Seniors given a hand, and much more by volunteers

Rebecca Malone

Friday, Jan. 4, 2002 | 4:52 a.m.

Lend a hand Those interested in becoming a client, a volunteer or a donor to Lend A Hand, call 294-2363 or mail to Lend A Hand, 400 Utah St., Boulder City, NV, 89005.

After living in Boulder City for four years, Marion West-Hoffman suffered a stroke and had to move from the city she loved to an assisted living home.

Now, with the help of one local organization, she is able to live on her own again, in her home and near her friends.

Lend A Hand, a group that assists the frail elderly, chronically ill and disabled of Boulder City, is there to help West-Hoffman and 269 other clients.

"They've never refused any of my requests," West-Hoffman said. "They're wonderful."

Lend A Hand offers a variety of services, everything from being a friend to a driver, for the elderly.

"We are kind of the community referral program," said Darla Cady, a licensed social worker who works on the two-member staff of Lend A Hand. "If anyone needs something they call me."

The founder of Lend A Hand, Patricia Duncombe, was a social worker who visited homes and found that many people were falling through the cracks, Cady said.

The incident that made Duncombe realize the community needed such a service was a domestic abuse case she was called in on.

To keep her from injuring herself, a man had been tying his Alzheimer's-afflicted wife to a chair while he went grocery shopping, Cady said.

From there, Duncombe worked with church and community members to form Lend A Hand, which officially started helping clients in 1989.

"Before this, a lot of times the elderly were not getting their needs met, and many times they wouldn't go to their doctor's appointments," Cady said.

Cady, who has worked with the organization for 11 years, added that without their services many of their clients would be in assisted-living homes. It is important for people to live in their own homes near friends and neighbors, Cady said.

"The independence of living alone and being able to be self-sufficient helps their self-esteem," Cady said. "They don't like control being taken away from them."

West-Hoffman said people at the care facility did everything for her, and if she did not leave she would never be able to care for herself again.

"Even if I live to be 100, and I will, I don't want you to tell me I can't do something," West-Hoffman, 91, said. "I am still very active. I am not going to slow down for anyone."

West-Hoffman, who suffered a stroke, is still in the process of learning to walk again, and she is unable to drive. Lend A Hand helps by doing her grocery shopping, driving her to see her husband, who has Alzheimer's, and taking her to hair and doctor appointments.

"I am not a beautiful woman, but I am not ugly either, and I feel beautiful when I get through with my hairdresser," she said. "I can get from my walker into any car."

Volunteers with Lend A Hand drive more than 3,000 miles a month to places outside of Boulder City, Cady said. Each month they help about 80 clients.

The volunteers, mostly senior citizens, tend to get more out of the service than the clients, Cady said. Many clients send thank you cards to Lend A Hand, and that recognition means the world to volunteers, Sandra Reuther, a volunteer, said.

"I decided to join the group because this is my kind of organization," Reuther said. "You are just helping people."

Shirley Putz trains all of the volunteers in listening and observing what clients need before they are allowed to provide service. They also have to pass a police screening, Cady said.

Lend A Hand is financed through two grants and donations given by the community and clients. Cady and Ellen Coates, who handle all the office work and scheduling, are the only paid workers.