Support Our Island Home At The Ballot Next Tuesday

To the editor:  I am writing to comment on the Our Island Home issue and to express my concern over its potential loss. I have been a visiting volunteer to Our Island Home with my therapy dog Gwen for the past 10 years. I have not had a family member there ….. But I have experienced several of my family members being residents of specialized care facilities in the past, and I know firsthand how important having family and friends nearby is to the residents of these facilities.

My concern is this - if we no longer have a nursing facility on island for islanders in need of special care and they have to reside (either temporarily or permanently) off island, family and friends will not be able to provide the regular visits and emotional support that these residents need to maintain as high a quality of life as possible. As a regular volunteer visitor, I can see just how important these visits are to the well-being of the residents and also to the visitors themselves as they watch over their loved ones and friends, remaining a part of the community of people who have been a part of the residents’ lives.

I also want to say that I don’t think people realize how much of the care at Our Island Home is dedicated to those short-termers who need a place to get the care and rehab therapy they need to be able to return to their regular daily lives. An important part of that rehab is the regular visits and support of family and friends….

As someone who has recently entered my 70s, I don’t have plans to reside in a nursing home but I do expect that I will have physical issues that may require a temporary stay or two (or more) at a facility like Our Island Home to recover from a surgery or medical issue… To be forced to be off-island in a facility far from my home community of support and love would feel devastating and certainly not helpful to my rehabilitation.

Finally, when I moved to Nantucket to become a year-rounder back in 2011, I quickly became aware of how close knit this island community was as I witnessed friends and neighbors caring for each other in so many ways when a need appeared - from coming together to find a lost dog to raising funds to help someone facing unexpected hospital costs, and much, much more. I would hope that this same thoughtful care and concern would extend to our most vulnerable - those of us who have been a part of the community and find ourselves in need of either temporary or permanent specialized care.

Remember, whether you are in your 20s or you are approaching your senior years, we all will have vulnerable times when we will need the help of our community. Whether it’s for ourselves or our loved ones, a place like Our Island Home is an essential part of a caring community. Please remember this when you cast your vote on May 20th… If this proposal receives enough votes, we may be able to revisit this issue in the form of a special town meeting.

Thank you for caring,

Susan Richards and therapy dog, Gwen