Are you ready to launch a volunteer-based Respite Ministry in your community? We will show you how. The Respite for All Foundation guides churches and other organizations in how to build communities of well-being and connection for our friends living with dementia.
As you make your plans to establish a Respite Ministry in your community, be sure to email June Jernigan, RFA Resource Director, at [email protected] and let us lead you through a checklist for your success.
RFA is on a mission to expand this meaningful response to a growing social need. And we have no doubt that the time is right for a volunteer-based Respite model like ours in your neighborhood.
The Roadmap online training program provides knowledge, insights and best practices that have helped launch and sustain nearly 40 communities. You’ll also get the support of staff as well as a network of respite directors who are here to encourage and guide you along the way.
The Spirit of Respite
Several key features of the RFA model make it easy to replicate and sustain, including:
- No Overhead – Communities are housed in churches where space is available during the week for no cost.
- Minimal Paid Staff – Churches have armies of volunteers willing to serve if given the vision.
- Social Program – A medical staff is not needed because no medical care or meds are dispensed during the four hours of gathering.
- Daily Tuition – Fees set by local programs greatly offsets costs (suggested $40.00 a day.)
- Insurance – This is typically covered under the umbrella policy of the church because this is a social model.
- A Faith-based Volunteer Model – invites community partners, such as local churches, businesses, and private donors willing to support a response to Alzheimer’s.
What gets the ball rolling is a champion – someone like you who wants to see this happen and gets the conversations started – and champions the cause.
In several instances, ministries within our network were sparked by the experience of being a caregiver to a parent or a spouse who learned about the benefits that Respite provides. The launch of a Respite Ministry has also come from community members seeing a need and looking for a way that the church can respond.
Anyone can be a champion of Respite, and Respite needs all sorts of ‘anyones.’
“Respite is like a breath of fresh air in lives that have gone stagnant. It is an anchor for lives that have been overwhelmed by a gulf of anxiety, unfamiliarity and tremendous uncertainty. It provides an opportunity for people who have time in their lives to pour into others, but don’t quite know how or where or what to do, which in turn provides the foundation for surprising relationships and camaraderie with those you come to serve.Respite is defined by the prefix ‘inter,’ as in interdenominational, intergenerational, interracial, intergender (if that is a word) and inter-acceptance (meaning you are accepted at whatever point you are in life with whatever you can or cannot bring to the table). Respite is where someone who is sinking can find solid ground. To borrow an old Charlie Brown phrase: Respite is a warm blanket.”
Tricia Seay
FUMC Respite volunteer and RFA Board Member
If you’re interested and want to learn more, the Respite for All Roadmap will be your guide. Why reinvent the wheel when you have the whole program already laid out? Our Roadmap is an online training program that provides the knowledge and resources to establish a sustainable Respite Community. It immerses you in strategies for program launch and longevity success. When you purchase this program, you will get instant access to six different modules that will help you take your community to the next level, which includes:
- Standard Group Training for New Directors
- Cost-effective Tools to Make Volunteer Communities Sustainable
- Shared Best Practices for Existing and New Volunteer Communities
- Coaching for New Directors
- Education and Support
- Training for RFA Communities
- Marketing Samples and Ideas that RFA Communities Can Reproduce
This intensive program won’t just help you get up and running, but it will help you enhance your program’s activities, adopt more intentional and purposeful engagement, learn more about the leading types of dementias, and so much more. For more information, or if you’re ready to get started …