Caller: Hi, I live in Knoxville, and I have an elderly neighbor who I worry about. Since he lost his wife, I hardly ever see him outside or going anywhere. I know they didn’t have any family in the area. And no one comes to visit besides me. He’s not homebound, and he can walk and drive, but he seems to always be at home. Is there a program that can check on him and make sure he is OK? I think he would like that.
PATHFINDER: Such a good question!
How kind of you to be helping your neighbor. I found two programs that can do regular check-in calls. The first is Senior Care Calls, and the other is Contact Reassurance. Both are designed to assist older adults and homebound individuals to remain safe in their homes and the ability to talk with someone who listens.
The Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee’s (CAC) Office on Aging started their Senior Care Calls in response to the pandemic. The program utilizes volunteers to make twice weekly calls to Aging Adults who are homebound, isolated, and/or lonely. You can get your neighbor’s approval and emergency contact information and sign him up via an online form. Or he may want to sign up himself. The online form is here.
For more information email Deisha Finley at deisha.finley@knoxseniors.org, or call the Office on Aging at (865) 524-2786. To learn more about CAC volunteer opportunities call (865) 546-3500.
Contact Reassurance is a program of Contact Care Line Inc., East Tennessee’s oldest crisis hotline. It dates back to 1973. The program provides trained volunteers to make daily calls to Aging Adults who live alone or are homebound, and who have little or no caregiver support. Their mission is to help older adults maintain an independent living status and reduce their social isolation.
The Contact Care Line number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Persons can sign up for regular Reassurance calls using the online form found on their site contactlistens.org.
Serving nine East Tennessee counties — Anderson, Blount, Grainger, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Roane, Sevier, Union – Contact Care Line also provides a confidential crisis line, and referrals to community resources. Their website points out that they annually answer 10,000 crisis line calls, 24,000 internet chats, and make 8,000 reassurance calls.
Want to help? Volunteers are needed and will receive training. Here’s where you can learn more about the requirements and to sign up for the Reassurance Program Volunteer Training.
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