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Prime Times Weekly publication of the Mail Tribune , Medford, Oregon Photo by Bob Pennell Charlotte Fogelquist is giving up her Applegate Valley home for an adult residence. Living Alternatives for Retired Citizens, a Medford nonprofit organization, helped her find her new home. Laying the groundwork for the perfect home Nonprofit group helps seniors find their ideal retirement community BILL KETTLER Charlotte Fogelquist knew it was time to stop living alone when her bathroom scale told her she was getting lighter. "The time has come when I don't cook for myself," said the 87-year-old Applegate Valley woman, "and I'm losing weight. So I decided it was time to do something." But Fogelquist didn't know where to start to choose a retirement home. There were dozens to pick from, just in Jackson County, and she and her daughters wanted to find the right place without a long, drawn-out search. They found help at Medford's Congregational Church, where Fogelquist worships. "Somebody told me to go up to the church," said Fogelquist. "They said Pat had all kinds of things for me to look at." She did indeed. Working out of an office in the church, Pat Case had assembled a computerized database of alternative living arrangements in Southern Oregon. Fogelquist told Case the things she wanted in a retirement home. Case typed those factors into her computer, and within minutes she was able to recommend several places that met Fogelquist's needs. "I settled on Fountain Plaza," said Fogelquist. "I'm an outdoor gal and they've got five acres there and lots of paths to walk around." Living Alternatives for Retired Citizens does not charge for its referral services, but accepts donations. Contributions are tax-deductible under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue code. For more information about LARC and its services, call 772-4525. Case collected the data for a nonprofit organization called Living Alternatives for Retired Citizens (LARC). Church members and other concerned people created LARC three years ago when they realized no one in Southern Oregon had collected information about all the alternative living arrangements for people who could no longer care for themselves. "There are an awful lot of adult children trying to figure out what to do with an aging parent," said the Rev. Paul Robinson of the Medford Congregational Church. "They don't know which way to turn." Those who have heard about LARC are turning to Case, who brought 25 years experience in nursing and home health care to the organization when she became executive director. Case collected information about each care site and put it into a database built by a church member. The database allows her to quickly locate care arrangements that suit each person's needs. "I do the research for the people who call," said Case. "I can plug in `male,' `smoker' and `wheelchair' and the computer will only kick out those facilities." Case provides a list of potential sites to people who ask for referrals. They make their decisions on their own, or with help from family members. "My approach is to help them do their own problem solving," she said. "They usually know what they want. They just want to talk about it. "I try not to give them subjective information. There are some places that feel like you're on a cruise ship and others that feel like you're at home. I tell them they ought to go and see them so they can compare them." LARC ran on a shoestring with only volunteer help for its first two years. Now it has acquired nonprofit tax status, won two grants and hired Case to work part-time. She divides her time between updating the database, telling people about the referral service and handling calls for help. The calls have come from as far away as Colorado. Lad Scroggins, of Colorado Springs, asked Case to help him find a live-in caregiver for his 83-year-old mother, Helene Maplesden, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. "She hates to depend on people," said Scroggins, "but she needs transportation to the hospital and shopping. "I'm 1,800 miles from there," he said "My sister is 1,000 miles from there. It's pretty rough." Scroggins happened onto LARC when he called the United Way of Jackson County looking for assistance. Now Case is doing the legwork for them. "We would ultimately have had to go there and plan to spend a couple of weeks visiting all those agencies," said Scroggins. "It's hell when you're this far away. I'm retired on disability. It's very hard for us to travel." Many people call Case with situations similar to Scroggins', said Robinson. "There's a real frustration when you're living halfway across the country and you have to take care of momma." Robinson said the need for a referral service surfaced as he helped members of his congregation cope with events that suddenly left them unable to live independently. He realized that people had to evaluate dozens of facilities and many levels of care at a time when most of them were unable to make rational decisions. "People would come in completely cold," he said. "They would make about a thousand phone calls and still not know what to do." Case said she expects the calls for help will keep coming because more than 30,000 of Jackson County's 160,000 residents are above the age of 60. For now, the organization runs on grants and donations, but she hopes to make it self-supporting someday by asking senior-service providers to pay for listings in the database. Robinson said LARC appears to be one of relatively few organizations in Oregon, or the Northwest, that provide referral services. "Many agencies are providing specific services, but nobody was serving as a clearinghouse," he said. "It's an idea whose time has come because services (for seniors) have proliferated and specialized. "My guess is that LARC is going to become a regional model for doing this." Prime Times front page Mail Tribune front page Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA