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My name is Sheryl, and I'm at the farm where I grew up.
My parents bought this farm in 1956, and our mom
has lived here ever since then.
I'm the main caregiver...
and...
I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do this
She has Alzheimer's, becoming more and more debilitating to her
And it is hard taking care of her, because it is 24/7.
At times she just doesn't have good judgment.
She needed more and more help, and then we got in touch
with FamilyMeans,
and they came out and looked at the situation, and they're
just wonderful, they really are.
It's amazing - Mom is involved in their program, it's called DayOut.
The first time I took her there I was just amazed,
because they limited themselves
to 10 clients - and then each client had a volunteer,
and the neat activities they do...
They're one on one with them, so they're with them all the time
and constantly keeping their mind thinking and their hands busy,
and this is what they need.
She loves it. She loves going to "the club".
All of the FamilyMeans people are very sincere.
The supervisor calls - she'll call on the weekend, and say,
"your mom had a really tough day yesterday, I'm just checking in."
They're wonderful people.
I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it.
So a lot of those people don't have family support like we have.
They have sponsored a caregiver program. We meet once a month -
- support group -
You hear everybody else's story, and we kind of look at each other
and like, "maybe we don't have it so bad."
There's another volunteer program with FamilyMeans that -
we have a lady, and she plays games with Mom, and they do a lot
of different activities, and
it's really nice because then I can leave and I don't have to worry.
And she keeps her active enough doing things that Mom doesn't
get concerned, like where am I? They're very one on one,
which is... amazing.
She does it again, look at that!
She never won a game...
I almost thought I'd go down to the gambling place.
We're very appreciative of FamilyMeans -
and United Way for helping FamilyMeans.
The automatic deduction from payroll -
I've done that for years and always felt that "OK, I've done my part".
I saw the United Way symbol on the door, and it just made me
feel really good.
I thought: "Wow, I personally am getting some benefit from this."
I've known for years that they do great things,
but it really had an impact on me, to know.