Program Is an OASIS for the Elderly

There is only one thing you have to do to take advantage of the services of OASIS: turn 60 years old.

You don’t have to be a Catholic--or have any religion, for that matter--even though the group is run through Catholic Charities of Ventura County. You don’t have to be sick. You don’t even have to be poor--its services are free to anyone.

OASIS--which stands for Older Adult Services and Intervention Systems--aims its programs at older people who, while still able to live on their own, need a little help from time to time.

“Our goal is to keep seniors in their own homes,” said OASIS coordinator Frank Donovan.

Perhaps all that is needed is a little grocery shopping. Or maybe someone to pick up a prescription or make a friendly phone call or drop in, sit down and have a cup of tea.

“One of our clients called and said he wanted someone to come over and play cards with him every week,” said OASIS volunteer Olga Nash of Camarillo.

A card-playing volunteer was found. In another case, a couple of volunteers check to make sure the food in a client’s refrigerator is still safe to eat.

Some elderly people have dogs, and sometimes they can’t take their pets out for a brisk walk. An OASIS volunteer can always be found to walk a dog.

Nash, 83, volunteers two hours a week at one of the organization’s three county locations, calling her dozen “regulars” on the phone each Wednesday to chat and see how they are doing.

“Sometimes their needs are out of my depth, and I become a go-between and get them connected to the right person or agency,” Nash said. OASIS does not provide professional medical care or advice.

About 70% of the 2,400 older adults in Ventura County who use OASIS live by themselves.

“Our most typical client is likely to be an 85-year-old widow who lives alone,” said Terry Griffin, a case manager who works out of the Camarillo office. OASIS also has offices in Simi Valley and Moorpark.

“She’s likely to have some disabilities that aren’t too serious and she’s not likely to be affluent,” Griffin said.

Most OASIS clients live in mobile homes or apartments, Griffin said, although several own their own homes.

And often, she said, they have no one else to turn to “because they’ve outlived their support group.”

Another typical case is an elderly couple, with the healthier one--who up to now has been the caregiver--getting sick herself, Griffin added.

Griffin said the biggest problem for seniors living alone is loneliness.

“Companionship is probably the most important thing we provide,” Donovan said. “Sometimes it’s in the form of a phone call, sometimes a visit.”

He said the program’s 150 volunteers, many of whom are bilingual, are often old enough to be on the receiving end of OASIS services.

Three volunteers who recently received awards at the annual OASIS appreciation dinner are Grace Dawson, Evelyn Hightree and Aiko King, all of Camarillo.

Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County, whose members occasionally fix a leaky roof or help unclog a drain for OASIS clients, was also honored.

The loneliness and even the abandonment of elderly people in Ventura County are not Donovan’s only concern.

He is worried about their future.

“In the year 2010, the 85-and-older population of Ventura County will not have just doubled but tripled from 1999,” he said. “That’s not very far away. Are we planning for it? I don’t know. We get 35 new clients from all over the county each month.”

One thing Donovan does know is that although the county’s population is aging, the resources to help that population are shrinking.

The county’s greatest need 10 years from now, Donovan predicted, will be “more funding for foundations that help the elderly.”

But OASIS clients need not worry about their future with the agency.

“Once OASIS takes on a client,” said volunteer coordinator Anita Weber, “it’s for life.”

FYI

To become a volunteer, donate money or request OASIS services, call 987-2083. Other donations, such as walkers, health drinks and bedside commodes, are always welcome.