Because of the Baptist Foundation of Alabama (BFA), 88-year-old Grace Davis of Montgomery was home for Christmas again this year.
For the second year in a row, the Foundation hosted it annual client Christmas party Dec. 13 in Montgomery as a continuing part of its elder care ministry.
Eighty-five people, including Davis, attended the catered luncheon at Capitol Heights Baptist Church, served by Foundation staff and their spouses. “It gives them an opportunity to get out and fellowship with others,” said Randy Driggers, BFA vice president for development, who pointed out that elder care ministry extends beyond the normal scope of Foundation services.
“It’s a wonderful thing, especially for people who don’t have anybody,” said Davis, a widow. “I have nieces and nephews, and they are sweet and good to me, but I could not stay in Montgomery without the Foundation. They are my family.”
Davis, who also celebrated her 88th birthday Dec. 13, is one of many who rely heavily on the Foundation to take on the responsibilities that often fall to immediate family during aging and the health-related situations that accompany it. Davis recently leaned on the Foundation to get her through a couple of major health crises. First, she had a heart attack. Then she fell and broke a hip.
Help in tough times
“By the time they got me to the hospital, Tom Randall with the Foundation was there. He was there till they did surgery and got me in my room.” Randall also arranged for somebody to stay with her when she was moved to a nursing home and then arranged round-the-clock home help for three months.
Davis became dependent on Foundation ministry after her daughter Linda died five years ago while Davis suffered severe health problems of her own. Her daughter had entrusted her estate to the Foundation and asked for care for her mother. To become a recipient of this Foundation ministry, one must establish a relationship through a trust or will that designates money to Baptist causes.
The Baptist Foundation of Alabama is unique in the kind of care it provides its clients, according to Randall, vice president for ministry. “Not only do we handle their trusts, but we commit to our clients that we’ll walk with them through life, and if they come to a point where they need us to assist them through life, we’ll do that.”
Therefore, the Foundation maintains contact with clients, particularly those in nursing homes. Frequency of contact depends upon the level of need. The Foundation currently provides intensive care to 17 clients, helping them manage day-to-day living. Randall sees another 27 clients every couple of weeks. He stays in contact with another 40 to ensure they are still managing life independently. The Foundation has about 100 clients altogether. “Our ministry to them depends on their level of need.”
This extra service helps meet physical, emotional and spiritual needs of those clients, in particular, who have no family or children.
Although many do have church families — and Randall calls on their churches and friends to provide ministry as well — the level of service that the Foundation provides may become quite extensive.
For example, Randall often shops for clients, buying groceries or clothing. For the holidays he shopped for Christmas vests for a couple of women in assisted living so they could attend holiday gatherings. He also keeps those in nursing homes stocked with lotion and tissues.
He often takes clients to doctors, picks up their prescriptions and secures home help. If a client is hearing impaired or has short-term memory problems, Randall listens to a doctor’s instructions on his or her behalf.
Clients sometimes transfer power of attorney and turn over responsibility for managing their health care to the Foundation.
“We advocate and intercede for them,” Randall said. That may mean arranging a change of residence if necessary. It always includes responding to emergency situations.
“Someone is on call 24/7,” said Randall, who noted that other Foundation officers also provide ministry. He himself spends about 90 percent of his time out of the office, caring for the needs of clients.
Because he served as pastor of First Baptist Church, Union Springs, a church with many senior adults, for 25 years, Randall was able to draw on that experience for Foundation ministry. “I’ve always been heavily involved in ministry to senior adults, although not to the degree that our ministry requires.”
If a client faces a medical crisis, Randall may have to arrange ongoing care until that person is back on his or her feet.
Most clients are not wealthy according to Randall, but they may have accumulated resources, all or some of which they want distributed to Baptist causes after their death.
Once a relationship is formed with the Foundation, it is a commitment that BFA honors no matter the outcome, according to Randall. That means if money willed to a charity is actually eaten up by health care costs, ministry continues. “At some point in time, we may have to exhaust all those resources, and when they die they may not have a penny. That’s all right with us.”
He finds the ministry personally rewarding. “The rewarding aspect of this ministry is to analyze the situation, determine what the goals are and to determine the plan.” Seeing a person who has been in a decline level off or improve is particularly rewarding, said Randall.
Recently he arranged to take a client with Alzheimer’s to a Christmas program with two of her friends “simply because she will enjoy being there and hearing it.”
Randall said he knew that when he stopped by for coffee on his way to work the morning after she wouldn’t remember the outing. “But for the moment, I tried to bring up the quality of her life.”
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