PROGRAMS

In addition to the Urban Community Homemaking program, the Caribbean Foundation of Boston provides the following services to residents of Boston.

Homemaking & Home Health Aides

In its training and employment practices, the agency has developed and uses a unique concept, "Peer Homemakers and Home Health Aides." These are trained employees attuned to the language and culture of the people with whom they work. Familiar and reliable assistance is particularly important in serving a frail population that is constantly dealing with the multiple losses of functional ability, independence, and friends.

Our employees receive ESL training so that they are fully equipped to meet the needs of the people we serve. They are trained to teach efficient household management techniques and encourage family members to assume responsibility for the client whenever possible. Our staff are also encouraged to help ease the loneliness and isolation many of our clients experience by being empathetic.

Friendly Visitors Program

While many public and private agencies have formed over the last two decades to provide home care services to the elderly, state cutbacks have significantly decreased both the number of people served and the hours of services offered. To solve the problem, Urban Community collaborated with Senior Companions of Boston and the Massachusetts Association for the Blind to create the Friendly Visitors Program.

The program is designed to address the support and social needs of vulnerable, low-income elders and disabled citizens who are not eligible for adequate home care, particularly on weekends and holidays when isolated people feel most alone. We assist disabled and elderly people with shopping and errands, accompanying them outside for visits and light exercise, provide light homemaking, help to organize activities of daily living, and encourage hobbies, interests, and outside contacts.

The Friendly Visitors bring a new and caring friend into the lives of elders who have outlived their relatives and peers.

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Training Apartment Program

In response to an increasing need for peer homemakers who speak Spanish and Haitian Creole, Urban Community implemented an experimental training apartment to train additional home health and home care staff.

Many applicants, including those who speak English as a second language, lack conventional education necessary for the standard classroom training. Our two-part program provides literacy training to help candidates earn their General Education Development (GED) diploma and pass the state certification exam for Home Health Aides. The training is conducted in a simulated client apartment where we concentrate on hands-on rather than book-oriented training.

The training is a collaborative effort between Urban Community and several local agencies, with support from the Massachusetts Association for the Blind. Plans include additional training programs and broad collaboration with the community-based organizations in Boston's urban neighborhoods.