"Age is not an obstacle"

 JFSA Vancouver’s Home Support Program
Mariya’s Story.

Four years ago Jewish Family Service Agency formed a team of support workers for Jewish seniors.  The fees are based on income.  More than half of the team members are immigrants.

Joanne Haramia, Director of Seniors for JFSA tells the story of one member of the team. 

Mariya was referred to me by a volunteer, who thought she would be excellent in this kind of work.  When I looked at her resume I was not sure. Maria came from the Ukraine 7 years ago. Her education included a Masters Degree in Journalism, and experience in reporting and writing in the Ukraine. She also speaks Russian, Polish, Hungarian, and Ukranian-as do so many Eastern European immigrants. I interviewed her, and was impressed with her composure, listening skills, and quiet competency. I was surprised to learn she was working in the evenings as a security guard.  Though this is not unusual for new immigrants, I saw the incongruity between her background and countenance and this kind of work.   

I hired Mariya immediately.  She became one of our best employees. She was reliable, flexible, positive, and interested in each senior that she visited.  Everyone wanted her back.  Her Russian skills were extremely useful, but also her calm, intelligent, and respectful attitude.  As her article (below) states, she formed strong bonds with her clients - not only were the required tasks completed, but she found the “common ground.”  A few months ago, we asked her to begin visits in a care facility where one of her clients had been placed. The family hired her to visit, because their confused mother recognized and appreciated Maria’s company.  The facility saw the talent and dedication of Maria, and offered her work. Though sad at our loss, we were delighted at her chance to work in one location providing one-on-one companionship and support.   Three years after security guard work, Maria has a second career, utilizing her natural helping skills and her language experience: The following is her narrative, written in her 5^th language.  

More than six years ago, life was a delightful and colourful vision for Susan B... a successful business person, and a mother of three wonderful children. It seemed at that time that nothing and nobody could dismay the perfect flow of her life. However, a tragic incident brought dramatic changes to her existence; a car crash caused life threatening head injuries, which led to hemplegia, memory and speech losses.  

Doctors, nurses, and therapists did everything they could to save the woman. It took many months for Susan to learn to walk, to pronounce words properly, and memorize their meaning, to do simple housekeeping, and even to get reacquainted with her own children and family. She was courageous to go through all these challenges, and by now has even written a song about her destiny. Yet, she still requires everyday assistance.  

A year ago, Susan became my first client. At that time, a desire to improve my English brought me to J.F.S.A. where I started to work as a Home Support Worker. It is not a secret that this work is very new to me, thus the complete understanding of the necessity and seriousness of this kind of service occurred to me later- about 2-3 months later.  

My work is not only that I had to clean, do laundry, cook, and buy groceries... The most important thing was to find a mutual understanding and common ground with every person, and sometimes just to listen and give simple suggestions.  

The age of my clients varies from 70's up to people in their late 90's. They are kind, loving, and sympathetic grannies and great grannies. Lives of many have been spoiled by WW II. The majority of them are suffering from various diseases. However, most of my clients are trying to accomplish something not only for themselves, but also for their offspring. For instance, Monica wrote and published two books. She meticulously and precisely pulled together the information about her husband's and her own genealogical tree. Both editions are nicely decorated with family pictures and documents. An interest to family roots was shown by another client, Paullina, she handwrote and handcrafted a book about her ancestors’ family tree.  

The tiny apartment of Zora, is beautifully decorated with bright pictures of garden flowers. Her other hobby is to craft personal postcards, individual for each occasion and person. My clients have many hobbies, and despite old age, they are still able to find a leisure activity, which helps them to live in harmony, and not be lonely. The assistance that they receive from Home Support workers helps them to make their lives more comfortable and easier.

Written by Mariya Litvintsova, JFSA Home Support worker