Family Caregivers Center of Mercy
Need help?
Call (319) 221-8866 to learn more.
Family caregivers provide unpaid care for individuals with chronic conditions who are unable to care for themselves. The Family Caregivers Center of Mercy is Eastern Iowa’s only comprehensive resource serving family caregivers caring for adults. Services are available for caregivers regardless of their hospital or physician affiliation.
How We Can Help
The Family Caregivers Center can help in many ways. Opportunities available to family caregivers and their families include:
- 1-on-1 interviews with trained volunteers (provides emotional support and connection to resources)
- Resource Lending Library
- Educational Sessions & Events (monthly calendar gives listings)
- Centered monthly newsletter
- The Mindful Caregiver book discussion* (12-week series and support group)
- Passages in Caregiving book discussion* (5-week series)
- Male Caregiver Coffee
- Drop-in Support Group (with 10-minute chair massages*)
- Teen Caregiver Support Group
- Music & Memory*
- Creative Art* for caregivers and care receivers
- Music Therapy* for caregivers and care receivers
- Chair Yoga* for caregivers and care receivers
- Q&A with Veteran’s Affairs
- Powerful Tools for Caregivers* (6-week series)
- Finances of Caregiving* (4-week series)
- Transitioning Out of Caregiving (4-week series and support group)
- Volunteer Companion Respite
* There may be charges associated with these programs.
Virtual Tour of the Center
Family caregivers often don’t know what help they need, where to find it, how to access services or determine eligibility, and what to do if what they thought would work, doesn’t.
Because so much of their time and energy is spent caring for their loved one and trying to access community resources, unsupported family caregivers are less likely to take care of their own physical, mental and emotional needs.
That’s where we can help. Start by looking through some frequently asked questions in our Caregivers Guide (PDF).
How does the Family Caregivers Center help?
The Family Caregivers Center provides access to vital services and helps connect caregivers to local resources, which may include:
- Hourly or overnight respite.
- Task volunteers to assist with housework, offer companionship or run errands, for example.
- Educational sessions.
- Access to resources.
- Therapies, including art, music, pet or massage, if needed.
The Family Caregivers Center of Mercy has already developed working relationships with the United Way, the Heritage Agency on Aging, Aging Services and the Alzheimer's Association, all of which support this innovative service.
“A day in the life” at the Family Caregivers Center of Mercy
Caregivers may call the center directly. They may also be referred by medical or human service professionals, friends and/or other caregivers.
Trained volunteers will initially provide one-on-one visits with caregivers to discuss specific plans to connect them to appropriate community services, if appropriate, and follow-up on a regular basis. The caregivers relationship with the center remains as long as the caregiver wishes.
The impact of the service provided will be evaluated. The Family Caregivers Center of Mercy, on day one, began a commitment to evaluation of results and feedback leading to a cycle of continuous improvement.
How can I help now?
If this is an initiative you connect with and want to support – thank you! You may donate to support the development of an endowment that will sustain the center for years to come. Volunteer opportunities will also be available – submit your interest to volunteer here and we will keep your information and follow-up with interested members of the community.
In the News
When Tim Charles, president and chief executive officer of Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, called up Kathy Good in April 2014 to ask for her help on a new project, she jumped at the opportunity.
Good, a former caregiver herself, knew how desperately this proposed new service was needed. Read more from The Gazette article, June 20, 2015.
The Family Caregivers Center of Mercy provides services and financial need-based aid to caregivers regardless of the identity of a caregiver's or care receiver 's health care provider or insurance status. No purchase or use of items or services from Mercy is necessary to receive services and financial need-based aid provided by the Family Caregivers Center.
