Showing Appreciation To Caregivers

STARKVILLE, Miss.(WCBI) – It’s National Family Caregivers Month.

This weekend the Starkville Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated made it a point to honor those dedicating their lives to care for others.

“We want people to know that we do appreciate them,”said Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority member Santee Ezell.

It’s not an easy job, caring for those who can’t care for themselves, but it’s Candace Williams everyday reality.

“I get up at five in the morning to check on them both. My mom has a schedule, my dad has a schedule. I’d get my dad out of the way first. Then I take care of my mom because she has lost her independence. So, I pretty much take care of her to make sure her needs are met. In the meantime I take care of myself also,”said full-time caregiver Candace Williams.

She’s been caring for an aging father and a mother diagnosed with Dementia for almost a decade now.

She tells the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha she wouldn’t be able to care for them if she didn’t start caring for her self.

“I had to take it upon myself to start taking care of me .That’s how I’m able to take care of my parents and even function mentally to take care of them. So, health checks, check up’s all of that to be able to take care of them,”said Williams.

This event was new for the organization. Ezell says the caregivers are blessings.

“It takes a lot of them on a day to day basis. Of course they are unpaid. We just wanted to take this time to celebrate them,”said Ezell.

“I’m in awe! I didn’t even know this day or month existed until now,”said Williams.

Statistics show there are roughly 40 million unpaid caregivers of adults ages 65 and older in the United States.