When people think of college students, they generally think of young adults with few responsibilities. Yet a growing number of college students are juggling classes with caring for children, spouses, siblings, and parents with disabilities and chronic illnesses. In fact, more than half of family caregivers are between the ages of 18 and 49 years old.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, stay-at-home orders swept across the country. As restrictions for many eased, many at-risk individuals remained hunkered down. Now that vaccines are more widely available, it opens up the possibility of visiting older and immunocompromised loved ones.
When Cindy Billideau put out a request for a volunteer artist to paint a wall mural at the Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care offices in Cleveland, she wasn’t expecting an immediate response.
When the world shut down last year, it would have been understandable if our hospice volunteers quietly disappeared to ride out the pandemic. But that didn’t happen. Instead, they worked with our Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care volunteer managers to come up with safe and innovative ways to continue to support our terminally ill patients.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on the world throughout this past year. Frontline healthcare workers like doctors, nurses, and caregivers have been hit especially hard as they have dealt with challenges like insufficient resources, isolation, and unprecedented amounts of work-related grief.
Don’t wait for April showers to bring you May flowers. Brighten up your rainy days with a colorful craft that will bring you and your loved one with dementia some added joy.
