These groups are asking you to help meet the needs of Orange County’s rural elderly

BY CHARLOTTE RIRIE

Doris Ray carefully opened her screen door as she greeted volunteer Kathleen “Kacky” Hammon into her home with a huge smile. Her excitement was unforgettable, her anticipation for weekly visits visible in her wise eyes that were opened wide.

At the end of the visit, Ray made her way down the newly constructed ramp from her front porch with her red walker to thank her dear friend Archie Daniel for everything he does.

Daniel, a retired captain at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, is also something of a community hero. He is the director of the Orange County Rural Alliance (OCRA) and long-time patron of Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (SALT). Daniel’s main mission is to assess the various needs of seniors in his community.

“They might need a ramp, occupation therapy, physical therapy or someone to start visiting them regularly,” Daniel said.

Orange County is home to several senior care initiatives that share the primary goal to maintain a quality of life worth living for the elderly population and to provide resources that may not be available to them otherwise. These organizations include SALT, OCRA, Handy Helpers and the Orange County Department on Aging (OCDOA).

Nancy Holt is a retired nurse and health care administrator. She sits on the board of OCRA and regularly volunteers with SALT.

“They tell us that sometimes we’re the only people they see,” Holt said of these seniors. “Isolation is one of the causes of decreased health; it exacerbates whatever medical condition someone may have. AARP calculates that 37 percent of all rural elderly suffer from acute isolation.”

These programs often focus their attention on community members in rural areas of the county because they have far less access to basic needs like transportation or grocery stores.

“Look at the community, look at your neighbors,” Holt said. “See who may need some help. That help may be only a visit, only a conversation, only a hug.”

Yvette Garcia Missri is an administrator for the volunteer programs division at the OCDOA and is a project manager for Project EngAGE, a senior leadership program. She works closely with Daniel to provide proper resources.

“Essentially Archie and I partner on two programs. The first one is our Handy Helpers program,” Missri said. “That program is a partnership between the Department on Aging and the Sheriff’s office. It’s all volunteer labor and the materials cost primarily comes from a fund that we have out of the Department on Aging .”

The Handy Helpers program volunteers construct ramps for seniors like Ray who have trouble using stairs.

“We are looking to find more volunteers to place in these community-based opportunities,” Missri said. “In my unit we have a volunteer coordinator and she is really good at vetting volunteers and placing them. The best place to start is with us.”

These programs emphasize the importance of visitation. They often pair volunteers with seniors to check up on them and have conversations.

“We just started a new partnership with a nursing home facility called Signature,” Missri said. “It’s one of the only Medicaid-eligible facilities (in the area), so it tends to have lower income people with less resources living there. Despite being in the heart of Chapel Hill, folks there are really isolated and don’t have a lot of people visiting them, don’t have a lot of connection.”

“What we try to do is that when someone contacts us, Shenae is usually in touch with them within hours and makes an appointment to meet with them within a couple of days,” Missri said.

She said the Department on Aging has other resources that they urge the community to utilize.

“We have an aging helpline that’s staffed every weekday by our social workers. They answer theoretically any aging question,” Missri said. “It’s a really good resource for just getting plugged into the system and getting connected.”

The Aging Helpline can be reached at (919) 968-2087.

If you’re interested in volunteering with one of these programs or have any questions, contact Volunteer Coordinator Shenae McPherson at (919) 245-4243.

Come see the work of Michelle Obama’s official portraitist and more at the Ackland

BY CHARLOTTE RIRIE

The Ackland Art Museum is honored to be the final destination of a portraiture exhibition from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

The Outwin: American Portraiture Todayrepresents winners from the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, a triennial event that showcases contemporary art. The exhibition will run until August 26.

Museum patron Lisa Many said she came out to the exhibition to support the arts.

“We heard the winner was the same person who did Michelle Obama’s portrait,” Many said. “I think it’s pretty relevant, timely.”

Amy Sherald, the winner of the 2016 competition, was recently commissioned by Michelle Obama to paint her official portrait which hangs in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Her portrait featured in the Outwin exhibition titled “Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)” explores themes of feminine expectations for young African American girls. Sherald’s art is no stranger to the Ackland. Her first solo exhibition was featured at UNC’s Sonya Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History in 2011. Sherald returned to Chapel Hill for a press event on June 1.

“She exudes confidence and energy; it was wonderful to work with her,” said Audrey Shore, the communications associate for the Ackland. “She’s very genuine and generous with her time.”

Peter Nisbet, the deputy director for curatorial affairs for the Ackland, said the museum felt lucky in that they had committed to present the exhibition before Amy Sherald won the commission to paint Michelle Obama as her official portraitist.

“We were convinced of the quality of the exhibition long before that happened,” he said.

The collection represents 43 different contemporary artists.

“I think a lot of (these artists) will rise to success,” Shore said. “Maybe not to the level of Amy Sherald, but for me, Tim Okurama stands out in particular, as well as Cynthia Henebry who finished in second place.”

Besides Okurama and Henerbry, other featured artists include Clarity Haynes, Rigoberto A. Gonzalez, Naoko Wowsugi and Sedrick Huckaby. These artists confront relevant themes such as shattering ideas of femininity, African American identity and immigration through their photography, paintings and multi-medium pieces.

“The artists are a representation of American and world culture as well as the arts,” Shore said. “To me, the exhibition is incredibly cohesive. Our layout of the show and the work that the curators did is fantastic. I think that each piece stands alone, but they all also work in concert.”

Nisbet encourages students to explore the collection before it returns to the Smithsonian.

“There are so many styles and approaches to portraiture, if you don’t like one, you can move on to the next,” he said.

Nisbet said he thinks viewers will relate to the intimacy of the portraits.

“I think there’s a lot to learn about human beings, about contemporary art, about identity, about social and gender roles,” he said. “I think students would really enjoy it, and I do urge them to come. There’s something for everybody.”

More information about this collection and other current exhibitions can be found on the museum’s website.