TRU Community Care offers many wonderful programs including TRU PACE, Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly. TRU PACE coordinates and provides all needed preventive, primary, acute, and long-term care services so that older individuals can continue living safely in their community.

TRU PACE also offers a ton of fun to participants! The PACE schedule is always jam-packed with fun activities ranging from art therapy, bingo, Zumba, yoga, pet therapy, and so much more. Holidays are always exciting here at PACE and This Thursday was no exception. PACE was full of fun activities including a Valentine’s Day Dance from 1:00-3:00 pm in the Day Room. Jerry the D.J. played the afternoon away while participants sang a long and hit the dance floor. TRU PACE gives participants the opportunity to socialize, celebrate, and have fun with their peers. If you’re interested in learning more about our program or just seeing all the entertainment, schedule a tour with us today!  

When the holidays are over, we can experience a letdown kind of sadness and depression. Family and friends have gone home, all of the gatherings are over, the decorations have come down, and we are left with more time alone. In some ways, this may be a relief. In others, it may remind us that we no longer have buffers for our feelings as we did with so many holiday distractions around.

As we move through the darkest, coldest, shortest days of the year, we also find ourselves indoors more often, and this in itself can be depressing and lonely. There are some things we can do to make this time of year easier and prevent some post-holiday depression.

• Get outside during the day when the sun is out, even if it is just for a short walk. Mild exercise and sunlight help replenish our bodies and spirits.

• Make efforts to connect with people you enjoy and who can understand your experience. If you reconnected with someone over the holidays that you feel can support you, let them know that you would like to continue having them in your life. Making plans once or twice a month can keep you connected to the support system you have.

• Grief support groups offer you a chance to be with other people who have gone through loss and similar experiences. Even if you have never been “a group kind of person”, support groups can provide invaluable information, support and comfort in discovering that you truly are not alone. TRU Community Care offers a number of groups, as do many faith communities.

• Take time to send cards or letters to people you saw or hoped to see during the holidays. This will help remind you that you do have connections with others that will go on throughout the rest of the year.

The holidays may have brought up feelings that you thought you were done having or ones you didn’t know you had. While it may be hard to sit still with the silence and feel the discomfort, it is often in this very silence and stillness that we rediscover the true depth of our sorrow and the true depth of our love.

Julie has been volunteering with TRU for four years and is very committed to her volunteer work and our mission.

Julie first got involved with TRU after losing a close friend, at a young age, to cancer. Her friend did not get hospice care and Julie realized what an amazing gift hospice could have been to her friend and their family. After losing her friend she vowed to do something for others in her friend’s honor, and that’s how she found TRU.

Julie currently volunteers at our Care Center weekly. When talking about her volunteer work there she said,

“I absolutely love it. The staff, patients, and families are amazing, and it is such a gift to be there. Each week is a different experience, and I feel honored to be with the patients and families during this intimate time.”

TRU is lucky to have so many amazing volunteers at all of our locations, but we are always looking for more. We asked Julie what she would tell someone interested in volunteering with TRU and she said,

“Be prepared to have your life changed and your heart moved!”

Not only has Julie been a regular and dedicated volunteer but Julie recently set up a birthday fundraiser that was wonderfully successful in both raising funds and awareness for TRU. Julie explained,

“I am blessed with extremely generous friends and family members. In years past, I have suggested we all serve food for my birthday and spend time serving others, rather than giving gifts. This year, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude in all that I have and wanted to focus more on giving it to an organization that could impact more lives than I am able to. TRU was the natural and obvious choice because I see first-hand how TRU makes a difference in so many. Honestly, it was a simple gesture, and I was pleased that people donated, but also that it raised more awareness for the organization.”

Like Julie has shown, there are many creative ways you can help support TRU with everything from dedicated volunteer work to social media promotion and fundraisers. If you’re interested in helping TRU raise necessary fund for the end of the year please contact our Development Department at scarlettreynaud@trucare.org.

TRU Community Care Interim CEO Pat Mehnert recently was interviewed by Kaiser Health News for their Navigating Aging column. Read the article here.