Roughly 18% of Arizona’s population is 65 and older. Many of those seniors rely on help for meal delivery or rides to doctor’s appointments. But come summertime, there’s a major shortage of volunteers.
Sheryl Keeme is the executive director of Neighbors Who Care in Sun Lakes and South Chandler, a group that connects seniors with volunteers.
"The bulk of our volunteers are senior citizens as well. Many of them are in their late 60s or early 70s," explains Keeme.
And around this time of year, she says about two-thirds of them leave, either because they're snowbirds and they're heading home for the summer or they're traveling.
Keeme says her organization, along with others like it, will be launching an awareness campaign to spread the word about the intense need for volunteers around the state and Maricopa County.
"We are a retirement state, and we are, by virtue of that, going to have a higher need, and a higher incidence of other diseases like dementia where we are needing to provide respite care," she said.
And she says these needs are only going to grow. One reason is that many older adults can’t afford paid caregiving services.
