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“What is happening here?” That question has run through Kris’s mind many times recently as life has thrown her some curve balls. With her stepmother’s cancer, her father’s unexpected passing, and her stepmother’s death less than one year later, Kris’s world has been turned upside down. In the midst of the turmoil, she turned to Council on Aging (COA) for help. 

In 2022, caring for her stepmother, Marchita, at home became too much for her father. So Kris, who lived nearby, knew she could help, but couldn’t do it alone.  “My dad wanted to keep her at home. They had a beautiful home and she loved being there.”

Council on Aging’s Fast Track Home program (FTH) provided transportation, home delivered meals and, most importantly, an outlet for Kris. 

“As a nurse practitioner, I know how to do a lot, but I’m only one person,” Kris admits. “With COA on board, I didn’t have to be the advocate and I wasn’t the only caregiver; we had that with COA. As a caregiver, it doesn’t matter if you’re a professional, you feel like you’re carrying the weight of all the decisions and resources. To know I could call COA to help keep us as normal as we could be, to bounce things off of…that was a blessing.”

Over the next two years, COA helped Kris and her family navigate a less-than-ideal situation. After transitioning from FTH, Marchita received services from the Hamilton County Elderly Services Program (ESP) including home delivered meals and referrals to community resources.

COA’s support meant the world to Kris. “Because we had COA, I got a break – I was able to be the daughter.”

Then it was determined that her father needed surgery; thus Marchita was to temporarily live in a nursing home. COA arranged transportation to the nursing home. Kris planned for COA to help her father after his surgery.

The day before Marketa was to go to her temporary home, Kris’s father died unexpectedly.

With her father’s sudden death, Kris was grieving and overwhelmed with needing to provide support for her stepmother who needed 24/7 care. COA provided resources for Kris to find housing options for her stepmother as well as referrals to other community resources.

“It was a horrible situation, but I hold onto the good things – and COA was a good thing,” Kris says with a smile.  “COA gave us two years that I didn’t think they had – and my father and Marchita were together, like they wanted to be.”