To the Editor:

My grandmother Betty, to me she was always Meme, never adapted to our modern way of life. Born in 1919, practically another world compared to ours, she grew up in an orphanage and had very little access to an education. She never even learned how to drive and worked only a small amount outside the family home so she never had savings.

She grew up to raise five children, who meant the world to her. She was a feisty woman, loved to play cards, and was an excellent cook. But that lack of a formal education and transportation meant she was dependent on that family, to guide her through a world that was becoming exponentially more dependent on technology as she got older, technology that she was never able to really use.

By the time she was in her twilight years, she had lost much of her vision from macular degeneration, and she had developed dementia. While she had family to help her, family caregivers are many times struggling to balance a job and caregiving responsibilities, many people are in similar situations but without a helping hand from their family.

Adults who have difficulty navigating our technology-dependent world to get the help they need, made even more complicated by physical, psychological, or financial difficulties. People without access to vital services to help their quality of life.

My Meme passed away in February of 2019 at the age of 99. That same month, in her memory, I established UR Community Cares, a service to help connect older and disabled residents to volunteers willing to help them.

Whether that’s by helping do chores they can no longer physically do, driving them to appointments they’d otherwise be unable to make, helping to use technology, or just being a friendly face to talk with. Just as my grandmother cared for her family, I hope that our program can spread a similar feeling of care to those in need.

If you’d like information on how to volunteer, visit urcommunitycares.org or call 860-430-4557.

Thank you,

Michelle Puzzo, Executive Director

UR Community Cares