Pulling Together
During pandemic, staff and volunteers have provided services to Sandoval County seniors
Sandoval County is still serving senior citizens with food, transportation and phone calls during the COVID-19 pandemic. County Community Services Manager for Senior Programs Janice Mortensen said her 69 staff members have worked hard and, in some cases, taken on new duties to take care of seniors. “I’m just amazed at how they all pulled together to support the services needed,” she said. Employees who couldn’t do their regular duties — such as providing in-home help — because of pandemic restrictions are helping with meal service, meal site sanitation, transportation and phone wellness checks. On their own time, staff members have also sent cards to home-bound seniors and painted rocks to hand out as encouraging gifts. Mortensen said all seven senior centers in the county conduct drivethru hot-meal service Monday through Friday. County employees also deliver meals to home-bound senior citizens on weekdays, including frozen meals for the weekend. Mortensen said more seniors have used meal services since the pandemic began. The county provides around 1,000 meals a day from drive-thru and delivery services combined, for a total of about 89,000 meals from March 16 through July 31. Also, the state Aging and Long-Term Services Department asked Sandoval County to serve as a food-pantry hub site. Mortensen said the county distributed more than 1,200 food boxes over four weeks from the Cuba, Jemez, Peña Blanca and Bernalillo senior centers. Sandoval County normally offers free transportation for seniors, but state guidelines prohibited the service for anything except urgent medical care such as dialysis or cancer treatment until well into the summer. Mortensen said her staff can now take seniors to necessary but non-urgent medical appointments such as quarterly diabetes checkups. The requests for transportation have increased greatly, she said. Only one or two passengers are allowed at a time, everyone must wear masks and employees sanitize the vehicle between trips. Also, senior program employees have conducted regular wellness checks since March, she said. “We’re just calling to make sure they’re OK, (see) if there’s anything they need, if they have any questions,” Mortensen said. Staff members at each senior center check in with clients from once a week to once a month, depending on the number of clients at the center. She said if employees find someone who seems unwell, they call the person’s emergency contact. Sandoval County has more than 250 seniors in its volunteer programs under normal circumstances. The people who serve as Foster Grandparents in schools or Senior Companions haven’t been able to do those activities. However, Retired Senior Volunteer Program participants have been making cloth masks at home, providing 1,000 of them for county employees and seniors volunteering at meal drivethru sites. “So this group of volunteers has been working really hard on their own,” Mortensen said. Project Linus, an Albuquerque nonprofit, and some staff members have donated supplies, she said. Community organizations have helped the county support seniors during the pandemic. When some senior program employees couldn’t work because of their high risk for complications from COVID-19, Mortensen said, the Rio Rancho Community Emergency Response Team has helped at food sites. Churches have provided gift bags with toiletries, food and games, and two Fire House Subs restaurants in Albuquerque donated about 1,000 free meals over two days when supply chain problems kept the county from getting needed food, Mortensen said. People needing to register themselves or someone else for county senior services can call Mortensen at 867-7547. All services are free, unless seniors choose to donate to them. “Our No. 1 priority is our seniors,” she said. Other resources are at newmexico. gov/i-need-assistance/.