The 14th edition of the booklet includes new listings about a Parkinson’s disease support group at The Elms and about services offered by the VFW. As in the past, it also provides information about home health care, transportation services, medical equipment, support services, and more.
“It contains marvelous help. We have a member of our committee whose husband is ill and – not that she didn’t read the book before – but it’s become a Bible and she’s gone through every page,” said Mary Warnock, Chair of the Macomb Area AARP’s Creative Elder Options Committee, which puts together the directory.
Some of the services listed are free. Other groups and businesses charge for their assistance.
The booklet also includes a listing of helpful phone numbers and websites.
The directory is free. Warnock said she keeps three places stocked with copies: Macomb City Hall, the YMCA Senior Center in Macomb, and McDonough District Hospital. It is also available on the committee’s website.
The preface to the 50-page booklet said the information was compiled with two groups in mind: “the elderly, and more importantly, their children or caregivers.”
Warnock said many people don’t think about elderly assistance issues until someone they know needs help.
“I was in a restaurant the other day and a friend of mine said, ‘I can’t tell you how much your booklet helped my parents.’ She wasn’t specific about that. But these are people who never thought they’d have to open a book like this and then they find treasures in here,” Warnock said.
She called the booklet a one-stop shop for services you might need some day.
Warnock also said no other county in the state has such a guide.
