We have a 27 year old client who was abandoned by his momma when he was very young. He has cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and juvenile diabetes. Recently we moved him in with a family that has a foster care home for adults with disabilities. They are very caring and nurturing. He was so happy [...]
There was no way to know if she understood what we were saying when we first met her. She could not talk – could not tell us what was wrong or what she wanted or needed. There was a look of fear in her eyes that I will never forget. She was panicked – stumbling [...]
This month Friends for Life is 21 years old! We started helping people in September of 1989. This year Friends for Life is helping about 3,815 people. 93 frail elderly and adults with disabilities are enrolled in our Adult Day Care Center with between 75 and 80 coming each day now. We provide nursing care, [...]
I went to see an elderly widow who was sitting on concrete steps outside her house. She was crying and she had pulled out almost all of her hair. There were ants crawling all over her. She couldn’t remember when she had eaten last or when she had taken her medicine. She just kept [...]
We told one of our elderly guardianship clients that we never show anyone their pictures to protect them and to insure confidentiality. She gave us this picture and said, “Show this. No one will know it’s me.”
He was a vet. His family had locked him in a shed behind his house for years. He might have died in that shed, but one of his family members got mad at him and split his head open with a hoe. The family took him to the emergency room. Police told us later they [...]
In our first year at Friends for Life, we were asked to be the legal guardian for a man who had been found unconscious on a railroad track. He was living in a shed about the size of my office (which was pretty tiny).