Program helps veterans maintain quality of life at home

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

It can be a struggle for some of Alaska’s veterans to remain independent as they age. Now, advocates are trying to get the word out about a program that can help.

The federally funded VOICE program is designed for those in the VA healthcare system who need extra care, but want to stay in their own homes.

It helps the veteran hire a preferred caretaker, which sometimes means a family member.

So far, only a couple of Kodiak residents have enrolled. But local representatives hope that will change.

KMXT dropped by one veteran’s house to find out how the program works for him and his daughter, who is also his caretaker.

Ed Olson and his daughter, Marian Royall, sit in their living room, in front of a muted TV.

They’re talking about Olson’s time in Korea after WWII.

He worked in army communications.

And Royall says, in his younger years, her father worked in construction in his home state of Kansas.

“At first mainly concrete work which is why his knees and his hips and his shoulders are so bad. It’s not easy work.”

For roughly the last two years, the 83-year-old has lived with his daughter and son-in-law in Kodiak.

Olson deals with a few different health issues, but his son-in-law, Carl Royall, says mobility is the main concern. Carl’s installed a number of different features in Olson’s room to make his life easier, like a portable lift. The lift can be adapted to any chair, and it raises him up just enough that it’s easier for him stand.

Carl’s also set up a handicap accessible bathroom, welded a handle for the bed, and Marian says he’s devising a pulley system and belt to wrap around Olson in case he falls out of bed.

In the case of an accident, that’ll help Marian, who had surgery last year.

“With having my hip replaced, picking up my dad I really shouldn’t do, and so we’re gonna have a lift so that if he does falls down – ‘cause if he’s on the floor, he can’t get up by himself.”

Carl works full time for the Kodiak Island Borough and Marian used to juggle  a number of different jobs, including bookkeeping, personal training, and direct sales.

For a time last year, she had to cut back on some of those commitments as she recovered from surgery.

“Finances were very tight last year, and they’re getting better, but this VOICE program has been very helpful. It’s subsidizing my income, and now I’m able to move around more and work more so I can get back into my personal training and my fitness and get out and do my direct sales, which is what I like to do.”

Marian is her father’s full time caretaker, and says VOICE pays her for 22 of the hours she fills that role.

She found the program through the Independent Living Center, or ILC.ILC opened its Kodiak branch in October. Its other locations are in Homer, Soldtona, and Seward.

Part of the service ILC provides is matching veterans and people with disabilities to services like VOICE.

Executive Director Joyanna Geisler says Alaska has some of the most expensive assisted living facilities in the country. Geisler says VOICE is a good option for those who can’t afford a nursing home or don’t want to go to one.

“Veterans who qualify are able to stay in their own homes, are given a budget based on their level of need, level of care from the VA and then the veteran and their family and support system decide how that budget gets used.”

And the program is pretty flexible when it comes to determining a budget, says Marian Royall. It’s never too late.

“We can get dad reevaluated and say that he cannot be alone overnight, because he has fallen out of bed before, and he can’t get up.”

That means the program adapts as the veteran’s need increases.

There are currently 25 veterans enrolled in the program statewide, including two in Kodiak, but advocates hope those numbers will grow.