Volunteer Interfaith Caregivers…needed now more than ever
By Nancy Louise Clayton
Oregon is in the middle of a historic demographic shift. According to 2024 Census Bureau estimates, adults 65 and older now outnumber children under 18, a milestone that wasn’t expected to arrive until 2034. State economists project that by 2035 Oregon will have 40 percent more seniors than minors. Nearly one in five Oregonians is already 65 or older.
We are seeing that shift right here at home. Corvallis School District enrollment peaked in 2017-18 and has fallen by 11 percent. Fewer children are filling classrooms while more of our neighbors are aging into the years when extra support to stay safely at home is essential.
This is exactly why VIC’s work matters now more than ever. As our community ages, helping older adults safely stay in the homes they already have, through accessible transportation and through safer access projects that prevent a fall from becoming a crisis, isn’t a nice extra. It’s becoming one of the only paths to independence that’s actually available.
But I must tell you what happened with our Safer Access Team of ramp builders because it’s exactly why we do this work.
Last October, a woman in our community went in for what was supposed to be a routine surgery and became tragically paralyzed from the waist down. After a lengthy hospitalization, she returned to a home with zero access for a wheelchair bound person. Zero. A friend gave her a rickety metal ramp that was so steep no one could safely steer her chair up or down it.
When she reached out to us in February, she’d been stuck inside since December 5th.
We had grant money from the Corvallis Community Thrift Shop ready for her ramp and a capable team of helpers, but what should have been simple was not. Turns out first we had to seek permission from an out of state property owner, who insisted on a building permit…new territory for VIC. Fortunately, a professional engineer, John Evans, offered pro bono consultation and arranged our first meeting at the city planning department. Slowly we made our way through all the red tape.
The design the city demanded was more complex than our normal “simple solutions” and took considerable pre-assembly and 4 days of on-site construction, but we got there. On June 14th, her ramp was finished, and for the first time since December, she’s been getting to physical therapy and medical appointments regularly. Recently she wrote saying, “Thanks for not giving up on me.”
And here’s the biggest takeaway: no one else was coming. VIC was this person’s only help and only hope.
Thank you, Good Sam, for being our partner in offering direct community service like this for 40 years.
Nancy Louise Clayton
