Real estate firms lending helping hand
Island real estate offices make long-term commitment to elder meals program
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
Without fanfare, Nantucket's 42 real estate offices made a unanimous commitment last spring to volunteer to do weekly deliveries for the Meals on Wheels program sponsored by Elder Services of the Cape and Islands, a commitment they agreed in December to extend through the entire year.

Alison Forsgren of Jordan Real Estate (left) with Penny Dey of AtlanticEast Real Estate head out on Friday to deliver Meals on Wheels. ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent

Nantucket's Elder Services Executive Director and case manager Sheri Hunt said that, on average, there are 35 island senior citizens receiving regular meal deliveries to their homes Monday through Friday. While Nantucket Island Resorts employees commit to one Meals on Wheels route each week, with an additional one day assist at the Elder Services' congregate lunch at the Saltmarsh Center, and Glidden and Glidden attorneys' office and Plum TV both volunteer weekly for the Meals on Wheels program, Hunt found she was short-handed for drivers until the Nantucket Association of Real Estate Brokers came aboard.

"It's been fabulous," said Hunt. "We are very lucky that we usually have a good turnout of drivers, but we have a seasonal turnover and people do go on vacation."

Last spring, Hunt and NAREB president Penny Dey were having dinner at a mutual friend's house when Hunt told Dey she had tried without much success to enlist local businesses in driving for the program. Dey explained the situation at the next NAREB meeting and all 42 island offices agreed to share once a week shifts, "Summarily, with no discussion," said Dey. As of May, they will have completed a full year of volunteerism with 26 firms participating to date. NAREB will continue its commitment at least until the end of 2008. J. Pepper Frazier's office did an entire month of Friday shifts last July and have signed up for another full month of Fridays this April. Susan Bennett Witte took a shift on all four Fridays last December.

"It was incredibly eye-opening," said Ken Beaugrand of Nantucket Real Estate. "At the same time it was a very rewarding experience, it also was a scary experience learning how people living in an affluent community still need assistance. This is an important contribution for us to make to the community.

"They are so appreciative of the fact that people reach out and spend time with them," he added. "They really look forward to this opportunity to see a fresh face and hear news from the outside world. They are almost more grateful for the camaraderie than for the food. This really touched me more than anything I've done in this community."

Hunt said before anyone is permitted to make deliveries they must have a clean criminal history background check and show evidence of a valid driver's license. If approved, new drivers ride along with veteran drivers, preferably on the route they will be assigned, so they can meet the clients and the clients become familiar with new visitors. The volunteers also receive training in their responsibilities and etiquette standards because, in fact, they are doing more than just dropping off food to elders' homes.

"We consider them our eyes and ears because there is a process of reporting that can let Elder Services know if they need medical attention or more services, or if we need to contact family," said Hunt. "We rely on them a lot."

The deliveries reveal that not only do the clients welcome visits, the volunteer drivers find the experience meaningful to their lives.

"Our job is not just to deliver the meals, but to provide some company and do a little check to see if everyone is okay," said Dey, co-owner of AtlanticEast Real Estate. "Many of these people receiving a meal only see the person delivering on that day. It's a very direct way to help somebody. It's not abstract; the clients are happy to see you. It has been interesting to me to see people I knew who owned businesses and are now older. I was grateful to NAREB that they stepped up. People have been very moved by the experience."

Alison Forsgren of Jordan Real Estate said she brought her parents to Nantucket in 2003 and Elder Services was very helpful in making sure their needs were met, so she was pleased when NAREB decided to take part in the MOW program.

"It is quite humbling to see the elderly in their home sometimes. I enjoy doing it and making connections with people you wouldn't meet anywhere else," she said. "They are all so appreciative. They appreciate the smallest consideration."

Jennifer Frazier, office manager for J Pepper Frazier, said she and her husband Dalton made last July's Friday deliveries as a team and plan to do the same next month. She, too, has had family experience with Elder Services and knows how its programs are valued by senior citizens.

"I love Meals on Wheels. My grandmother in New York got Meals on Wheels for three years, so I knew it was a good program, and then I got involved with it in college in Vermont. I thought it was a way to say thanks for the other service helping my grandmother," she said.

"I just think that it's nice that we provide them that peace of mind - that they don't have to worry about where that meal is coming from and that we're reliable and meeting their expectations," she continued. "It's nice to meet people I wouldn't normally be introduced to. You see a whole different side to the island."

Anyone interested in volunteering as a Meals on Wheels driver should call Hunt or Mark Budaj, the Elder Services Nutrition

Coordinator, at 228-4647. I