June 2024 Newsletter

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Caregiving Worker

It’s not uncommon for personal caregivers to be at the Mission, whether their housing need is from clients or family members moving to assisted living, passing away, or the arrangement changing somehow. Often caregiving includes a live-in situation linking employment with residence. Assisted living has become so expensive and people generally want to stay in the comfort of their own homes, that bringing a caregiver in can work well. And when that person is a member of the family, it can be a blessing for all parties.

Family arrangements often include the compensation of room and board, maybe the use of a vehicle, even some allowance, but not always a living wage. There can be issues of one party taking advantage of the other, unmet expectations, disputes. Then other family members can weigh in. The best laid plans can go awry.

When his parents could no longer maintain their home and acreage, Lance gladly accepted the invitation to be their caregiver. He quit his job and moved into their home. He studied online to prepare for a new career that would allow him to spend more time working from home. That arrangement worked well for a few years. His parents had their needs met, and Lance was able to keep his independence. The situation unraveled when his mother passed away at home, and his father moved to assisted living. The executor of the estate, an older sibling, sold the property to pay for their father’s care. Lance was homeless.

During the pandemic, his new means of employment was no longer in demand. There was no backup plan for his living arrangement. In addition, there was a dispute within the family that then isolated him. Lance said, “I felt betrayed, disenfranchised, extremely hurt. My entire life was uprooted. I was just a wreck. I was trying to escape and be numb. I felt like I had no options but to live in my car and drink.”

Lance said his turning point was in realizing that, “This is enough. I’m defiling my body with liquor, and not honoring my mother’s last wishes. I started breaking down, praying, and asking direction from God.”

Lance arrived at the Mission with nothing but the clothes on his back. He said a Mission staff member had “a chapel message from Romans about the condition of mankind – that was me, it hit me.” He had a new hope to carry on. In short order, he landed a job and rented a room in the Mission’s Transitional Housing Program. Lance rejoiced, “I can just breathe, I’m alive, and I’m a Christian. I just know that one day I will be with my family again. And now people at the Mission are my family.”