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Story Core: Meet Patti
Increasing challenges to her health and finances caused Patti to make the move from her family home to a smaller apartment. Patti relies on a wheelchair and can no longer drive, so when the need for dialysis arose, she faced an even more daunting dilemma. How could she afford to pay for the transportation to dialysis three times each week and still maintain her housing?
Her ride to dialysis cost $70 each way, and missing these vital treatments was not an option. She was days away from losing her apartment when a social worker at the dialysis center connected Patti to LIFE Senior Services to see if they could help.
“They called me and said they were going to start taking me to my treatments”, Patti recalls. “I am so grateful to get the help. I didn’t know what I would do. Thank you!”
Patti’s predicament illustrates the critical need LIFE’s transportation service fills for so many vulnerable seniors in our community. Most people, even with financial means, would be shocked at the price of specialty transportation.
Her anticipated costs were astounding and left her with the life-threatening choice between her health and her housing. That is until your partnership with LIFE gave Patti a LIFE line.
For seniors, missed medical appointments lead to poor health outcomes, increased medical expenses, and isolation. LIFE aims to bridge this gap and recently added more vehicles dedicated to medical transportation for vulnerable older adults in our community.
According to the American Hospital Association, 3.6 million adults each year miss critical medical appointment due to lack of transportation. Many of these are seniors facing similar dilemmas as Patti.
Your support will help keep these cars on the road and make sure Patti, and others like her, have reliable, compassionate transport. This program, and all of LIFE’s work, is only possible with your support.
Discover More Stories
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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.”