The agency has been serving seniors in Pasco County since the Nixon administration.
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Published July 14, 2003
ZEPHYRHILLS - Bare toes and bobby socks dig into the green carpet as four women gather around their leader, ready to rock, flap like a bird and pull in the energy.
"My knees are cracking," says one.
"That's good, Doris," calls instructor Barbara Hamilton.
The women, all in their 60s or 70s, stand ready for their weekly tai chi class at the CARES Senior Center in Zephyrhills.
As CARES turns 30 this year, the class joins the ranks of dozens of recreational, educational and social service programs the agency has offered to thousands of Pasco County seniors every year.
Down the hall from tai chi are card games, a hot lunch and knitting. Other days offer Swedish weaving and bingo. Activity centers across the county promise even more.
For many retired residents with out-of-state children, CARES workers act as surrogate family members, aiding with shopping, bathing, even counseling and a social life.
The tai chi class, for one, helps restore bone mass and a slipping sense of balance.
Wooden tables are pushed to the side of the quiet room lined with pink-bordered landscape portraits and bookshelves holding such titles as Little Sins, the lives of two women and a man who form a couple, and Funerals: Consumers' Last Rights.
Resting to the side are water bottles, lunch pails and a wooden cane from Mexico.
"Still with me?" asks Hamilton, a spunky blond not quite graying. She wears a white shirt and black knee-length pants. Sylvia June Brant, 69, of Zephyrhills, wears long orange pants with orange wristbands for pain management, something she learned in a different CARES class.
Others sport long shorts, one cinched with a white belt, and eyeglasses perched on the collars of their blouses. Some tip to the side or breathe heavily during the movements. Mary Towle, 72, of Dade City, takes tiny steps.
"Push ... pull," Hamilton coos. The women follow, stepping forward and pushing their arms against an imaginary wall, pulling back delicately as though holding an infant.
During a break, Doris Rich, 77, of Zephyrhills explains why CARES classes help.
"I still don't feel a lot," she says, tapping her left leg, still numb after a pulmonary embolism. "The class helps with balance. I don't have any at all.
"And you get to be with other people."
The class lets 82-year-old Betty Grubbs relax.
"My husband has Alzheimer's, and I'm under a lot of stress," says the Zephyrhills resident, valuing the hourlong break it gives her as his attendant. "I have to take care of myself."
Agency grew from small contingent of volunteers
CARES, Community Aging & Retirement Services Inc., started in Pasco County when President Richard Nixon sat in the White House.
It began as Pasco Citizens Council on Aging with seven volunteers, no paid staff and a shoebox of contributions. Over the years it grew alongside the swelling numbers of seniors in need, particularly in west Pasco.
Today CARES has 175 staff members, almost 500 volunteers, 1,500 home care clients and 19,500 participants in five - soon to be six - senior centers, agency officials say.
It has an annual budget of $5-million, including $3-million that comes through state and federal grants for home health care services, says president and chief executive officer Bill Aycrigg.
Programs are range of health and fun.
The centers at Bayonet Point, Elfers and New Port Richey include yoga, manicures, pedicures, facials, line dancing, quilting clubs, bridge and pinochle groups and other classes.
But health care has been the focus of the agency, as insurance rates and doctors' bills skyrocket for many seniors.
CARES' clinic in Port Richey provides health services for uninsured seniors through the help of volunteer nurses.
More than 100 home health aides fan out across the county to help seniors bathe, exercise or eat a decent meal, though they get paid less than some fast-food workers.
"That has been a real concern throughout the state of Florida," Aycrigg says. "Your most important people, the ones providing care day in and day out, are the lowest paid."
Workers receive wages between $7.50 an hour up to $10 an hour, he says, based on reimbursements of costs from the state.
He credits the dedication of the workers, despite the low wages, and the older volunteers, for the agency's success.
"If the community was 90-percent young families with parents who are working, it would be difficult," he says. "You can see through the people going through our senior centers and the nominal budget, that (the budget) is a small amount for people served. That's because all the programs are run by volunteers.
"Most of our volunteers are seniors or younger retirees who want to give back."
Workers find rewards beyond small paychecks
For Tammie Foster, the work is not about the pay.
Foster, 40, has been a home health aide for CARES for 14 years.
The appreciation of the clients is her reward.
"Sometimes we're the only people they see," she says one recent morning before making her rounds in Port Richey and Hudson. "They see us more than their family."
For some clients, she fixes meals and does laundry. For others, it's a massage or lending an ear.
Foster opens a screen door in Hudson and calls inside.
Rolande Kushner, 68, sits on a couch, her living room filled American Indian artifacts she has collected over the years.
She stares out the screen door, out over a backyard pond as Foster fixes her a cup of coffee. Kushner easily rattles off her ailments, which include arthritis, diabetes and the deterioration of the spine.
Three of her six children live in the area.
"But they have lives of their own," she says.
Foster is the one on whom she relies. Foster helps her get into the shower so she won't fall and rubs her back when it aches.
"She's a good counselor, too," she says, though a professional through CARES visits her as well.
Kushner says she doesn't know what she'd do without CARES.
"As long as I can get them ... I want to stay in my house as long as I can," Kushner says after climbing out of the shower and getting a back rub from Foster. "If I get worse, I have to go to assisted living."
"That's what we're here for," Foster chimes in, "to keep you in your house."
