For Eva, her role as a certified nursing assistant with Family Lifeline’s Home Care program is more than just a job. Eva’s position at Family Lifeline, a personalized support program for children, parents, and seniors, led her to a second family.
When she began working at Family Lifeline in 1993, Eva was assigned to the case of Ms. Bailey. A woman who had rarely been sick, Ms. Bailey had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Her health declined quickly, and her family struggled with challenging and heartbreaking decisions. Ms. Bailey’s daughter, Bertha, who worked full time and was trying to take care of her mother, soon realized that she needed help. That’s where Family Lifeline came in.
Eva served Ms. Bailey six days a week, and her hardworking nature and positive attitude put the older woman’s family at ease right away. Eva took excellent care of Ms. Bailey. She kept her comfortable and clean, and always assured the family that their mother was in good hands. It wasn’t long before the Baileys had adopted Eva as a member of their family. She attended their get-togethers and forged close and Meaningful relationships with many of Ms. Bailey’s relatives. Because of Eva’s service and dedication to Ms. Bailey, her family was given the freedom and peace of mind to continue working, knowing that their senior loved one was being cared for with dignity and respect in the family’s home.
After seventeen years in Eva’s care through a partnership with Family Lifeline, Ms. Bailey passed away at 95. The Baileys have fond memories of their mother’s last years at home, and Eva will always be a part of those memories.
Eva is part of Family Lifeline’s team of dedicated professionals. On any given day, Eva and her co-workers reach over 700 families with intensive services, all delivered in the homes and communities of some of greater Richmond’s most vulnerable families.
Family Lifeline has provided support to at-risk families in Greater Richmond for over 135 years, bringing health and hope into the home through a variety of intensive home visiting programs. Whether the family is just starting out with young children or caring for an elderly parent, Family Lifeline offers intensive personalized service in the homes of those served. Its programs include Home Care, ElderFriends, CHIP (Children’s Health Involving Parents), Healthy Families, and Parents as Teachers. Each program provides tools and resources to help families achieve safety, stability, and success.
Family Lifeline strives to ensure that seniors and adults with disabilities have the option of remaining in their own homes. One of these programs is Home Care, which provides resources and one-on-one support to older adults and people with disabilities to help meet their basic self-care, emotional, and physical needs. Through Home Care, clients receive companionship, personal assistance, homemaker services, and caregiver respite for a few hours a week or around the clock, including weekends, depending on need.
According to Melissa Powell, a program manager with Family Lifeline, many senior clients are not ready for home care services. “What they really need is a friend and Family Lifeline can provide that too,” says Powell. “ElderFriends is a volunteer-based friendly visitation program that promotes healthy aging and strengthens the social networks of isolated seniors who wish to remain independent for as long as possible.”
Family Lifeline serves the single mom and her newborn baby in Richmond’s East End, the young Latino parents and their children in Petersburg, and an isolated senior living in Chesterfield County. Says Powell, “We see ourselves as an extended family for individuals at critical stress points.”
