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Caught Between Generations: Why In-Home Care Keeps Families Whole
Connie cares for her mother while raising her own children. Without CASL’s In-Home Service, life would be “10 times, 100 times more stressful,” and she couldn’t work full time.
Health and Wellness
Written by Fareine Suarez, CASL Director of Marketing and Communications
In his later years with Alzheimer’s, Connie’s father may not have known the name of the woman who came to care for him. But whenever she walked through the door, he smiled.
“I think he just knows that she was a kind person,” Connie said.
Connie, a full-time nurse and mother of three, has been a caregiver for most of her adult life. When her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s around 2008, her children were very young and her mother was still working. “Even being a nurse, it’s really hard to understand that kind of cognitive decline,” she said. “Each day is different.”
Someone suggested she contact her local agency. Her parents lived in Chinatown Square, and she called CASL. An in-home aide was matched with her father.
When others told the family to move him to a nursing home, the aide had a different answer, Connie said: “I can help with him when you’re not here.”
Their aide stayed with the family until he passed away in 2019.
After his death, Connie’s mother moved into senior housing, and CASL matched her with an aide there too. “My mom trusts her totally,” Connie said.
Connie describes herself as part of the “sandwich generation,” caring for her mother while raising her own children. Without CASL’s In-Home Service, she said, life would be “10 times, 100 times more stressful,” and she probably couldn’t work full time. “It’s provided me a lot of freedom to do things and not worry when I can’t be there.”
Keeping elders at home “as long as possible and as safe as possible” also protects them from isolation, she said. “Home caregivers give them a sense of companionship that families sometimes can’t provide.”
“I’m so grateful that the services are still around and flourishing,” she said.
Carry the care forward
Someone carried the care forward for Connie’s family. Now it’s our turn. Some of CASL’s most valued programs, including Pine Tree Senior Council and Enhanced Fitness, receive no public funding. They exist because donors like you choose to support them. Less than $20 a month helps a senior build strength and balance and stay independent. We’re asking 100 people to give by December 31.
If your family needs help
CASL’s In-Home Service helps older adults stay safely at home. Families may also find caregiver support, childcare, and brain health programs. Call (312) 791-0418 or visit our In-Home Service page to learn more.
