Archive for February, 2010
We can’t start over
President Obama has called for a bipartisan health care summit to start the stalled reform legislation moving again, but once again, Republicans are stalling. First, they released a long list of conditions that can’t possibly be met. For starters, they want the Democrats — the party that won the last election, by the way — [...]
Snowed out
The Consumers Union Activists’ Summit got postponed, so I’ll have time to write some letters to members of Congress and some grant proposals. Washington is snowed in, which means members of Congress are there to receive our letters. We need to keep up the pressure and let our legislators know we want health care done [...]
Dreary days
More rain, ice and snow. We haven’t had four consecutive dry days in weeks and my yard is a mud pit. It’s hard to keep up one’s energy. But things are taking off, and we’re looking for ways to raise money for Life o’ Mike. Word is spreading, and I frequently run into people I [...]
We have an office
We signed the lease on an office today. I was hoping for something downtown in Asheville, but I never thought we’d be able to afford anything. I came across this one quite by chance. I had been at a Homeless Coalition meeting at the United Way building. After the meeting I crossed the hall to [...]
Never give up!
As they say in “Galaxy Quest,: Never give up! Never Surrender! I’m heading to Sen. Kay Hagan’s Asheville office this afternoon with a group sponsored by MoveOn.org to deliver a survey that shows many North Carolinians won’t work to support candidates who didn’t come through on health care. With five people dying every hour, this [...]
Have a beer in May
Stop into Altamont Brewing, 1042 Haywood Road, West Asheville, any time in May and ask for their "charity" beer of the day. Buy one and Life o' Mike gets $1. In fact, we get a buck for each one sold. So go in every day and have one to support Life o' Mike.
Thanks, Altamont!
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
Start From Seed
Life o' Mike has a new program- Start from Seed (SFS).
SFS is a volunteer doula program aimed at providing non-medical, comprehensive support to low income, high-risk women and families of Buncombe County focusing on three areas:
1. We help new doulas with certification and training in return for their participation as a volunteer doula for SFS
2. We mentor volunteer doulas with their first few clients
3. Our volunteer doulas provide birth and postpartum doula services to low income, high risk moms, providing support and tools to empower them as a new parent.
A birth doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; a postpartum doula provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.
Start from Seed clients are referred to us from the Buncombe County Department of Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program, Western North Carolina Community Health Services, and Mission Hospital. The Program is intended and designed for growing clients’ inner strength and helping them gain empowerment to help them cope with the emotional, physical and mental challenges of childbirth, labor, and motherhood.
Our new moms and their infants have many needs. If you would like to help them get off to a good start, please visit our Start from Seed web site: Start from Seed, or call Program Director Chelsea Kouns at 804-814-9946.