Disaster Recovery- Elders, San Antonio Puerto Rico

Many services were given to the elderly during the last three months.  We continue providing meals so that our participants can receive a nutritional and healthly food.  One of our participants told us about the meal she received describing it as "delicious".  Nutrition and prevention is very important for a good health and we were able to do so with the meal and medical equipment distribution.

A new volunteer, was able to share his experience distributing the meals.  This is what he said:  "I recently graduated from Biology at the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla Campus.  In my free time, I enjoy helping people in the community.  As part of the Honor Program Committees I had visited home care centers for elders and abandoned children.  I learned about Proyecto La Nueva Esperanza as a non-profit institution that has the mission to improve the quality of life of a low-income population, specially the elderly.  This really caught my attention and decided to sign up for a day as a volunteer in the meal distribution.  The person in charge was glad to show me all the procedure.  After my first experience, I liked the way the elderly were treated and the happiness it brought to them, some with physical limitations, others health medical conditions.  The elderly showed their satisfaction with the meal service and expressed their gratitude.  This experience was definitely the determinant factor for me to be a frequent volunteer."

During this year we've been able to provide a new service to the elder by providing medical equipment  Many of our participants are fragile or with health conditions such as:  high blood pressure, diabetes, among others.  Some of them received medical equipment to monitor the blood pressure and glucose.  Instructions on how to use the equipment was given by the nurse to the elder and his/her family.  She  explained the importance of doing a check up regularly.  They were able to understand that this will help them to keep their illness in control or to avoid future health complications.  The nurse will monitor the elderly health conditions which will help us to evaluate how effective is our elderly program.

 We are grateful that we can improve our services thanks to our donors contributions.

Proyecto La Nueva Esperanza is aware of our elderly participants needs because the Case Manager visits them to inquire about their situation.  Nutritional, health and some basic ones are identified.  We want to express our gratitute to our volunteers who help us with the meal distribution during the weekends.  Nutrition is very important to keep in good health.  Since the beginning of January 2016 some students from the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla Campus, has been doing this task.  They started motivated with their classes, got related with the service and elders and has been regular volunteers.  The students said that they are doing something positive for a group of our society that is growing and has several limitations both physical and economic.

Last month we delivered articles for some participants needs:  blue pads for bed and elderly diapers.  The participants received them with joy because they didn't have enough money to buy these articles.  These items are needed in a regular basis and made an impact in their low budget.

We also provided some items for their personal hygiene like soap, toothbrush and toothpaste.  The Social Security and the food coupons are our participants income and in some cases must decide between buying a medicine or any of these articles.   

Thanks to our donors we are able to supply our elderly needs so they can have a better quality of life.