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Story Core: Meet Loretta and Kerri
Several years ago, Loretta moved to the Tulsa area to live closer to Kerri, one of her four grown children. After Loretta remarried, Kerri and her three siblings grew concerned over her living situation and possible abuse. They contacted LIFE Senior Services for assistance and were connected with Cassie, LIFE’s DVIS Outreach Client Support Advocate. Cassie was able to guide the family through some major changes.
Kerri wrote to LIFE: “When I first reached out to you, I was at the end of my rope not knowing what to do with my mom’s situation. You were amazing and kind. You patiently walked me through the next steps and a safety plan. More importantly, I had a lifeline with an experienced professional who could take our family through this major life adjustment.”
Thanks to a partnership with Domestic Violence Intervention Services (DVIS), and the support of people like you, LIFE can serve Loretta, and many others like her. Cassie listened to Loretta and her family and provided them with all of the support they needed through one organization, LIFE.
Growing up in Rosebud, Arkansas, Loretta wore dresses her mother made and spent many of her childhood summers working in the fields of her family’s farm. When boll weevils got the cotton, the farm was lost and the family resettled in Kansas City.
Loretta reflected, “Each of us has a story. I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood. I had the best mom and dad.” As a mother raising her own four children, Loretta also managed to care for her husband through 16 challenging years of debilitating multiple sclerosis.
Later in Tulsa, Loretta encountered a dangerous, detrimental ongoing situation. Now, after all she has survived, Loretta is safe. She has a clean, affordable place to live through LIFE’s Vintage Housing. She said, “You don’t know how many people are out there and need help. LIFE helped me and I am so grateful.”
Her daughter Kerri reports, “Happy shows up in her conversations with her family, with her physical presentation, and through her bloodwork. My mom’s blood sugar level has gone down, her A1C has gone down, her weight has improved, and her blood pressure has normalized.”
As a postscript, months after we first published this story, Loretta, reluctantly at first, agreed to seek counseling to address the trauma she encountered. As a result, she is now one of our most vocal advocates for counseling, encouraging friends and neighbors to reach out for the help they need and deserve.
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Meet Marybeth
LIFE’s SeniorLine recently received a call for help from a diabetic, 82-year old woman. Marybeth, had been shaking so badly she dropped and broke her blood/sugar monitor. The insurance company wouldn’t pay to replace it, and she couldn’t get through on the phone to her healthcare provider while their network was down. So, she called LIFE’s SeniorLine crying, scared, and frustrated.
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Meet Linda and Chris
What does a hard-working, new to Tulsa, single professional do when a parent needs 24-hour monitoring? Dr. Christopher Allen would say, “Word of mouth is probably the best way to find services, no matter what you are looking for. Several of my friends recommended LIFE, and I couldn’t be more pleased, honestly.”
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Meet Janet and Gil
Like so many other people who take on the role of caretaker for a loved one, Janet had no advance preparation or training. Fortunately, she was referred to LIFE’s Caretaker Support Program. “I didn’t know about senior daycare, I didn’t know about PACE. I didn’t know about any of it. But through talking to Erin (LIFE, LPC and case manager), she guided me in the right direction.”