Johnson and Shelby County VASIA has started a campaign this holiday season to fill stockings with cozy items for their clients. The tree outside the offices of Johnson and Shelby County VASIA features ornaments with a client’s names and item to purchase to fill the stocking.
Advocates for some of Johnson County’s most vulnerable residents hope to make the holiday season a little more warm and cozy this year.
And they’re asking for the community’s help in buying slipper socks, blankets, pajamas and decorations.
Volunteer Advocates for Seniors & Incapacitated Adults, also know as VASIA, has started a collection drive to gather items intended to comfort their clients during the colder months. People can come to the VASIA office inside the Johnson County courthouse to select items needed for each client, or they can reach out to officials to select one for them.
Many of the clients no longer have anyone to care for them or to provide items of comfort, said MaryBeth Piland, a volunteer advocate spearheading the effort.
It’s up to the rest of us to show them love, she said.
“It’s a chance to bring some joy into their lives, and give them basic things that people take for granted,” Piland said.
Appointed by the local courts, VASIA advocates are paired with clients deemed unable to care for themselves, spending considerable time with them helping make decisions on everything from finances to medical needs to what they want to happen when they die.
Oversight of the VASIA program is done locally by the courts, and the guardianship process entails thorough research. The people in need of a guardian may include, people with dementia, Alzheimer’s, mental illness, substance abuse issues, traumatic brain injury, developmental disabilities, autism, and any other incapacity that limits their ability to make decisions about their financial and medical care.
To support them, advocates meet regularly with their clients to help with those decisions. Currently, VASIA has about 39 clients.
The idea to provide items for the holidays came from Piland. She had worked in a senior care facility for 15 years, and toward the end of her time there, started a program asking the community to fill a stocking for a senior.
When she came to volunteer as an advocate for VASIA, she wanted to start a similar program.
“The people in the place I worked at really loved getting a stocking,” she said. “Now, I’m an advocate for three seniors in the community. These are people who have no family. These are the people who have been forgotten. When I go into their rooms and see that they have nothing, it really saddens me.”
Piland brought the idea to Lauren Rynerson, executive director for Johnson and Shelby County VASIA, about setting up a tree outside the office. Ornaments on the tree would have a client’s first name on it, and basic items that people can purchase for them: two-piece and gown pajama sets for men and women, slippers, slipper socks and blankets.
People can also provide door hangers or similar decorations, as well as snacks and candy to fill the stocking.
Items can be donated through Dec. 9, after which, a youth group from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is going to wrap the gifts and fill the stockings.
“We’re starting with some basic needs, and trying to meet those,” she said. “I know it’s going to bring joy to these people to have a new blanket, to have a pair of pajamas.”
How to help
VASIA is filling stockings to give to their clients in Johnson and Shelby counties this holiday season. The community is invited to support a senior.
A Christmas tree has been set up at the VASIA offices inside the Johnson County courthouse. Ornaments on the list have items needed for each client. Those items include:
- Pajamas for men and women — two-piece and gowns
- Slippers
- Slipper socks
- Blankets
- Door hanger/decorations
- 40 stockings
- Snacks and candy to fill the stockings
Items can be delivered to the VASIA office. The collection runs through Dec. 9.
