Talbot County 2012

Pam O'Brien, Partners In Care/Talbot County

c/o Talbot County Senior Center
400 Brookletts Avenue, Easton, MD 21601
410-822-1803 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

When Pam isn't in her garden, you can find her on the phone or around town making "matches" between people requesting services and people offering services. It's all part of the give-and-take reciprocity that is the foundation of Partners In Care's time-exchange program.

Thank you to the United Fund of Talbot County for helping to fund our programs and services. The United Fund is not part of the United Way. The United Fund is a local, independent organization raising funds for programs serving Talbot County residents. See unitedfund.org to learn more and give a donation to the United Fund Campaign.

    Read Pam's article in the Spring 2013 issue of The Exchange:

At a social function I recently attended the subject of Partners In Care came up. A former law enforcement officer asked “who” we are driving. I gave him an idea of the demographics of our members. He asked, “Did you know the average age of Talbot County drivers involved in accidents is 65 years of age?” He said, “Teenagers are not the real problem, it’s older folks who don’t see as well as they used   to or react as quickly as they may have in the past.” I wasn’t surprised given that nearly 25% of the population in this county is 65 and older.           

Many of the calls we receive are from older adults who are choosing to give up driving, or from their adult children who are encouraging them to give up driving. 

 Sometimes we help people ease into the difficult transition of giving up driving by initially just taking them to eye doctors, then later adding on other appointments. Once they make that connection and realize we are neighbor-helping-neighbor and not a way for their families to take away their independence they look forward to riding with us. Our members have formed lasting friendships and look forward to seeing each other.

A difficult thing about aging in Talbot County is that so many of our older adults don’t have family here and may not be aware of some mild dementia or increase in the severity of arthritis or other underlying health problems that can affect their driving. People ask about what our membership entails, and they are always pleasantly surprised we are not an impersonal agency and that we don’t have rigid criteria. We are good neighbors who care and share. Please pass the word...