Dec. 14, 2008 — The Friends of the Herbert Grigg Home are on a mission to enhance the living conditions of elders in the community through philanthropic donations and services.
Last Christmas, a group of local women recognized that they have a moral obligation to take care of elders, so they formed the Friends to fill gaps in meeting the needs of the residents at the home.
"It is important to take care of our senior citizens," says Luz "Tutti" Highfield, co-coordinator of the Friends. "It isn't just up to the government."
The Herbert Grigg Home for the aged is a V.I. government facility under the Department of Human Services. The home's budget comes from the government's General Fund, with no federal funding. The facility is staffed 24 hours a day to provide two levels of care: longterm medical and intermediary.
The home currently has 40 residents, with a list of 25 seniors waiting to get in. There is a shortage of beds for senior citizens on St. Croix, says Vera Falu, director of the home for 12 years and deputy commissioner for the Department of Human Services.
"That is the understatement of the century," Highfield says. "Hence we started the Friends."
There is actually space for more beds at Herbert Grigg, but the Frederiksted Health Clinic is taking up the space temporarily while mold remediation is taking place at the clinic. That work began in April and should have been completed by now. The Department of Health hasn't given Falu a date when the clinic will move back to Frederiksted.
According to Falu, a room costs $10,000 to completely furnish, from beds to bureaus.
"We need hospital beds, flame-retardant bedding, room-dividing curtains and special mattresses to prevent bedsores," she says. "These are not ordinary furnishings. We lovingly make the rooms pretty, too."
The rooms are named after estates on St. Croix, and some feature bright madras curtains.
"Our goal is to help provide a happy, healthy and safe environment for our local elderly citizens," Highfield says.
Falu is the force behind the group, Highfield says.
"There have always been friends of the home advocating,donating and supporting the aged," Falu says."They just needed someone to formalize and to harness all the talents and energy. "
The organization is a fiduciary under the umbrella of the St. Croix Foundation. Virginia Angus and Graciela Lee are co-coordinators along with Highfield. The group consists of a core group of 10 members.
The Friends will hold a Christmas Cocktail party at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday on the lawn at Herbert Grigg, located off the Queen Mary Highway just before Superior Court. Members will be on hand to give out information on how to become a Friend of the Herbert Grigg Home and how to sponsor a room or pledge tax- deductible financial support. For more information, contact Highfield at 778-0553 or Angus at 773-0289.
"We are all going to be old one day," Highfield says. "Anyone of us could be in a situation needing help to have a better quality of life."
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