By Kimetha Hill
Staff Writer
As the Baby Boomer generation continues to age, the need for care increases. Their children, Generation Xers find themselves playing the role of caregivers twice over; to their children and their parents. Finding the right caretaker for the right price can be a daunting task. Enter Alliance for African Assistance.
Alliance is rolling out a new initiative, Global Village Home Care. Now entering into its third year, this ambitious program targets individuals in need of home health care with reasonable rates. Says Tommy Messinger with Alliance, “Our goal is to provide quality and affordable home care services to the San Diego public. It’s a growing industry, and an industry that needs a lot of caregivers.”
Global Village Home Care offers basic and specific services to those in need of home health care. As Messinger points out, each client’s situation is examined in a case by case format, to determine the exact needs of that individual. Some of these services include: companionship, homemaking, personal care, property care and transportation services.
Each individual’s needs differ, so whether they need more intensive care such as bathing assistance or dressing, or if they simply need a friend, Alliance is ready to provide comprehensive service.
“It’s difficult when you have a family member that’s entering into a season when they need care and they’re no longer as independent as they used to be,” says Messinger. “That can be scary, so we want to help people in that situation.”
Alliance offers only quality care, requiring all hired staff to go through special training, preparing them to be able to assist in various situations. Since the program is non-medical, a nursing license is not required. But a passion for people is, and of course any background experience is desirable. All caregivers are screened and background checked, and CPR and First Aid certified. All trainings are done in house at the office of Alliance for African Assistance, taught by a registered nurse. Messinger also instructs some of the trainings.
Though the initiative is offered through the refugee resettlement office, it is not refugee-specific as many regions around San Diego County are accounted for.
And Global Village Home Care’s initiative is twofold.
In addition to providing top quality home health care to San Diego’s community, the program serves a need in creating jobs for those desiring to work in the home health care field. As the program increases in size, more jobs will be created and more community members will be serviced. It is an excellent way for San Diego’s refugee community to assimilate into the workforce.
In accordance with other initiatives through Alliance, caregivers are bilingual to accommodate the Spanish and Arabic-speaking communities, as well as the many African languages spoken here.
As with many of the programs run through Alliance, Executive Director Walter Lam is the visionary behind Global Village Home Care. And as a 501c3 nonprofit, GVHC is the only nonprofit in San Diego that offers home care services.
Trainings are hosted quarterly and the next is scheduled for mid-February. All trainings are free. For more information, check with GVHC directly. Visit them online at http://www.globalvillagehomecare.com/ or call them at 619.286.9052.
