THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250413
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 59 lines
Catholic Charities of Hampton Roads and a consortium of local churches have received a $25,000 grant to start an interfaith project to help Norfolk's elderly population.
The grant comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest private organization dedicated to improving health care through grant giving. The Princeton, N.J.-based foundation has assets in excess of $4 billion and provided the grant through its Faith in Action program.
Kathy Dial, project director at the Catholic Charities office in Norfolk, said training for a maximum of 200 volunteers will be held in August. The project, dubbed Help for Elderly People, is expected to be running by early September.
The grant will be used to administer the program, to recruit and train volunteers and to find elderly people who need the help.
Volunteers will be trained to work with people over the age of 60, with an emphasis on helping them understand the problems older people face in their daily lives.
The volunteers will offer practical help, from minor home repairs to housekeeping and grocery shopping. They may give elderly people rides to medical appointments. They'll also act as friends, visiting and calling elderly people who can't leave their homes.
There are 27,458 people ages 65 and older living in Norfolk, Dial said. Eligibility for help from the new project is not dependent on income or on faith.
To be eligible for the grant, the project had to involve people of many different faiths.
Catholic Charities is administering the project, but most volunteers will be members of participating Norfolk congregations: Norview Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, Fairmont Park United Methodist Church, Christ the King Catholic Church and Temple Baptist Church.
Volunteers from other congregations also are welcome to apply.
Already, 50 people have volunteered, Dial said. Volunteers must undergo criminal record checks and have two acceptable letters of reference, she said.
Dial said that if the goal of 200 volunteers is reached, the project will be able to provide hands-on services to nearly 200 elderly people.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has helped establish nearly 1,000 interfaith projects that assist the elderly, people with Alzheimer's disease, AIDS and chronic illness, the homeless, high-risk mothers and children.
The foundation's Faith in Action grant program is designed to get congregations involved in projects to help people who are disabled.
This year, the program awarded grants to 400 organizations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. This year and next, the project will provide $20 million in seed money for projects.
``It's our biggest program ever, and it's growing because there are millions of people with disabilities who need assistance who are not eligible for public assistance,'' said Faith in Action director Kenneth Johnson. ``Congregations are responding in a very American tradition.'' MEMO: To volunteer or get help through HELP, call Dial at 625-2568. For
information about Faith in Action, call Johnson at (914) 331-0016. by CNB