Q. What is Community Care?
Community Care is an organization of volunteers dedicated to helping Martha’s Vineyard residents between the ages of 18 and 65 who have serious, long-term, physically challenging illnesses.
Q. What does it do?
In this first phase of the program, Community Care’s trained volunteers will offer:
· companionship (through activities such as reading the newspaper)
· transportation and escort-type assistance (taking clients to appointments, for example)
· recreation (such as going to a movie)
· errands (such as grocery shopping)
· referrals to reliable resource organizations
Q. Who can get these services? What does “serious, long-term, challenging illness” mean?
At this stage the program is intended to help Vineyarders who have ongoing debilitating illnesses – such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, or seizure disorder – that severely limit their activities. We know that many Vineyard residents with other illnesses need and want help, but this pilot program has been designed for people who have continuing and debilitating health problems.
Q. How will people know if they’re eligible?
This fall Community Care will publicize its services and ask residents to contact the program
if they have a long-term illness and want help. Because this is a phased program, volunteers will not be able to help everyone, and all requests will be screened. All inquiries will be confidential, and everyone will be treated with respect.
Q. Will residents have to pay for these services?
The services themselves will be free. Clients will be responsible for items that volunteers purchase at the clients’ request, such as drugstore prescriptions or groceries. Clients and volunteers will pay their own share for any recreation activity.
Q. Who funds Community Care?
The program, which began as a project of the Dukes County Health Council, gets its funding from a grant administered by Island Health Inc.,
which is working to connect residents of
Martha’s Vineyard to appropriate primary care.
Q. Where do the volunteers come from?
They – like everyone involved in Community
Care – are men and women who are all year-
round residents of Martha’s Vineyard. Some
have had experience with chronic illness, and
all share a passionate commitment to this
project. Clients are also welcome as volunteers.
Q. Why is this available only to people who
are 18 to 65 years old?
Community Care’s organizers know that people
of all ages need help, but in this stage they have chosen to work with residents who can’t get help from public or government services.
Q. When will Community Care start?
We hope to begin offering services in
December 2004.
For more information, call (508) 693-5090 x3
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Community Care is a collaboration of the Chronic
Illness Network Advisory Board of the Dukes County
Health Council and Island Health Inc, a nonprofit group
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