson did not hesitate. She attended the training seminars and identified with the program’s mission of seniors helping other seniors — the low-income, homebound and mentally and physically ill — live a more dignified life. The weekly three-hour visits cater to the wishes of the client: shopping, doctor’s appointments, watching television, playing cards and good conversation.
One of Robinson’s first clients was Judith Cran, 75, a fast-talking wisecracker who likes daytime television, watching race cars and playing the occasional penny slot. Cran moved to Las Vegas three years ago after she was accepted into a senior living building. She did not have many friends in town, and without a driver’s license, going to the grocery store and pharmacy required an hours-long trip aboard the dreaded “shopping bus.”
Cran has heart issues that require regular doctor’s visits. Shortly after moving to Las Vegas, it became clear that she needed some assistance.
“When I first moved here, I hurt my ankle unpacking, and I didn’t even know where a hospital was,” Cran said. “So I called a cab company and they took me to the hospital.”
It did not take long for Cran and Robinson to develop a bond that went beyond the typical client-volunteer relationship. When Cran’s son, Ray, passed away in January 2014, the two were connected by a shared tragedy.
Their weekly visits, which often last longer than the standard three hours, begin with Robinson picking up Cran in front of her apartment building. Then, it’s off to the pharmacy, 99-cent store and Walmart. On their way back to Cran’s apartment, they’ll swing by a fast food restaurant to pick up lunch. Their visits often conclude with some television time. Cran and Robinson especially enjoy watching television judges and daytime chat programs.
“We pretty much like the same things, and it seems like we’ve known each other way longer than three years,” Robinson said.
“We can just talk about anything. They tell us not to get attached (to clients), but after a period of time, you develop a special bond.”
After three years, Cran could not imagine life without her senior companion.
“I’d be pretty bored and depressed because, what am I going to do, sit here in this apartment?” she said with a grin. “Rosalind is so sweet and takes me where I need to go.”
The gratitude is a two-way street.
“I found out the clients I ended up having were like a blessing to me because it gave me the inspiration to start getting dressed and getting out,” Robinson said. “At the same time, it was a blessing to them because they get to have someone take them around and do what they want to do.
“It gave me a chance to have some meaning to life again.”
For the senior companions and their clients, a few hours of companionship means the world.
“Everybody,” Robinson said, “needs somebody to talk to.”
Nourishing seniors: The Meals on Wheels program
Meals on Wheels supervisor Benito Montano pulls his Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada van into a downtown Las Vegas apartment complex at around noon on a Friday, the climate-controlled truck stacked high with boxes of meals. Made from scratch and individually sealed, direct from CCSN’s kitchen facility, the meals include marinated chicken and roasted pork loin, specialties of executive chef Juan Carlos Penate.
With a fleet of eight drivers navigating 35 delivery routes, Montano does not always deliver meals, but on this day, it’s all hands on deck. He checks the delivery manifest, confirms the address and unpacks this delivery: seven meals, a bag of fruit and a half-gallon of milk, the standard weekly delivery for each one of CCSN’s more than 2,200 Meals on Wheels clients.
“Everything that goes into our containers is made from scratch,” Montano said. “We have a registered dietician on staff that gives us recipes. We do it for the health of the seniors, and it’s great. It is just so incredible to serve these clients.”
Montano carries the delivery to the first-floor apartment of 87-year-old Carmen Roybal. He knocks on the door. No answer. He knocks again — a little bit louder — and Roybal opens the door.
“How are we doing today?” Montano asked.
“Oh, I’m great!” Roybal said.
Montano sets the meals down on the kitchen table and asks Roybal if she would like him to load the meals into the refrigerator.
“No, no, I can do it,” Roybal said.
A few minutes later, Montano asks her again.
“Oh, I can do it,” Roybal said with a smile.
Before leaving, he asks Roybal one last time if he can put her groceries away. She smirks and shakes her head. Montano gives her a hug.
“We’ll see you next week,” he said.
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Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada has been providing Meals on Wheels to local homebound seniors — ages 60 and older — since 1975. In addition to food delivery and weekly wellness checks, pet food recently became a staple of the program after delivery drivers saw clients were using the meals to feed their pets.
“We would go into homes and notice the Meals on Wheels that would be on the ground, and we would say to the seniors, ‘Why is the dish on the ground?’” said Deacon Tom Roberts, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada. “And they would say, ‘Well, we’re sharing the food with our pet.”
As Southern Nevada’s population expanded, so too did the number of “food-insecure” homebound seniors. According to a 2014 U.S. Department of Agriculture study, 16 percent of Nevadans are “food-insecure,” meaning they do not have enough food to sustain a healthy lifestyle.
For Roybal, she needed a little extra assistance after suffering a stroke six years ago while living in California. Temporarily paralyzed from the waist down, she moved to Las Vegas to live with her son. Six months later, she moved into her own apartment.
“When I was at my son’s place, I thought to myself, ‘I know that I’m going to walk again,’” Roybal said. “Pretty soon, I noticed my legs were getting better, so I started to take step by step like a baby. Step by step. Then, pretty soon, after about 3 or 4 months,
I started to walk better.
“I do whatever I can now. I go ahead and fix my bed. I have to sit down off and on, off and on. Sometimes I go ahead and do my laundry.”
Roybal takes pride in her independence, but her physical limitations made assistance necessary. She could not cook for herself, and TV dinners were her primary source of nutrition.
A former neighbor recommended Meals on Wheels, and Roybal acknowledged not knowing what to expect after becoming a client. She was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the meals and the nutritious snacks that are added bonuses. The homemade oatmeal with fresh strawberries and peaches is her favorite.
Roybal has lost track of the number of drivers who have delivered her meals, but awaits their arrival every week. The little things — a hug — mean the world to her.
“I appreciate their help,” Roybal said. “I really couldn’t be without them.”
Added Deacon Roberts: “It’s the dignity and compassion of that driver going into that home, delivering that meal, checking on that senior, having a conversation with that senior. Our drivers often end up becoming family members to a senior who in some cases may not have anyone else in their lives.”
For more information about Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada’s senior services, or to inquire about volunteer opportunities, please visit www.catholiccharities.com.