Like many people, we drove by nursing homes nearly every day and gave no thought to the people inside. We were blind- maybe because of our own busy lives, or our youth-centered culture, or our unwillingness to consider what might be beyond those doors.
When Todd's mother first entered a long-term care home, our eyes were opened to the great need within. When we visited her, there were countless residents who called out to us, eager to say hello. We began to stop and chat with several residents we encountered in the lobby or in the hallways. Soon, we started gathering our new friends in the lobby in one big group so we could visit with them all at once. Sometimes we stayed and went to the dining room with them for dinner, sitting with our friends, chatting, and helping them open salt packets or grabbing extra napkins.
The more we visited, the more we realized that there were so many residents who were lonely and in need of companionship. We also saw that most residents were impoverished and often had need of new socks, shoes, clothes, toiletries and other basic needs that we just thought were always taken care of by the facility or by family members. When we learned that 60-80% of nursing home residents never receive a single visitor, we knew we could not meet their needs alone.
With the support of our pastors, we launched a new ministry of our church and adopted the nursing home in which Todd's mother lived.
God was faithful to bring along just the right people at just the right time. Before the pandemic, you could find us at the nursing home every Sunday afternoon, offering Sunday school, singing hymns, praying with residents, visiting with residents, and helping residents and staff any way we could. It wasn't long before we thought, "why aren't more churches doing this?" And then we started to get questions like, "Do you go to other nursing homes too? My dad's nursing home really needs this."
We used the time of the covid lockdowns to start the process of incorporating and becoming a 501(c)(3) with the goal of expanding our outreach and helping other churches or groups get involved. We also got creative with how we could still help nursing homes without going inside their facilities. This is how we started many of our printable resources for activities directors.
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Faithful Friends Kentucky is a charitable organization 501(c)(3) incorporated in the state of Kentucky.
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