RU OK? Friendly Caller Program relaunches

The relaunch of a “friendly caller” program that began in the 1980s and gained popularity with a variety of nonprofit and governmental groups during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic will help ensure the safety of isolated individuals living in Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties. CDM Caregiving Services — Clark County’s largest and longest running in-home care provider for seniors and people with disabilities — relaunched the free RU OK? Friendly Caller Program on Jan. 1, thanks to a new, three-year $24,625 grant from the Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities of Southwest Washington. “We’re hoping to assist people who live alone in Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties,” Ginger Barnwell, CDM’s home care manager, said. “The program was in existence in the late 1980s and 1990s. We are relaunching the program with the grant, which we received in December.” The free “RU OK?” program connects isolated individuals with a CDM staff member who will make phone calls as needed to check in with elderly and disabled community members who live alone in the tri-county area and may be in need of a daily or weekly phone call to make sure everything is OK. “We can do daily calls, or weekly — it really just depends on the needs of that person,” Barnwell said. “We see how they’re doing. Do they need a reminder to take their medication? Our goal is to set it up with the client we’re calling to find out what works for them. Do we call each day? At a certain time of day? It’s on a case-by-case basis.” Barnwell, who has worked in the in-home caregiving industry for 15 years and with CDM for the past six years, said the relaunched RU OK? Friendly Caller Program is in its early days, with just a handful of clients, but the goal is to expand the program through word of mouth and referrals from the Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities and other service providers. “We’re just starting to get the word out that this program is in existence again,” Barnwell said. “We want to help people stay in their homes as long as they can.” The RU OK? Program can provide peace of mind for family members and friends who are worried about elderly or disabled loved ones living on their own, especially in more remote areas of Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties, Barnwell said. “This is a low-cost, potentially lifesaving service for people who don’t have any other safeguards in place. Say you have a neighbor who lives alone and their family lives in a different state and are working and maybe can’t call every day. We can do check-ins with that neighbor and ask things like, ‘How are you doing? Have you taken your meds? Have you made your doctor’s appointments?’ And we can, hopefully, catch things before it escalates to being unsafe for them,” Barnwell said. “If we’re unable to get a hold of them after a certain amount of time, which will be different for every client, we will call their emergency contacts,” Barnwell said. Program leaders have been working on getting word of the program’s relaunch out to the community. On Tuesday, CDM staff attended a Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (SALT) meeting in Vancouver to present information about the new RU OK? Friendly Caller Program. SALT is a cooperative effort that connects area seniors with members of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Camas and Vancouver police departments to better understand senior citizens’ concerns and improve senior crime-prevention efforts. “RU OK?” staff will provide more information about the relaunched friendly-caller program at the Camas SALT meeting set for 11 a.m. to noon on Monday, Jan. 27, at the Camas Police Station, 2100 N.E. Third Ave., Camas. For more information about CDM and the RU OK? Friendly Caller Program, visit cdmcaregiving.org or call 360-896-9695. IF YOU GO What: Information about the new “RU OK? Friendly Caller Program” for elderly and disabled people living alone in Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties Who: CDM Caregiving Services staff presentation during Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (SALT) meeting When: 11 a.m. to noon on Monday, Jan. 27 Where: Camas Police Station, 2100 N.E. Third Ave., Camas

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